https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/suburban-rail-loop
A lot of hard yakka been done on this already. See documents at the bottom of the page.

As for the other stops on the link, the line could look like this. Extended to Point Cook and Sandringham, the latter being a reasonably safe Liberal Seat so probably won’t happen.

Sandringham (Terminus/Interchange - Extended from Southland)
East Sandringham (Near Apartments/Industrial Area)
Cheltenham/Southland
Clayton
Monash
Glen Waverley
Burwood (To Serve Deakin Uni and the area around it)
Box Hill
Doncaster
Lower Tempelstowe
Heidelberg (Revesre the order of the two stations)
Bundoora
Reservoir
Fawkner
Broadmeadows
Melbourne Airport
Sunshine
Tarneit
Werribee Plaza  
Point Cook (Extension above ground)

Even Daniel Bowen https://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/melbourne-orbital-rail-proposal did not see this coming.

Two quick thoughts as the discussion races along:

Fawkner seems a bit nowhere for a station. Perhaps there's opportunity for medium density housing in there that drives it? I would have thought you could build an Upfield line connection and a new station at Camp Road/Sydney Road called Campbellfield and get a much more cost effective alignment and useful station.


I also wonder if they will build it in parts to deliver incremental value, as several pieces could be quite valuable on their own?
eg. Sunshine -> Airport (on the cards already)
Clayton -> Monash (to get rail to the uni)
Heidelberg -> Doncaster -> Box Hill (Donacster done - just run some trains in a loop in and out of the city on Hurstbridge/Belgrave/Lillydale lines)

Then fill in the gaps to get it all linked up, while they figure out what that line going from Sunshine to Werribee will be.

Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.

It is great to see such a big, visionary plan from one of our 2 major parties. This is the sort of thinking we haven't had in Victoria in my whole lifetime. Think big & aim for the stars.

Yes, 2050 is a long way off, and to put it bluntly, there are quite a few members on these pages who most likely wont ever make it that far to see it realised in its entirety, but then again, isn't this what we have always complained about within our political system? "All they ever do is work for the election cycle, they never look forward past their time". Well good on you Mr. Andrews. Good on you for looking forward past your time.

Now obviously, there are a lot of questions, most of which may not yet have answers. Which bits will be underground? Which bits will be elevated? Will it be driverless? These questions I expect will be answered in good time. The more pressing concerns are: How will this be financed? and How likely is it that the whole thing will be built?

For that last one, I believe it is imperative that after this election is run and won (By the Labor party, otherwise we bin the entire concept, after all it is their concept, not the Libs) that Labor work bloody hard to get the opposition on side and make this a truly bipartisan policy.

The last thing a project like this needs is for it to become a political bun-fight. Otherwise, we can forget it ever looking like its original plan, just look at the Regional Rail Link.


NOTE: I am not and never have been employed by the Labor party. Nor am I or have I ever been a member of the Australian Labor Party. I am a swing voter, and have voted for both major parties in the past. The above is just my opinion.

Ok, I've taken one for the team and actually scanned through the documents provided. There is a lot of detail here. This is no back-of-the envelope job - they have done the sums and it stacks up.

There will be four main stages:

• Cheltenham to Box Hill - fully underground, the busiest section of the line. Will be the urgent priority for completion and construction to start in 2022.
• Box Hill to Airport - also fully underground. Work to start later, probably following completion of the south-east section and NE Link.
• Airport to Sunshine - the same work currently underway. Work still on track to start in 2022. "Sections of underground and surface rail", so nothing new here.
• Sunshine to Werribee - also sections of surface and underground. The last section to get underway. Appears they are still trying to solve the Geelong line conundrum here without shooting the grand plan in the foot.

Three ring routes were examined - inner, middle and outer. The middle was chosen on the basis of superior connectivity and passenger flows. It supports the new suburban employment clusters identified in Plan Melbourne and will drive decentralisation.

It is expected that the south-east section in particular will massively reduce pressure on the Dandenong corridor as their analysis shows a significant amount of this demand will shift over the coming decades.

This is not a pie-in-sky plan - it's been put together by experts (Development Victoria and Rail Projects Victoria in the public service, Aurecon and PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting on technical and economics respectively). One of the most impressive policy proposals I have seen in some time. In case you can't tell I am very excited.

edit: and the No Skyrailers can go jump. If that bunkum brings this down I will have lost all remaining faith in humanity.

I am now wondering what this proposal means in terms of the proposed Caulfield to Monash link?

I am now wondering what this proposal means in terms of the proposed Caulfield to Monash link?

As someone said in the other thread, it means the tram makes perfect sense all of a sudden. Just about everyone I know at Monash will be better served by the SRL than they would have been by a branch from the Dandenong line. The Monash catchment is the eastern suburbs - not the CBD.

Sounds to me it an April fool joke, it bit too late for be an April fools joke.

OMG...they're coming out of the woodwork....Melbtrip commenting after all this time

M.

You can imagine the junctions at each point where this will cross another line.

Remember, people have an aversion to changing trains, they want a one seat ride from origin to destination. That issue needs to be firmly demolished, else most of those crossings will have to be the Grand Union type.

So, Melbourne has had the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, what name for this one?

Love to see the whole idea happen though, but it wont be in the lifetime of most of us.

Of course, the Government could ask the Chinese to do the job on a BOT basis, we might see it in 5-10 years then.

Think about the vandals at Broadmeadows.

In 35 years when it's finished all the vandals will have smoked, drank, O/D'd or a combination of all three...themselves to death...end of problem...

Mike.

We will see at least 172 new prime ministers before this ever gets built.

and that's before the end of the year

Jacintta Allan being interviewed on 3AW

Ok, I've taken one for the team and actually scanned through the documents provided. There is a lot of detail here. This is no back-of-the envelope job - they have done the sums and it stacks up. There will be four main stages: Cheltenham to Box Hill - fully underground, the busiest section of the line. Will be the urgent priority for completion and construction to start in 2022. Box Hill to Airport - also fully underground. Work to start later, probably following completion of the south-east section and NE Link. Airport to Sunshine - the same work currently underway. Work still on track to start in 2022. "Sections of underground and surface rail", so nothing new here. Sunshine to Werribee - also sections of surface and underground. The last section to get underway. Appears they are still trying to solve the Geelong line conundrum here without shooting the grand plan in the foot. Three ring routes were examined - inner, middle and outer. The middle was chosen on the basis of superior connectivity and passenger flows. It supports the new suburban employment clusters identified in Plan Melbourne and will drive decentralisation. It is expected that the south-east section in particular will massively reduce pressure on the Dandenong corridor as their analysis shows a significant amount of this demand will shift over the coming decades. This is not a pie-in-sky plan - it's been put together by experts (Development Victoria and Rail Projects Victoria in the public service, Aurecon and PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting on technical and economics respectively). One of the most impressive policy proposals I have seen in some time. In case you can't tell I am very excited. edit: and the No Skyrailers can go jump. If that bunkum brings this down I will have lost all remaining faith in humanity.

Andrews mentioned something about high speed rail to geelong/Waurn Ponds and Ballarat that’s the ultimate plan I think

So ive just received the following via email update

A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will embark upon the biggest transformation of public transport in Australia’s history, with a new underground rail network set to circle Melbourne connecting every major regional train line from the Geelong line to the Gippsland line through Melbourne Airport.

....

No longer will people living in Gippsland have to travel through the centre of Melbourne to access world-class education and health services, including Deakin and La Trobe Universities and major hospitals including Box Hill and the Austin hospitals’, alongside a direct connection to Melbourne Airport.

I dont know if im reading into it more than I should but this is sort of suggesting that some Geelong-Gippsland services could be through services via the airport????

EDIT: As noted by PIMM below - I saw the first of some cookie cutter press releases.  Ignore.  (But through services could be interesting...)

I don’t think so James. If you look on the Premier’s website you’ll see the same cookie cutter press release has been prepared for each country region, just changing place names.

It’s a change trains job for sure. NOT that I consider that a bad thing. No interacting rail lines should ever be built to contaminate this glorious proposal!

Remember, people have an aversion to changing trains, they want a one seat ride from origin to destination. That issue needs to be firmly demolished, else most of those crossings will have to be the Grand Union type.

You can forget about trains running on other lines changing onto this new line. If it is done properly, these will not likely be junctions, merely interchanges. This line will run independently of existing suburban rail lines. You will get off one train at the existing platform, go down an escalator to an underground platform and get on another train.

Passengers will get used to changing trains, they already do it everywhere else around the world, including Melbourne.

If you want to get from say Croydon to Monash Uni, then you will change from a Lilydale train at Box Hill to a Cheltenham bound train and get off at Monash Uni. It would be faster then driving, and a hell of a lot simpler than changing trains at Richmond. Similarly if you wanted to get from say Narre Warren to Doncaster, or from Bundoora to the Airport.

These and similar trips are made by tens of thousands of Melburnians every day. 90% of these Melburnians drive because either they have no option, or the public transport option they do have is just too damn long. This is who this plan is for. These people will jump at the chance to change trains at the most conveniant location rather than ride all of the way into the CBD to change there instead.

Remember, in 10 years time the population of Greater Melbourne will likely have exceeded 5 Million*, and possibly jumped ahead of Sydney as Australia's largest Metropolis.

This project must proceed. The Liberal Party must jump aboard.

This will likely put Metro 2 on the backburner now

Not necessarily.

As PotatoInMyMouth said, this will be done in stages, with the earliest stages to start in 2022 (Sunshine to Airport and Cheltenham to Box Hill) It would be possible to start Metro 2 after the Airport phase and Metro 1 is complete and build that while simultaneously completing Cheltenham to Box Hill.

Metro 2 should still be a part of the plan for the future of Melbourne.

As should duplication and extension of the Cranbourne line, electrification of the lines to both Melton and Wallan.

Just because we would be building 1 major project, it doesn't mean we can't build others simultaneously. It just means we have to get better at it, and we have to increase the numbers of people who can work on these sorts of projects.

At the moment, if Labor wins the upcoming election, from 2022 onwards in Victoria we will be building the following:

North East Link Freeway
Metro Tunnel Railway
Sunshine to Melbourne Airport Railway (part of this announcement)
Cheltenham to Box Hill underground Railway (Part of this announcement)
as well as possibly still the West Gate Tunnel freeway. (although that is supposed to be finished by 2022)

That will be a lot of work, utilising a lot of skilled labour and a lot of raw materials. The period leading up to this will require a lot of new workers to be prepared for this and future work, this is why we need both sides of politics on side with this proposal. This is why Metro 2 can still proceed.

Again, it is imperative that the after this election, the Liberal party put down their political swords and jump on board with what should be a bipartisan plan to build the Melbourne of the future.

*EDIT NOTE: Not long after posting this, I read elsewhere that just this week, the population of Greater Melbourne passed the 5 Million mark. A bit earlier than I thought!

I agree that both sides need to get on-board.  If this is the case, the big differences will be the way it is financed and built.  The ALP will always be beholden to the CFMEU, while the Libs will try to keep the CFMEU and even themselves at arms-length from such projects and look more at PPP type arrangements.  (Note - many a PPP has been a monumental stuff-up too - i.e Sydney light rail, Royal Adelaide Hospital)

All the best I say.

Not really a loop.

a structure, series, or process, the end of which is connected to the beginning.

The project should be complete about the same time as the Murray Basin project

If they are making a station at Broadmeadows that means i would have to then catch another train over to Craigieburn. If this ever gets built i would think the maintenance cost for the underground will be through the roof. Think about the vandals at Broadmeadows.

If this ever gets built the way to deal wit vandals is simple.

Driver-less trains, no front head lights. Once a few bodies have been scrapped out at ed of operations each day, there will less issues.

Seems like a good idea and certainly something Mel needs, however its not exactly new to Melbourne unfortunately. Case of Outer loop Mk2.

Interesting how it also ignores existing lines that were previously part of Mk1.

Would have preferred a commitment for Metro 2, but this is probably the most long term minded project I've seen in a while! The purpose is clearly not what is advertised. I think that they are trying to decentralise the city, and will facilitate this with this rail link. This will enable the multiple-CBD model that people talk about and should hopefully ensure Melbourne can remain a highly liveable city.  Very interesting indeed!

Would have preferred a commitment for Metro 2, but this is probably the most long term minded project I've seen in a while! The purpose is clearly not what is advertised. I think that they are trying to decentralise the city, and will facilitate this with this rail link. This will enable the multiple-CBD model that people talk about and should hopefully ensure Melbourne can remain a highly liveable city.  Very interesting indeed!

We're still months out from the election. I agree though that Metro 2 should be being planned in the next government term so that the TBMs finishing their work in 2022 can go straight onto that.