No checks or balances on suburban rail loop

THE Liberal Nationals support new road and rail infrastructure which is why this suburban rail proposal should be sent to Infrastructure Victoria for proper assessment and planning.

At the moment, the Andrews Labor Government can’t say how much it will cost, how it will be funded or when it will be finished.

They have no business case, no engineers report and they won’t rule out more Sky Rail across Melbourne.

They refuse to say how many thousands of homes would be compulsorily acquired.

The Andrews Labor Government also won’t rule out new taxes to fund this project.

With some estimates suggesting it will cost between $50 billion to $100 billion and a completion date beyond the year 2050, this looks more like a plan for the next election rather than a plan for the next generation.

At the moment the Metro Rail project will take nine years to build — a nine-kilometre tunnel with five underground stations for $11 billion. Today’s proposal is around 90 kilometres with a minimum of 55 kilometres of new tunnel and at least 13 underground stations.

Melbourne’s population is now at 5 million and bursting at the seams which is why major rail projects and roads like an East West Link and a North East Link are so important.

The devil is in the detail which is why this idea needs to be sent to Infrastructure Victoria for proper assessment, costing and planning beyond this week’s media event.

After all that’s why the Andrews Government set up Infrastructure Victoria in the first place, to allegedly ‘take the politics out of infrastructure’.

While this proposal is being fully considered by Infrastructure Victoria, we need a government to get on with building the congestion-busting infrastructure projects Victoria needs today.

A Liberal Nationals Government will do just that.

Please download this press release as a PDF