i think the people on the Belgrave, Lilydale, Hurstbridge and Mernda lines might be surprised? 
Is Frankston line not being returned to the Loop after Metro Tunnel opens?
what’s the story behind this?
It should be, and rightly so given the amount of commuters on the Frankston Line regularly it makes sense.
Conversely adding Werribee and Williamstown lines back to the city loop will max out its capacity entirely, therefore routing them through to Sandringham makes sense as an East-West line.
If people wanted to travel from Footscray to a City Loop station other than Flinders then surely they can think of transferring to another non-Metro Tunnel line at North Melbourne. Also aren’t Town Hall and State Library essentially City Loop stations anyway given they’re co-located with Flinders Street and Melbourne Central?
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Looks like it will be: https://www.facebook.com/richardson4mordialloc/posts/from-february-1-2026-the-frankston-line-will-be-running-back-into-the-city-loop-/1406605720824539/
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Once I went on the Frankston Line from Flinders Street (thanks to the Pakenham Line being offline 
) and it was jam-packed. Putting it back on the City Loop should spread the commuter load a bit and make it less congested going forward.
Werribee and Williamstown lines are a lot shorter and routing them through to Sandringham makes structural sense. Though with the Metro Tunnel opening Richmond and South Yarra will not have Pakenham/Cranbourne Lines running through them which is a bit of a miss as there’s a lot of people catching those two lines at Richmond and South Yarra moreso than the other lines like Sandringham and Frankston. Though at least Richmond will also be served by the Alamein, Belgrave, Lilydale and Glen Waverley services.
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I am specifically referring to Northern Loop, which serves the western and north western suburbs.
According to the current timetable, the number of services through Northern Loop between 4pm and 5pm weekdays (based on departure times from Flinders Street) are:
Sunbury - 5
Upfield - 4
Craigieburn - 6 (plus one train direct from Flinders Street to North Melbourne)
The number of services through Northern Loop between 5pm and 6pm weekdays:
Sunbury - 7
Upfield - 3
Craigieburn - 9
When the new timetable begins on February 1, Sunbury line trains will disappear from Northern Loop, so that’s 12 trains gone between 4pm and 6pm.
I haven’t heard of any plans to increase the frequency of Upfield and Craigieburn trains to fill in the void.
i was worried when you said there would be a decrease
Interesting article given the number of transfers now that are absent from the data…
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Without the return of Werribee and Williamstown lines to the Northern Loop, the frequency through that tunnel will drop temporarily. For Flagstaff and Parliament passengers, it may be better to change trains twice (through State Library then Footscray) rather than the usual way through North Melbourne.
They’ve not announced the full details yet. One option would be to run some Werribee services through the loop - similar to how a limited number of Frankston trains do go through the loop in peak now.
Given the imbalance between how many trains the Sandringham line can cope with and how many there are on the Werribee/Williamstown side, would make sense to use the loop to soak up that capacity instead of just running in and out of Flinders.
The issue will be around the potential for delays though, the Werribee line’s connection to the loop is a flat junction, and they might want to avoid frequent crossing over.
I think the connection between Werribee line to City Loop can happen as soon as the train leaves South Kensington station. At the moment the two tracks behind the City-bound platform at South Kensington station are for the Sunbury line. That pair will become redundant when Metro Tunnel becomes fully operational, so there is an opportunity to build a new pair of points east of South Kensington station, thus four tracks merge into two.
New Infrastructure Victoria report calls for bus rapid transit services across six Melbourne routes
Infrastructure Victoria has unveiled a new report that calls on the state government to start planning for bus rapid transit services on six priority routes across Melbourne.
The state’s independent infrastructure advisor released its infrastructure strategy for 2025-2055, making 45 recommendations to the state government across infrastructure sectors including transport, health, housing, energy, social infrastructure and the environment. It also identifies eight future options for the government to consider.
Three of these recommendations relate specifically to buses, starting with recommendation nine to run faster bus services, more often, in Victoria’s largest cities. This includes running buses for longer hours and giving buses priority on the road, as well as straightening out existing routes so that they are fast and direct and adding routes in growth areas that don’t have any services.
Recommendation 10 is for the state to build a new bus rapid transit network in Melbourne, starting with routes that connect train stations and busy destinations, as well as extending the new Eastern Busway along Hoddle Street.
Recommendation 14 is to make off-peak public transport cheaper while simplifying regional fare zones. After upgrading the myki ticketing system, the body calls for fares to lower for off-peak travel on all state buses.
Infrastructure Victoria has prioritised six routes to progress by the early 2030s based on new modelling that shows the number of passengers expected to use the services.
These routes include Tarneit to Highpoint, Point Cook to Watergardens, Melton to Broadmeadows, Huntingdale to Upper Ferntree Gully, Endeavour Hills to Southland and Mitcham to Melbourne’s city centre (including a new Hoddle Street busway).
Mitcham to Melbourne CBD is currently operated by bus route 908, while 693 runs a large portion of the proposed Huntingdale-Upper Ferntree Gully route.
Making a 24/7 bus lane would be a good start - it’s crazy that there’s on street parking in one of the busiest bus routes.
It’s the problem of a government that’s very proud of a ‘big build’ - this is where we need a small build- paint some bus lanes, put in priority turn signals, nicer stops and wayfinding on and off the vehicle.
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Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has posted on social media the train timetable for the first day of operation of Melbourne Metro Tunnel.
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The Victorian Government this morning announced the list of retailers and takeaway outlets that would be located at each Metro Tunnel station concourse.
I have to say though that I am tired of Labor taking a dig at Liberal for calling Metro Tunnel a hoax. It occurs at the end of each press release related to the opening of Metro Tunnel.
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It is tiresome to see them focus more on taking pot shots at the opposition rather than focus on their own accomplishments- especially when their claims are also not true (or highly embellished at best). While yes, the Liberals did oppose the project going back 7-10 years ago, they never called it a “hoax”.
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Denis Napthine did put forward the Melbourne Rail Link proposal in 2014 which had the tunnel routed under Fisherman’s Bend and Southern Cross, albeit without funding or a business case. Whether Abbott or Turnbull would’ve paid for some of that is moot…
Anyway, it’ll be very interesting to see how the next couple of months pan out for “The Munnel”. If I manage to have a free Saturday (good luck with that) I’ll check it out.
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Yeah, nobody calls it that
Premier Jacinta Allan has posted photos taken at Parkville station on social media, showing the new outlets that would open when the tunnel starts operations this Sunday.