Victorians will have to pay up to $5.2 billion, or almost $1 million a day, for the Napthine government's Pakenham/Cranbourne rail upgrade, the first long-term major privatisation of a key part of Melbourne's rail network.

Leaked cabinet documents reveal the government has fast-tracked the multibillion-dollar project – Australia's biggest-ever rail public-private partnership – to ensure contracts are signed ahead of the November state election.

Critics, including academics and Labor, have slammed the private-sector proposed upgrade – dubbed ''Project Flinders'' in the documents – as a corporate hijacking of transport planning in Victoria.

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Why are we whinging about a much-needed and overdue upgrade to our public transport infrastructure?  Successive Victorian administrations have shown indifference and ineptitude resulting a massive backlog of infrastructure and investment neither of which has kept pace with Melbourne's rapid expansion.  Government-led projects have taken as much as 10 years to deliver a simple two-platform station for Lynbrook, as an example, while the Cranbourne line itself remains largely single track.

It is right that the processes involved are scrutinised to ensure all is above board and the massive financial risk involved is well backed.  But it is also right that we urgently progress major works without which not only will our public transport systems very soon become dangerously overloaded but our roads will grind to a halt as well given the lack of any realistic alternative to private motoring.

I agree with you Gwiwer, the job needs to be done badly, therefore get it done. This Fairfax journalist is barking up the wrong tree.

Seems like a big investment for just two extra trains In peak hours. Considering this project will cost the same as RRL, why was quadding not part of this plan? For the effort and costs that it's going to take to grade separate the four level crossings as well as Springvale, it's silly to not be building an additional track pair between Springvale and Caulfield. Dandenong to Cranbourne duplication should also be included to increase punctuality of the two lines.

This work is about giving motorists more chance to traverse railway lines and, as a minor issue, to allow a few more trains. The government will not allow more frequent trains without grade separations as it is not sound politically. Having boom gates down 40% of the time annoys motorists (I mean voters).

Where I am concerned is that it is developers who will set the state's infrastructure agenda and priorities and not our transport planners. Developers will be bidding for those projects that they want to do, not the ones that are the highest priority ones with the best economic and social returns for the state. By building the wrong projects, the state will commit itself to annual payments for decades to come and higher priority projects might never get built at all.

PPPs are all a bit of a sham. The government still accepts most of the risk, guaranteeing payment and making actual traffic levels irrelevant to the builder. The proposed East West road link sets a fixed charge (adjusted for inflation) to be paid by the government, irrespective of the levels of traffic. The government gets to keep the tolls and then can tweak them to get the level of traffic it requires.

[edited to emphasise that motorists are voters]

is the scope right?  this is a lot of money for little in my view. quadripication should be in scope.
if hastings is the new port of melbourne where is the works for sg into hastings?  will this development be in scope?  should it be done now? at the very least a dedicated freight line is required to dandenong with a branch to hastings?

It's incredibly expensive considering what's being delivered.  V/Line trains will be as slow as ever, stuck behind suburban all-stops from Pakenham onwards. It's more expensive than RRL which involved building brand new tracks from Southern Cross all the way to Werribee West.

Someone is making an absolute killing on those figures, there's an enormous mark-up in there.

Where I am concerned is that it is developers who will set the state's infrastructure agenda and priorities and not our transport planners. Developers will be bidding for those projects that they want to do, not the ones that are the highest priority ones with the best economic and social returns for the state. By building the wrong projects, the state will commit itself to annual payments for decades to come and higher priority projects might never get built at all.

Developers aren't interested in the things that provide best value for money for taxpayers, it's not their concern.  Are we really that strapped for cash that we have to go to the government equivalent of a pawn-brokers and pay ridiculous interest rates? Didn't they learn anything from Southern Cross and the desal plant?  

If this unsolicited proposal goes ahead then they're proving that they're just as bad as the people they replaced. The sheer expense will rule out any additional tracks on the Dandy line until at least 2030.

This project is concerning for anyone using the Gippsland train line. Unfortunately, because of all the smoke and mirrors, I think the majority of people won't realise how much we've been dropped in it until its too late.

I still believe that the best way to free up the Dandenong /Cranbourne & Frankston lines is to build a lower level station below Caulfield station so that you no longer have this conflict between the two lines at Caulfield. Then with flyovers etc, conflict would be minimised and better use would be made of the third track on the Frankston line.
Add in state of the art moving block signalling, and you could really increase the number of trains on both lines.

The junction at Caulfield has not been a problem since 2010 because all Dandenong services use the main line while all Frankston services use the local line.

is the scope right? this is a lot of money for little in my view. quadripication should be in scope.
if hastings is the new port of melbourne where is the works for sg into hastings? will this development be in scope? should it be done now? at the very least a dedicated freight line is required to dandenong with a branch to hastings?

Freight from the Port of Hastings is to be resolved by the East-West (Royal Park) Freeway Stage 1.

This government will say what people want to hear and then build roads anyway.