This thread is for the discussion of the Melbourne Suburban Rail Loop
SRL East is the first stage of the project being delivered from Cheltenham to Box Hill, with 26 kilometres of twin tunnels connecting six new underground stations.
Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) North is from Box Hill to Melbourne Airport. Seven new stations are proposed for SRL North at Doncaster, Heidelberg, Bundoora, Reservoir, Fawkner, Broadmeadows, and Melbourne Airport, connecting SRL North to Melbourne Airport. Station locations are preliminary.
SRL Airport extends from Melbourne Airport to Sunshine, with a new station in Keilor East also be built as part of the project.
SRL West will connect Sunshine station to Werribee station.
A damning report has revealed the cost of Victoria’s major projects has blown out by another $11 billion in the past year. It comes as the government is forced to answer why newly installed myki readers on the Metro Tunnel will need replacing within months of the new stations opening.
Major Projects Performance Reporting 2024
Tabled: 19 February 2025
Do public entities publish information that can be used to assess their major projects’ performance against expected cost, time, scope and benefits?
What we found
We made 4 key findings:
1. Public reporting about major projects is not meaningful, reliable or comprehensive.
2. Internal analysis of project performance is often high quality and meaningful, but it is not publicly reported.
3. Entities are not systematically assessing significant changes’ impact on a project’s original cost, time, scope or benefits.
4. Entities’ project benefits measurement systems are not mature, with unclear roles and responsibilities.
The analysis leading to these key findings is discussed in this section.
Key themes from the major project case studies are described in more detail in Section 3. Appendix D lists the case studies we selected to examine in more detail.
We explore the data from our surveys in more detail in Section 4.
This project may cost the red team its power at the next election due to its enormous cost and the feeling from areas that are not served by it that they’re being short-changed in comparison. This is an important consideration because it feels like there’s zero chance the project continues under the blue team, and the money will be reallocated to road projects.
I do wonder if it’s even realistically possible to can the SRL at this point - contracts have been signed and construction has been started, I imagine even cancelling it would be an expensive endeavour
Allan govt selects preferred bidder for major SRL works
TransitLinX, which includes Chinese construction giant John Holland, RATP Dev, Alstom, KBR and WSP , was selected to negotiate the mega contract, which is expected to be signed later this year.
I mean good for them. Yeah the SRL is slightly problematic but more rail is good in the long run in my books. My question is how is this project federally significant enough that is qualifies for federal funding?
Problem is its too late to dump SRL East but if they dump the rest of SRL, they risk making SRL East a white elephant. A really expensive white elephant. Personally I think they should of electrified western rail lines, extend Cragieburn to Wallan and get airport rail done before SRL but oh well too late now.
Edit: MM2 would be nice but I think city loop reconfiguration plus existing met tunnel would resolve much of that
My thoughts are similar. SRL is a transformative project, but the other lines you mention were bigger priorities in the short term, and are now all taking a back seat because SRL is taking all the new project funding. I’d add the extension from Cranbourne to Clyde perhaps.
BRT along what corridor? I was under the impression there is no surface corridor available for pretty much any of the planned route. If the BRT is to go underground, that probably represents most of the cost of a rail tunnel but with a significantly lower capacity. For a project that’s mostly about building capacity to enable future high-density housing, that sounds like it’s defeating the purpose for not that big a saving.
And there is no money for rail for the next little while as Victoria is staring at a credit ratings downgrade that will make it more difficult for the Vic State Government to continue to borrow at low rates.
The Smartbus network, which already exists, is an orbital high frequency bus service. This could potentially be upgraded or added to as an interim measure.
Indeed money will be harder to come by, which is contributing to the unpopularity of the Victorian government. This is why I say they are lucky that the federal government are ponying up significant funds for SRL. The cynic in me thinks that’s happening due to them both being from the same political party and a state election coming up next year, but who knows.
I think upgrading Smartbus is a fine idea, and most planned rail lines should be preceded by a similar bus route. Unsure if any parts of the route can be turned into BRT for a reasonable price though. Bus lanes are always easier to achieve, though politically hard to implement.
Unpopular Opinion, but I think Melbourne should of extended the Cragieburn Line to Wallan, and electrified out to Melton and Wyndham Vale as well as also build the Airport Rail Link before even considering the suburban rail loop. And even then, the SRL should have been something like Brisbane Metro BRT, not a rapid transit line. It doesn’t even go into the city which is where majority of people using the trains actually work. So therefore the only few people using it will be schoolkids, and a few crackheads. Meanwhile the Western and Northern parts of Melbourne are growing and are dying for better transport. SRL East only benefits those in the wealthier eastern suburbs.
But they should have done Western Rail Plan, the Electrification to Wallan, Airport Rail, extension of the Cranbourne Line to Clyde and the city loop realignment before even considering SRL. Also SRL is chewing up federal funds that could go towards public transit projects in other states like giving Adelaide an Underground Railway or even more funding for Queensland ahead of the 2032 Games (which no one asked for). Also we need more funding for North Queensland, not everything is about the South East!.
But on the topic of SRL, it doesn’t stack up. Even the business case backs up this statement.
Business cases are tools for a very different purpose than a government making a major city-building policy decision. It’s neoliberal brain rot that has us all confusing these things.
