Six million people a year would use train to Melbourne Airport

[Dannyism]

This makes me crazy, just build the damn train already.

 

[Hvr]

And here's today's newspaper article:

Melbourne Airport rail to be under way within 10 years, premier says
Construction will begin on a rail link between Southern Cross Station and Tullamarine airport within less than a decade, the Andrews government says.

Wonderful if it ever comes to fruition but I won't believe it until I travel on it.

 

[cove]

The idea that Daniel Andrews could still be Premier of Victoria in 10 years time is a scarey thought. When the real estate bubble bursts (if that ever happens) Victoria will have some issues with keeping their Budget away from lots of red ink. Looks like the Chinese buyers have been warned by their Governmentto stop sending money out of China.

 

[travelislife]

The idea that Daniel Andrews could still be Premier of Victoria in 10 years time is a scarey thought. When the real estate bubble bursts (if that ever happens) Victoria will have some issues with keeping their Budget away from lots of red ink. Looks like the Chinese buyers have been warned by their Governmentto stop sending money out of China.

Victoria is running a very decent surplus (which no one seems to give any credit for) and finally we have a government building some infrastructure (metro, level crossing removals, western distributer, north east link). We actually missed the best window in history for governments to borrow money by the do nothing stalemate previous liberal government.

 

[serfty]

Andrews is just kicking the can down the road - there is no way it HAS to take 10 years.

The studies have been done - hence the title of this thread.

As already posted/linked here, just a loop line from Watergardens or Broady .

 

[serfty]

..

which no one seems to give any credit for

Actually, I give Jeff Kennett the credit for that; his government took the hard steps to fix the profligacy of the Cain/Kirner and previous governments; no subsequent Victorian incumbent has dared to raid the coffers in such a way again.

 

[cove]

I remember getting Jeffed for $200.
Traffic gridlocks in both Melbourne and Sydney are not fixable quickly.
Like most State Governments we all need better candidates to help make a difference.
The stamp duty bonanza is grinding to a halt fairly quickly in NSW and it will be a while before that happens in Victoria due to the population increases.
I still think the rail line is a good idea but it will be an expensive trip to cover the cost of building it.

 

[travelislife]

Andrews is just kicking the can down the road - there is no way it HAS to take 10 years.

The studies have been done - hence the title of this thread.

As already posted/linked here, just a loop line from Watergardens or Broady .

Absolutely agree it could and should be started sooner!

One impediment is that right now the accessibility and cost of rail engineering professionals is unbelievable. Because we have done nothing for so many years a lot of our best headed overseas. There is now a lot of work going on, throw another project in to the mix and the cost/time would be massive.

I know this first hand by trying to engage rail engineers for a private development project. Their rates have pushed towards
Lawyeresque heights as they can pretty much name their price!

It is one of the reasons we need a depoliticised infrastructure plan for the state that looks 20 years ahead. Leave it to the professionals not the politicians. There should never be a period of time when something isn’t happening as was the case under the liberals it should just continue to roll on with periodic reviews and would remove the electioneering side of it too. Unfortunately I never see it happening.

 

[cove]

Yes London is getting Heathrow to Canary Wharf next year in 37 minutes. That is a far more difficult task than Melbourne.
Meanwhile the train tunnel to Perth Airport is underway.

 

[OZDUCK]

Y
Meanwhile the train tunnel to Perth Airport is underway.

And on track to complete the 8km tunnel to Perth Airport early next year.

 

[dajop]

Like most State Governments we all need better candidates to help make a difference.

State governments? Let's start with federal governments. It's perhaps a sad indictment on the state of politics, but on the surface it does at least seem that the Victorian government has been of a higher standard than the federal government over the last 10 years.

 

[Isochronous]

Let's not forget that Napthine approved the airport rail and signed the contract for East-West Link. Andrews canned both but him bringing back airport rail shows how the politicisation of infrastructure means everyone loses.

 

[cove]

Ok let’s face it. Each and every Government is struggling in Australia. We have a two speed economy with Sydney and Melbourne being packed to the eyeballs with folks wanting infrastructure to work.
I saw and heard about folks missing their flights out of Melbourne due to a traffic jam on the road leading into that airport. Ten years to wait for a start seems just a bit crazy for a rail line.

 

[serfty]

My scheduled 6:45pm EK to SIN last Friday evening was delayed over half an hour as the Aircrew tool over 90 minutes to get from their hotel by Taxi.

The Train to Broady & 901 bus would have been faster.

 

[coriander]

Let's not forget that Napthine approved the airport rail and signed the contract for East-West Link. Andrews canned both but him bringing back airport rail shows how the politicisation of infrastructure means everyone loses.

If I recall correctly, the Libs' airport rail was predicated on their version of a "metro" going to South Yarra via Fishermans Bend (actually Montague) to service all the developers' high rises Guy gifted them with his rezoning.

When the current Metro is finished that will give extra capacity for a line to the airport.

Alternatively build a new line to the airport and then connect that line onwards to the Bendigo and Albury/Sydney lines - something like Zurich for example - down an escalator for frequent trains to and from anywhere.

The East-West link was costed at around $8 billion for 16km of tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel 2x57km tunnels cost about $12 billion. Is labour and construction THAT much cheaper in Switzerland than Australia?

I'd like to see Melbourne Metro 2 planning started now - Clifton Hill to Newport, maybe even an extension to Doncaster using the expertise and perhaps even the tunnelling machines from MM1. Part of the Australian infrastructure problem is that there is so much of a stop/start/stop/dismantle cycle instead of continuity. Similar disease afflicts our shipbuilding industry.

 

[serfty]

Hmmm ...

Melbourne Metro says it won't support a Airport Link.

But the most recent service plan for Melbourne Metro, published in the 2016 business case, makes no mention of a rail line to Melbourne Airport.
Rather, it predicts the tunnel will be used by up to 14 trains an hour to and from Sunbury and nine trains to and from Melton. It will handle 23 trains an hour, which would leave no capacity for an airport line.

Government warned Melbourne Metro won't support future airport rail link

 

[Isochronous]

If I recall correctly, the Libs' airport rail was predicated on their version of a "metro" going to South Yarra via Fishermans Bend (actually Montague) to service all the developers' high rises Guy gifted them with his rezoning.

When the current Metro is finished that will give extra capacity for a line to the airport.

Alternatively build a new line to the airport and then connect that line onwards to the Bendigo and Albury/Sydney lines - something like Zurich for example - down an escalator for frequent trains to and from anywhere.

The East-West link was costed at around $8 billion for 16km of tunnel. The Gotthard Base Tunnel 2x57km tunnels cost about $12 billion. Is labour and construction THAT much cheaper in Switzerland than Australia?

I'd like to see Melbourne Metro 2 planning started now - Clifton Hill to Newport, maybe even an extension to Doncaster using the expertise and perhaps even the tunnelling machines from MM1. Part of the Australian infrastructure problem is that there is so much of a stop/start/stop/dismantle cycle instead of continuity. Similar disease afflicts our shipbuilding industry.

Australian construction costs are horrendous - too much featherbedding by unions and consultants. 3 lollipop ladies on 6 figure salaries p.a. for a few hours work a week etc.

 

[Pleb Status]

The new PER rail link is ~8.5km of tunnel, three stations and a construction cost of $1.9B....

 

[cove]

In Perth we have much better underground conditions than Melbourne. It is quite ok for Perth, Brisbane and Sydney to get a train line first.
I have used the train lines in Sydney and Brisbane and it looked like they have been underwhelmed with passengers due to high pricing.

 

[Virgin Bart]

Working in the industry myself I can confirm that with current tunelling expertise, huge workload and recent increase in construction costs the estimate isn't unreasonable.