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News Public Transport Users Association www.ptua.org.au ISSN 0817 – 0347 Volume 43 No.3 July 2019 Serious value-for-money questions linger amid State Budget ‘transport blitz' The Andrews State Government maintains its sol- tive for western Victoria which is facing a budget id commitment to suburban and regional public overrun and where (as reported by Stock and Land on transport with its Budget handed down in May. 19 June) necessary work is now likely to be curtailed New projects include the Western Rail Plan, due to unwillingness to extend the budget. This in- Cranbourne train line duplication, Hurstbridge cludes gauge conversion on the wheat-belt corridor and Sunbury line improvements, new trams, and to Manangatang and Sea Lake, and possibly the Gee- early works on the Airport Rail Link in coopera- long to Ballarat line. tion with the re-elected Morrison Federal Gov- This tightening of investment makes it all the more ernment. foolhardy that the gov- The commitments are in ernment has announced accordance with the Expenditure on new initiatives in 2019/20 budget (level crossing a full commitment to government’s promises funds counted 100% against ‘public transport’) ($M) the $16 billion North at last year’s state elec- East Link without re- tion. Some new fund- Capital Operating Total assessing its wider in- ing is also forthcoming Roads/Cars 16,620 579.8 17,199.8 frastructure strategy. for the more prosaic This one road project service initiatives and Public Transport 11,571 601.5 12,172.5 by itself outweighs all network improvements Active Transport 42.3 23.4 65.7 the government’s new that are critical to get- commitments on public ting value from in- and active transport put frastructure investment. Expenditure on new initiatives in 2019/20 budget (level crossing together. Overall, even As with previous initia- funds counted 50% against ‘public transport’)($M) if level crossing re- tives under this gov- Capital Operating Total moval is considered ex- ernment, the focus has clusively as a public been on the suburban Roads/Cars 19,895 579.8 20,474.8 transport project, new and regional rail net- road spending in the Public Transport 8,296 601.5 8,897.5 work; less so on trams budget exceeds new and buses. Active Transport 42.3 23.4 65.7 public and active trans- There is concern in the port spending by over budget 'fine print’, however, that the government is 40 per cent. Acknowl- proceeding more slowly on committed projects such edging on the other hand that level crossings are as the Ballarat rail upgrade. For many of the new rail 50/50 for motorists and public transport users, spend- initiatives too, such as the Cranbourne duplication ing for roads and cars is more than double the rest. and Hurstbridge upgrade, most of the ‘Total Estimat- Quite apart from the real damage the North East Link ed Investment’ is not actually allocated in the for- will do - and which cannot be greenwashed with ward estimates period to 2023, raising questions over false claims about congestion relief or what a won- the actual timeframe for this work. derful busway there will be - this deprives the gov- A related issue is the exhaustion of funding for the ernment of opportunities to invest in big Murray Basin Rail Upgrade, a vital rail freight initia- Continued p6 PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 1! PTUA office Committee Member meetings Ross House, Anthony Morton – President Melbourne: 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne David Robertson – Meetings will be advertised in PTUA e-mail: [email protected] Secretary News and on our website Phil Bourke – Treasurer www.ptua.org.au Internet Michael Bell Geelong: Our web site is at www.ptua.org.au Daniel Bowen First Saturday of every month (except January), 10:30am Tom Killip The PTUA runs email lists for member Mary MacKillop Room, St Mary's discussions, and to stay up to date with Tim Long Parish Offices, cnr. Little Myers and PTUA events. Members can also view Stuart McKenzie Yarra streets, Geelong archived newsletters online: Anna Morton www.ptua.org.au/members/resources Ballarat: Stuart James Meetings will be held regularly - watch the newsletter and website for details. Membership Enquiries Bruce Sutherland E-mail the office (see above). Jennifer Williams Geelong Branch: PTUA members can obtain cheap yearly Paul Westcott – Convenor Myki passes – see www.ptua.org.au/ members/offers Ballarat Branch: Ben Lever – Convenor In this issue PTUA Members Meeting 6:30pm, Thursday 25th July 2019 • State Budget Transport Blitz Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, p1,6 Melbourne • Community Coalition on Upfield Guest Speaker: Cr Nic Frances Gilley, line p3 City of Melbourne • Stronger Together fast rail p4 Come and hear Cr Frances Gilley, Chair • Sydney Road Improvement p5 of the Transport Portfolio, speak about • Ballarat branch report p6 the Draft Transport Strategy 2030, which aims to meet the transport, access and • Geelong branch report p7 liveability demands of the City of Edited by Anna Morton. Melbourne, today and into the future. Newsletter contributors - Michael Bell, Ben Lever, Tony Morton and Paul Westcott. Open to all PTUA members. Non- members welcome to attend, if they join Printed by Kosdown, Port Melbourne. on the night. Our thanks to Margaret Pullar and the dedicated mailout team. More details/RSVP on Facebook or on the PTUA web site. PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 2! Community coalition to keep the government honest on Upfield grade separations As part of its ongoing level cross- Upfield line. At present, the single planned for Anstey during the up- ing removal programme, the track between Gowrie and Upfield grade works replaces the Coburg State Government announced at the far end of the line is a barrier one. plans late last year to grade sep- to improving frequencies past the arate three road crossings on the every 20 minutes the line is stuck There is ongoing regret that the Upfield line - at Moreland Road, at presently. The other barrier is grade separation at Campbellfield Munro Street and Bell Street in capacity in central Melbourne, al- did not include track duplication or Coburg. As at many other loca- though there is the potential to ex- provide for a station at Camp Road tions, the government’s pre- ploit underutilised terminating ca- with interchange to northern sub- ferred solution is to elevate the pacity at Southern Cross to allevi- urbs bus services. rail line. ate this constraint in the case of It’s now hoped that the Moreland- Upfield. The State Government In May the Level Crossing Re- Coburg grade separation will give has yet to seriously investigate this fresh impetus to meeting the needs moval Authority announced two option. community ‘drop-in’ sessions as of communities on the outer reach- part of its formal consultation on A community campaign supported es of the Upfield line. The Upfield the project plans. Following the by local councillors and MPs, in- Corridor Coalition has included first of these sessions on 25 May, a cluding Sue Bolton, Fiona Patten consideration of more frequent and public meeting at Coburg Library and Tim Read, is demanding that reliable services as part of its vi- attracted 70 local residents deter- the Andrews Government fund the sion for the corridor. mined to shape the outcome. This duplica- meeting led to the formation of the tion from Upfield Corridor Coalition and Gowrie to framed a ‘Vision Document’ with a U p fi e l d , set of demands that was subse- initially quently presented to the LXRA. as a mea- sure to The coalition’s Vision Document is improve intended to outline a positive vi- reliability sion for the project, making clear on the the community action should not northern be dismissed as a mere NIMBY section of (not in my backyard) protest. At the line the same time it makes clear de- b e y o n d Community action at Moreland station - Image by John Englart. mands around multi-modal design, C o b u r g , access for all, respect for residents' where fre- The local Moreland City Council security and privacy, and preserva- quent cancellations cause serious tion of local environment and her- at its June meeting approved problems for local residents and $30,000 of funding for local itage including the historic Gan- workers. A temporary solution to dolfo Gardens (pictured) adjacent groups including the UCC to cam- some of these cancellations would paign on getting the best commu- to Moreland station. The group be installation of a crossover at has conducted tours of other nity outcome from the Upfield line Gowrie so trains can be turned grade separations. ‘skyrail’ projects including on the around there rather than at Coburg, Dandenong line to understand allowing extension of services To learn more about the UCC’s what lessons can be learned. from the current crossover at activities and Vision Document, The Upfield grade separation links Coburg to Gowrie when there are please visit their facebook group at into an existing campaign for ser- delays other issues on the northern www.facebook.com/groups/ vice improvements along the entire part of the line. This would be par- 2334442800168951/. ticularly important if the crossover PTUA News – July 2019 – Page 3! ‘Stronger Together’ Fast Rail In early June, the Stronger To- claim of the report; that it could be this is how that line will go – but is gether report commissioned by completed with initial capital in- that the best path for regional the City of Greater Geelong was vestments of $5 billion each from trains to take? Footscray station released. The report calls for a the state and federal governments, not only provides opportunities to shift to 200km/h electric regional plus $1 billion for the procurement interchange with the Werribee line, trains, running via Sunshine and of the new fleet.