The pledge to extend the railway was made before the 1999 election, and money was allocated in the 2000 Budget.

But Transport Minister Peter Batchelor has now said the South Morang extension "may be possible in the long term".

The Opposition said the backflip was the Scoresby freeway of the northeast, a reference to the Government's reversal on tolling the freeway.

"We have identified current capacity issues . . . which must be resolved before the Government can look at projects such as extending the line to South Morang," Mr Batchelor said.

The same applied to proposals for a new line to Epping North, he said.

The backflip was made public on a State Government website this week.

This week's statement follows a recent campaign led by the City of Whittlesea to get the South Morang extension built.

A spokeswoman for Mr Batchelor said the Bracks Government had promised a bus service to South Morang in the lead-up to the 2002 election, which had been introduced.

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