Capacity and future-proofing. Ask Bendigo or Gippsland commuters if they enjoy the knock on delays caused by sharing tracks with Metro services (and vice versa)
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I agree with Nicholas that it is a terrible move. People who live in outer west and north west suburbs of Melbourne deserve to have more frequent Metro services which donât share the same set of tracks with V/Line trains.
However, even if the original plan of extra tracks to Melton and Tarneit go ahead, there will be two pinching points: at Deer Park (where the Melton and Tarneit lines merge) and at Sunshine (where Melton and Tarneit lines are joined by the existing Sunbury line). Will even more tracks and platforms need to be built at Sunshine and Tottenham to cater for the extra electric trains?
I never would have assumed new tracks would be built. There are other lines that operate a metro train every 6mins with v/lines on just 2 tracks, and around the world there are train lines that can do that with one track. Itâs more a matter of management and smart signaling than it is number of tracks.
If we are duplicating tracks, there are much higher priorities, in densely populated areas of melbourne than melton and Wyndham vale.
What is the proposal for how these lines would get into the city? My understanding was that these new lines were only feasible if metro tunnel 2 was built, taking the werribee and Williamstown line out of their current tracks and the new lines would run over the flinders st viaduct towards glen waverly & Alamein. Ie probably in the 2040s
Looking forward to Melton and Wyndham Vale electrification in 2035 when Iâm probably grey and/or balding!
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I think the vision was that Melton and Wyndham Vale wouldâve connected up with the Sunbury line at Sunshine and continued through the Metro Tunnel to Cranbourne and Pakenham.
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Canât imagine that would be feasible without major cuts in frequency to sunbury and the airport.
It will also create too many combinations and leave passengers confused.
Airport line isnât happening for another decade at least.
Melton and Wyndham Vale are pretty much metropolitan Melbourne now and therefore electrifying those services should be a priority. Forcing a large chunk of western Melb commuters onto diesel VLine services isnât really a solution and diminishes the experience of both metro and regional commuters. The current VLine services to Melton are diesel Metro services in all but branding.
Electrify first, then build extra tracks to allow VLine services to overtake stopping Metro services. And electrification of the regional lines should be a priority as well, at least to Ballarat and Bendigo, if the government is serious about cutting carbon emissions.
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For Melton residents, the government should also increase the frequency of bus route 456 (Melton to Sunshine station via Caroline Springs). It currently runs around every 30 minutes in morning and afternoon peaks, and every 40 minutes in off peak periods, which is not acceptable. More buses on the road should reduce reliance on V/Line services between Bacchus Marsh and Melbourne CBD.
Good example is Switzerland and Scandinavia, where they have many single track railways which are electified.
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Which makes it much more progressed than the line to melton and Wyndham vale.
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This is the second line thatâs being scrapped for the time being you are talking about, if Iâm correct?
I do think the government has made the right call in this case, itâs a matter of prioritisation at the moment with the current budget position and airport rail should be at the very top of the list, along with electrification on the existing corridors to Melton/Wyndham Vale.
One cost effective way of improving the parts of the network that are not served well by trains and trams that I would like to see put in place is extending the Smartbus concept to cover every bus route. This may involve consolidating/merging some bus routes and running more direct routes rather than veering into side streets as often (and may require a bit further to walk in some instances) but I think that would definitely help fill a big gap in the network especially in the outer suburbs.
Iâd also suggest extending the âFlexiRideâ scheme to cover the whole city, to assist those who have mobility issues that make using the normal bus network more difficult.
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I think the priorities should be:
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Airport rail, itâs an international embarrassment at this point.
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metro tunnel 2 connecting the South Morang line at Merri to Newport & werribee via new tunnel under the city. This would allow for capacity for new lines to point cook and wollert.
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Melton electrification and rowville line. So the metro tunnel would be sunbury, airport and melton to the west, pakenham, cranbourne and rowville to the east.
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Wyndham vale line. I donât think there would be capacity to run to the city, so it would just be a shuttle to Sunshine, like the Alamein line of the west. It could be branded as part of the suburban rail loop.
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Doncaster line: branching off from the hurstbridge line at Jolimont. Future extension all the way to warrandyte.
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My idea for Metro Tunnel 2 is also Newport to Clifton Hill, but it goes like this:
At Newport, it branches into two lines: one joining the existing Werribee line, the other up north west via the existing freight railway (which will need electrification) to Sunshine to join the new Melton and Wyndham Vale lines.
At Clifton Hill, it becomes Doncaster line which basically follows Eastern Freeway and Doncaster Road to Donvale. From Donvale, it can either travel via Park Orchards and Ringwood North to Croydon, or go southeast to Ringwood.
The north east link is taking up the median corridor of the eastern fwy which has long been reserved for a Doncaster rail. If it is to be built now it will have to be a tunnel, and if itâs a tunnel it may as well go under the central, built up parts of the suburbs. Like Victoria gardens, Kew junction. Balwyn north ect.
I think there will still be a stretch of median corridor which will be left untouched, so the railway line can still use it. It just means the tracks will have to go underground earlier than expected.
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Am starting to get a little collection of public transport cards going! They are becoming a bit like a souvenir of my travels.
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I have the same five cards (Oyster one being a different version) plus Adelaideâs metroCARD.
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I donât remember there being a smart card for public transport in Perth in 2012 when I was last over there. I remember buying a daily ticket that I was able to use on either buses or trains
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