Labor touts benefits to Geelong from Melbourne suburban rail project

THE Labor state government says regional passengers from cities such as Geelong will be the big winners of its multi-billion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop, but the Liberals have criticised the proposal as short on detail.

Announced on Tuesday by Premier Daniel Andrews, the project – which will take decades to build – will create 12 new underground train stations and connect every major regional train line, in an arc stretching from the Geelong line to the Gippsland line through Melbourne Airport.

Labor says Geelong passengers will no longer have to travel through the centre of Melbourne to reach education and health services such as the Monash and Austin hospitals, and will also benefit from the “regional super-hubs” to be created at Sunshine, Broadmeadows and Clayton.

If elected, Labor will put $300 million towards creating a business case, planning and pre-construction works for the Suburban Rail Loop, with work on the first sections in Melbourne’s south-east between Cheltenham and Box Hill to begin by 2022.

Labor says the loop will create 20,000 jobs and that modelling projects it will have 400,000 trips a day by 2051, making it Victoria’s busiest rail line.

“We’re already getting on with fixing the Geelong line – including a massive boost to train services and a promise to duplicate to Waurn Ponds – and thanks to this, locals will have access to the very best public transport system,” Bellarine MP Lisa Neville said.

However, Shadow Treasurer Michael O’Brien says Labor “can’t say how much it will cost or if there will be new taxes to fund it”. Early estimates have pegged the price tag at $50 billion.

“The devil is in the detail which is why this idea needs to be sent to Infrastructure Victoria for proper assessment, costing and planning beyond today’s media event,” Mr O’Brien said.

“After all that’s why the Andrews Government set up Infrastructure Victoria in the first place, to allegedly ‘take the politics out of infrastructure’.”

Regional Cities Victoria chair Margaret O’Rourke said the Suburban Rail Loop was an ambitious, long-term project, but “much like the Airport Rail project, it must be developed as a project integrating the rail network across the whole of Victoria, not just suburban Melbourne”.