Suburban Rail Loop could save commuters 40 minutes but cost remains unknown

4 days ago 14

The state opposition has called for Premier Jacinta Allan to release updated costings for the Suburban Rail Loop instead of projected travel times.

A $34.5 billion price tag for Suburban Rail Loop East was announced in 2021 and has not been updated since, despite a 21 per cent increase in construction costs in Australia.

Premier Jacinta Allan at the Suburban Rail Loop site in Burwood on Sunday.

The Allan government released new transport modelling for the SRL on Sunday, showing passengers could save up to 40 minutes in travel time once the first stage of the project opens in 2035.

Trips between Cheltenham and Box Hill – the stations on opposite ends of SRL East – are forecast to take just 22 minutes during peak hour, more than 30 minutes quicker than current train journeys and driving.

Students travelling between Deakin University and Cheltenham will save 40 minutes compared with current public transport options, while passengers between Caulfield and Glen Waverley are set to shorten their public transport journeys by 17 minutes, the government says.

The state government’s data is based on current public transport and car journeys at 8am on a weekday.

Premier Jacinta Allan said at a press conference in Burwood on Sunday that the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop would allow Victorians to spend more time “doing what they want to do and less time stuck in traffic”.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin criticised the government for being opaque about the costings for the SRL and again called for the project to be dumped.

“How can they come out and tell us that we’re going to save X amount of minutes on a train in 2035, but still have ‘to be confirmed’ for next year in the budget?” he said at a Sunday press conference.

“The figures they’re putting out there now, we actually can’t say what they’re based on, because they haven’t released their proper business case.”

The $34.5 billion cost for SRL East was announced in 2021 with the release of a business and investment case.

Speaking at a Victorian budget estimates hearing at the start of June, Allan confirmed an SRL East committee made up of the heads of various departments spoke in 2024 about how construction costs have risen 21 per cent since the project was announced.

An updated pricetag for the project has not been made public. In March, independent federal agency Infrastructure Australia said it had low confidence in the $34.5 billion figure.

Allan pointed to the four-year-old business case and said Victoria “can’t afford not to build the Suburban Rail Loop”.

On Saturday, The Age revealed the Metro Tunnel would not open for regular commuter services until next year, despite the Allan government stating the nine-kilometre tunnel would be fully operational by the end of 2025.

A “soft opening” for the $15 billion train line is planned for November this year. Trains will run outside peak commuter times, and Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines will continue to use the City Loop during peak hour.

Allan refused to confirm whether passengers would be able to board peak-hour services along the Metro Tunnel this year.

“We’re working on that timetable right now, and we’ll release the details of that timetable a little bit closer to the opening of the tunnel,” she said.

Once the project is complete, Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham train services will be diverted through the tunnel and stop at five stations – Anzac (opposite the Shrine of Remembrance), Town Hall, State Library, Parkville and Arden (in North Melbourne).

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