Regional Victoria Must Not Be Left Behind
A news report in the Saturday Age, entitled "Victorian government urged to ignore cut-price airport rail option", states that the State government may be "considering a budget airport rail link that would scrap a tunnel to the city and stymie fast rail" for Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This would be an unmitigated disaster for Ballarat trains (and all regional trains) in the future.
You all know that right now the entry into Southern Cross is 'chock a block' with rail lines. Some buildings are really close to the tracks. There is simply not enough room to put in another track! Then of course there is the Maribyrnong river crossing to deal with!
Even with all the improvements made in years past (RRL separating Metro from VLine) ) for which we are most grateful, there are still many times trains are delayed getting into Southern Cross.
Simply put: To future proof the services from the regions and the airport, a tunnel is the best way to get access to Southern Cross
There simply is no easy way (no matter what some experts may say) that more lines/scheduling will solve the problem. There is an ever increasing number of people using the train requiring more and more services. From Ballarat alone this number is up 25% over the last 5 years.
Simply put: To future proof the services from the regions and the airport, a tunnel is the best way to get access to Southern Cross
People may try and deny this and convince you with some or other story. Do not believe it but insist on future proofing rail access to Melbourne using a tunnel.
Seriously this is a crucial issue. If nothing is done, Ballarat will maybe never have any service under an hour to Melbourne. That would be a tragedy.
And let's not forget all those suburbs between Caroline Springs and Melton. When they are complete (say in 5 years) the commute/car journey to Melbourne will be a lot longer than it is today. As a result Ballarat people will need to use rail more and more in the future. Hence the need to ensure a tunnel for easy access into "Spaghetti Southern Cross"!
No matter who you are if you know someone of influence from all sides of politics or all levels of government get in their ear on this one!
59 Minute Nick (Beale) is a transport advocate
Subscribe to the weekly 59MinuteNick newsletter by emailing: nicbeale@icloud.com
