It seems we can’t have good things in the northern and Western suburbs.
The Metro tunnel promised improvements in frequency and service. But network upgrades such as new turnback points at Gowrie and Essendon have been quietly dropped from the final plans for the project.
This means no 10 minute service on the Upfield Line even for peak periods.
Read more: Upfield and Craigieburn lines shafted in Metro tunnel budget cutsJohn Englart, a Spokesperson for the Upfield Transport Alliance, said “This is penny pinching at its worst. These turnbacks and signaling upgrades were part of the Metro Tunnel Project to deliver efficiencies and a slightly better service.”
“Once again residents and users on the Craigieburn and Upfield lines in the northern suburbs are being shafted. by the Labor Government.”
The Age reported on the budget cutback on New Years Day. They listed the cuts included:
- A train turn-back on the Upfield line at Gowrie needed to solve a single-track bottleneck that limits peak hour trains to one every 15 minutes.
- A turn-back and platform extension at Essendon needed to run more trains on the Craigieburn line.
- A turn-back at South Yarra to increase services to booming western suburbs on the Werribee and Williamstown lines.
- The Park Street Link tram line extension in South Melbourne to reroute trams along Spencer Street, rather than Swanston, to boost services in the CBD’s west.
The Metro tunnel project is much needed for freeing up space in the city loop and expanding rail access with five new stations in areas near the CBD. The original $10.9 billion budget gradually blew out $15.6 billion. The 2016 business case said the network-wide upgrades were necessary to take full advantage of the project and needed to coincide with the completion of the tunnel.
According to the Age, the Metro Tunnel business case for day one operations in 2026 showed peak hour trains running every 10 minutes on the Upfield Line (compared to 15 to 20 minutes currently), less than every four minutes on the Craigieburn Line from Essendon (compared to every six minutes), and every five minutes from Werribee (compared to every 10 minutes).
The Network enhancements of turnbacks and signalling upgrades would cost $236 million.
Daniel Bowen, a spokeperson for the Public Transport Users Association, told the Age:
“The Metro Tunnel is an opportunity to shake up the timetables and give Melbourne a vastly more usable train network,” he said. “Cutting them … means it will be more difficult to make the most of the capacity boost provided by this huge project.”
In terms of the Upfield Line and Craigieburn lines, Bowen said that without the upgrades, Upfield would continue to have the most infrequent peak-hour trains on the network and overcrowding would be a problem on the Craigieburn line.
Turnbacks at intermediate stations allow an increase in service and capacity for inner areas of Melbourne. They don’t help with those who live further out.
In fact, the way we have seen turnbacks used is for regular services to be short shunted whenever trains are running late. This helps the train service to meet its frequency statistics. But it doesn’t help passengers that live past the turn back, who have to wait much longer for the next service. And passengers are left stranded due to short shuntings, when they left waiting for a train home.
What we realy need to address the capacity issues in the Northern Suburbs is the Upfield station upgraded to two platforms, the Upfield Line duplicated between Gowrie and Upfield with a new station at Campbellfield, and the line extended to Craigieburn via the Somerton link.
Upgrading the single platform station at Upfield to two platforms would enable a more frequent service, even with a single track.
These upgrades would allow increasing the frequency of service on the Upfield line to a true 10 minute service. It would also offer Craigieburn passengers an alternate route to the city.
An extension of electrified suburban rail to Wallan is also required, which would help relieve car dependency and congestion in the Hume Highway and Craigieburn bypass. There are many new residential developments north of Craigieburn with the population set to exceed 100,000 over the next decade. Good public transport is needed to service this growing population.
Update:
From a 6 year old article in The Age, November 6, 2018: “Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the Metro Tunnel would deliver major benefits to the Upfield line, by creating space for 70 per cent more passengers in the peak and would ‘pave the way for the future duplication of the line’.”
See also Anthony Cianflone, Labor Candidate now MP for Pascoe Vale during 2022 election campaign at the Metropolitan Transport Forum, promising a 71% increase in services when Metro tunnel opens.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1764267434367861
Clearly the ALP will be braking an election promise if they don’t move the Turnback, at minimum, to Gowrie station, to allow an increase in services on the Upfield Line.
Jacinta Allan is now Premier and we expect her government to fulfill that promise of 70% increase in capacity during peak hours, and move to duplicate and extend the Upfield Line..
Reference:
Patrick Hatch, The Age, January 1, 2025 — 2.02pm, Quiet cuts to Metro Tunnel scope raise questions over what services will actually be delivered https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/metro-tunnel-promises-more-trains-more-often-but-will-it-deliver-20241211-p5kxj5.html
Timna Jacks, The Age, November 6, 2018, Sluggish Upfield’s service boost still seven years away, https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/sluggish-upfield-s-service-boost-still-seven-years-away-20181106-p50e8u.html
Upgrade Upfield Line 