PM visits to roll out $2 billion for fast rail

THE Coalition will earmark $2 billion in its coming federal budget as part of a plan to cut train times between Geelong and Melbourne to only 32 minutes, but questions remain about the project.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a doorstop at Geelong railway station with Corangamite federal member Sarah Henderson, Treasurer Scott Frydenberg, Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Alan Tudge and Education Minister Dan Tehan to announce details of the $2 billion in funding, which the Coalition hopes will be matched by the state Labor government.

Under the plan, the existing rail lines between Geelong and Melbourne will be upgraded and duplicated to allow trains to travel at average speeds of 160km and up to 200km in some places.

It would be the first project in a new 20-year plan to build fast rail between capital cities and regional centres.

A fast rail project between Geelong and Melbourne has been long-discussed and is likely to be very expensive – the MegaRail proposal between Geelong and Dandenong was estimated at $15 billion – but at the doorstop, Mr Morrison dismissed questions from journalists saying that $4 billion would not be enough.

“That’s our understanding at the moment and if the costs are greater than that, then we’ll have to address that at the time. But you don’t get these things started, the train never leaves the station unless people get on board and it starts moving,” he said.

Ms Henderson described it as “game-changing investment”.

State Labor is already working on a $50 million business case towards Geelong-Melbourne fast rail and has been critical of the Coalition’s announcement, with Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan describing it as “a thought bubble on the eve of an election”.

Labor candidate for Corangamite Libby Coker said the Coalition had done “absolutely nothing on high speed rail for more than five years”.

“We’ll have a look at the detail of what is being proposed – but there’s a lot of question marks on the detail. What sort of consultation has been done with the state government?”

Several protesters from the union movement were also at the doorstop.