More than half a billion dollars in planned property acquisitions are being discussed within the Andrews government as it plots out the course of the difficult Melbourne Metro project.
The long-debated project – planning for which began in 2008 – took a significant step forward on Thursday when Premier Daniel Andrews went to the corner of Swanston and La Trobe streets.
There, he announced the $9 billion-$11 billion underground rail line would travel under Swanston Street in a 10-metre-deep tunnel.
Building under Swanston Street, the city’s civic spine, will disrupt the city badly for several years – something for which Mr Andrews said he would “apologise in advance”.
But neither he nor Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan could answer simple questions on the challenging task of building the rail tunnel beneath the Yarra River.
“I’m not for a moment saying we can give you every technical detail. We can’t, because we haven’t done that work yet,” Mr Andrews said.
Consultants who worked on the rail project until it was dumped last year by the Napthine government told Fairfax Media that building a tunnel under the Yarra was a surmountable engineering problem.
A major impacts statement for the project has been under way since the new government took office.
Two engineering consultants, Jacobs and Aurecon , were switched over to work on the study after originally being contracted for the Napthine government’s dumped rail plan.
KPMG is working on the business case for the project, which was last year revealed as likely to return $1.90 in benefits for every $1 spent building it.
The rail line will have five railway stations along its nine-kilometre length.
The government had considered tunnelling under both Russell and Elizabeth streets instead of Swanston. Russell Street was dropped because it would not allow passengers to transfer between City Loop stations, and Elizabeth Street was ruled out due to flooding issues.
The project is due to start by 2018 and be complete by 2026.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott appeared to rule out federal funding for it, saying $3 billion for the dumped East West Link would “remain in a locked box”.
And opposition treasury spokesman Michael O’Brien said digging up Swanston Street for the project would damage the economy. “You’re going to see the city shut down, not just for weeks or months, but for years,” he said.
Mr Andrews conceded there would be disruptions, but said they were necessary.
“You won’t see the whole [of Swanston] street closed at once; it will be done in a staged way.”
Former premier Denis Napthine said last year that building the Melbourne Metro project would divide Melbourne “worse than the Berlin Wall”.
Compulsory acquisitions of properties will be required where the new stations will be built. Those within government said this was not lost money, as the land could be sold on completion – as the land under Melbourne Central shopping centre was sold following the construction of the City Loop.
The premier acknowledged many would be affected by the rail tunnel, but said that “everyone impacted by this will be treated fairly and appropriately”.
A public transport expert warned that, amid the “excitement” of a re-announced Melbourne Metro, it was crucial not to repeat the mistakes of focusing only on a big city project.
“The City Loop in the 1970s drained resources and political attention away from the vital task of building suburban public transport,” Melbourne University transport expert John Stone said.
“These projects were shelved in the 1980s after the City Loop sucked up all the cash and political momentum,” he said.
Suburban voters fed up with being stuck in traffic had elected the Andrews government, he said. “These people will need to see progress towards fast direct bus services and faster trams before the next election.”
He said movement was needed not just on the Melbourne Metro, but on other projects including rail lines to Monash University, the airport and Doncaster.
