Another major transport project kickstarted by the former Napthine government, an upgrade of the Dandenong railway line, has been scuppered by Labor.
The government on Tuesday said it had rejected a private consortium’s proposal for a multibillion-dollar upgrade of the line.
But a major capacity boost is still planned for the heavily congested route in Melbourne’s south-east, with the Andrews government picking the eyes out of the former government’s plans and putting in some key additions of its own.
The changes will to cost the government $30 million to be paid to the Rail Transformation Consortium, consisting of Metro, John Holland and UGL Rail, for the intellectual property it has put into the project. The project’s original cost was $2-to-$2.5 billion and the consortium would have received 20 years of availability payments for operating the line, from 2019.
Under the revised plans, 37 new high-capacity trains, capable of carrying 20 per cent more passengers than a current Melbourne train, will be ordered – more than the 25 high-capacity trains included in the original proposal. The trains are expected to enter service from 2018, the government said.
The nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong stations will be removed, instead of just four. Leaving five level crossings in place would have resulted in boom gates being lowered for up to 90 minutes in the two-hour morning peak, the government said.
But high-capacity signalling – essential to run trains at shorter intervals – has been cut from the project because it was deemed too risky and liable to blow out in cost.
The line will get a conventional signalling upgrade instead and a trial of high-capacity signalling technology will be undertaken on the Sandringham line, revising an earlier Public Transport Victoria plan. The Sandringham line is considered a better fit because it is a standalone line that is not used by V/Line or freight trains.
Aspects of the original unsolicited proposal that have been retained include rebuilding three stations at Carnegie, Murrumbeena and Clayton, building a large new train depot at Pakenham and power upgrades.
A fourth station, Hughesdale, will also be rebuilt as part of the project.
This story first appeared in The Age
