List of proposed Melbourne rail extensions

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In Melbourne's train system several new train lines, electrification of existing lines, extensions to existing lines, and new stations on existing lines, have been seriously considered at various times (some were so advanced in plans that they were even printed on Hitachi train destination rolls). However, many were never constructed and you could consider them 'closed' before the first piece of track was laid.

As of November 2006 new plans and some of the old plans are now currently being discussed by the Department of Infrastructure, local councils, and State political parties including the much anticipated and discussed Doncaster line.

Contents 1 Proposals 1.1 Inner city 1.1.1 North South Rail Tunnel Metropolitan 1.2 Western suburbs 1.2.1 Melton line 1.2.2 Werribee line 1.3 Northern suburbs 1.3.1 A new Melbourne Airport line 1.3.2 A new Albion-Jacana line 1.3.3 Broadmeadows line 1.4 North-western suburbs 1.4.1 Sydenham Line 1.5 North-eastern suburbs 1.5.1 Epping line 1.6 Eastern suburbs 1.6.1 Manningham rail line 1.6.2 Lilydale line 1.6.3 A new line to Rowville 1.6.4 Glen Waverley line 1.6.5 Alamein line 1.7 South-eastern suburbs 1.7.1 Frankston line 1.7.2 Dandenong line 1.7.3 Pakenham line 1.7.4 Cranbourne line 2 Status and future of these proposals 3 External links 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Proposals

Some of these proposals include:

[edit] Inner city

[edit] North South Rail Tunnel Metropolitan

• A proposal suggested by the Melbourne City Council in 2005 was to build an underground rail line, the North South Rail Tunnel Metropolitan, through the inner city of Melbourne.^[1] This tunnel would run from Jewell in Brunswick through to Windsor station, stopping at a new station at Parkville at Melbourne University, Melbourne Central, Flinders Street and a new Domain station to the south. As well as providing train transport to these new areas the proposed line would greatly speed travellers running north-south through the CBD - the same journey by tram takes 36 minutes.^[2]

[edit] Western suburbs

[edit] Melton line

• Electrifying part or all of the Melton greater metropolitan line, creating new train stations at Deer Park West and Caroline Springs.
• A branch line to the sprawling areas of Tarneit and surrounding suburbs. Government pledged to set aside land for a 'public transport link'. The need for rail will increase as the area gets further development.

[edit] Werribee line

• Two new stations on the Werribee line have been discussed.^{[citation needed]} One between Werribee and Hoppers Crossing at Derrimut Road and another between Hoppers Crossing and Aircraft to serve Point Cook residents. The Government's latest transport statement, Meeting our Transport Challenges, listed construction of the new station in the 2011—2016 period.

• 2 new lines to Tarneit or Wyndham Vale/Manor Lakes or one to Manor Lakes via Tarniet

• Reopening Werribee Racecourse railway station for special events. The platform is still in reasonably good condition.

[edit] Northern suburbs

[edit] A new Melbourne Airport line

• A rail link to the Melbourne Airport, branching off either the Albion-Jacana freight line or the Broadmeadows line.

[edit] A new Albion-Jacana line

• Electrifiying the current Albion-Jacana freight line. Stations would be built at Sunshine North, Keilor East, Westsfield Shoppingtown Airport West and Gowanbrae. A branch line from this could go to Melbourne Airport.

[edit] Broadmeadows line

• As of November 2006 the line between Broadmeadows and Craigieburn is being electrified to become the Craigieburn line. A new station at Roxburgh Park is being built on Somerton Road - this is on the site of the old Somerton station. New stations also discussed for this extension are Patullos, on Pattulos Street, and Coolaroo, on Pascoe Vale Road. During the 2006 State election campaign, the Government promised to build Coolaroo Station by 2010.

[edit] North-western suburbs

[edit] Sydenham Line

• Eletrification to Sunbury

• Adding Clarkefield and Riddels Creek to the Metropolitan Network.

• Building an additional station at the Calder Park Thunderdome.

[edit] North-eastern suburbs

[edit] Epping line

• An extension of the Epping line, along, Mernda and then branching off to Doreen.

• Another Epping line extension being considered is to the developing Aurora Estate. It may branch off at Lalor, and pass Epping Plaza & Epping North.

[edit] Eastern suburbs

[edit] Manningham rail line

• A Doncaster East line; Earlier planning for this line had it branching off the Hurstbridge/Epping lines at Victoria Park and travel down the median strip of the Eastern Freeway to Bulleen Road, Bulleen, where it would travel between houses and through proposed tunnels to Doncaster East. Proposed stations are Bulleen, near Kampman Road, Bulleen; Doncaster, at King Street near the corner of Williamsons Road, Doncaster; and Doncaster East, at the corner of King Street and Blackburn Road, Doncaster East.

Residents of the city of Manningham have no access to train or tram unless they travel by car or bus to a train or tram stop in neighbouring areas, as a result, car usage in Manningham is higher than any other shire council in the Melbourne metro area. The bus system is also the most extensive in Victoria to compensate for the negligence of light & heavy rail in the area.

The reservation for the proposed rail line was sold off in the 1980s by a Labor Government, so more recent proposals have suggested the line would run in a tunnel from Bulleen Road to a station at Doncaster Hill (Shoppingtown) ^{[verification needed]}. Another option would be to branch from the proposed Jewell-Windsor line at Parkville station. In this case, an additional station would be built at Carlton before the line reaches the Eastern Freeway ^{[verification needed]}. Other options include a line that ends at Warrandyte and one that includes Templestowe.

During the 2006 state election, the Liberal Government committed to extend the number 48 tram to Doncaster Hill, however, they claimed that constructing the heavy rail line would cost around $1 billion and was deemed too expensive an option. The current Labor Government continues their stance on increasing the already over-extensive bus service to temporarily avoid commitment to construction of tram or train lines in the area.

[edit] Lilydale line

• Extending the Lilydale line to Coldstream by electrifying an additional stretch. This would require reusing the former rail link between Lilydale and Healesville.

• An additional station at Cave Hill, between Mooroolbark and Lilydale

[edit] A new line to Rowville

• A new line to Rowville has been much discussed extending from Huntingdale station along North and Wellington Roads to Monash University and on to Rowville. Another idea has been planned to extend the Glen Waverly Line to Rowville^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Glen Waverley line

• Somehow extending the Glen Waverley to Monash University and the new Mirvac redevelopement of Waverley Park and finally to Rowville. Stations could be Wheelers Hill, Monash University, Mulgrave (Waverley Park), Dandenong North and Rowville. And additional extension could go to Endeavour Hills which has little public transport access.

[edit] Alamein line

• Extending the Alamein to Oakeigh, along the old Outer Circle reservation, primarily to serve Chadstone Shopping Centre.

[edit] South-eastern suburbs

[edit] Frankston line

• Extending the Frankston line to Baxter by electrifying part of the Stony Point greater metropolitan line

• Building a station between Highett and Cheltenham on the Frankston line, to be located outside the Southland shopping centre. (currently the focus of a feasibility study)^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dandenong line

• Re-opening General Motors Station. The platform remains intact and possible names include Doveton or Eummemering.

• Building a train line instead of the proposed Dingley Freeway. Starting at Dandenong Station then possible stations at Dandenong South, Parkmore SC, Keysborough, Springvale South, Dingley and Clarinda before rejoining the Pakenham at Clayton. Benefits of this are it would give alternative methods for V/line trains to pass. It would provide public transport for residents of above suburbs and would ease congestion and over use over the stretch between Dandenong and Clayton.

[edit] Pakenham line

• Building a station between Officer and Pakenham on the Pakenham railway line. The Meeting our Transport Challenges ^[3] strategy was released by the State Government in May 2006 and lists the new station for construction in the 2011—2016 period.

[edit] Cranbourne line

• Building Lynbrook station (possibly to be built in the next two to three years) between Dandenong and Merinda Park stations on the Cranbourne line. The Meeting our Transport Challenges strategy was released by the State Government in May 2006 and lists the new station for construction in the 2011—2016 period.

• Extending the Cranbourne line to Cranbourne East. The station would be ideally built at the complex on the corner of Berwick-Cranbourne Road and Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road.

[edit] Status and future of these proposals

Many of these proposals were created decades ago, and are no longer seriously being considered by transport authorities. Of these, only the Lynbrook, Pakenham Lakes & Southland stations, plus the South Morang, and Cranbourne East extensions, and perhaps Rowville and Doncaster, appear likely to be built in the foreseeable future.

In the case of South Morang on the Epping Line, both the Department of Infrastructure and the local council have recommended its construction, and development work is being undertaken. This would fulfil a promise by current Premier Steve Bracks upon coming to power in 1999. At the subsequent 2002 election this promise was deferred, with the "Trainlink" bus service discussed below introduced instead. Until recently, this project had been sidelined in favour of the extension of the Broadmeadows line to Craigieburn. The main reason for the delay is the capacity problems on the Epping line (& in turn the Hurstbridge line) mainly related to the various sections of single track. Meeting our Transport Challenges was released by the Government in 2006 and indicates construction could commence between 2016 and 2021.

The Cranbourne East proposal has re-emerged in recent years, but a commercial feasibility study conducted by M>Train, former operator of that half of the city's rail system, found that it would not be commercially viable in the near future, but should be examined as a longer-term project.

While some of the other proposals here have also come back into the spotlight in recent years, one which might one day be built is the Rowville line. While the Department of Infrastructure does not appear to be taking this seriously at present, the local council has begun a campaign to demand the extension of the line. Mooted routes are from Glen Waverly, tunnelling under residential areas and along the Dandenong Creek valley ^{[verification needed]}, or from the Dandenong line near Huntingdale and following the alignment of North and Wellington Roads.

As a medium-term solution, the government introduced two "Trainlink" bus routes in late 2003. No. 896 serves estates in Cranbourne East and the other, No. 571, is serving Plenty Valley Shopping Centre, Mill Park North, and South Morang. These link to Cranbourne and Epping stations respectively, connecting with each train arrival and departure, seven days a week, from 4:30am to after 1am. These have recently received State Government funding to continue until mid-2009.

[edit] External links

• 2005 Age report on proposals from various groups
• PTUA
• Railpage forum thread
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]

[edit] See also

• List of Melbourne railway stations
• List of closed Melbourne railway stations

[edit] References