Government Pledges $80m Study into Duplicating Upfield Line, Delays Level Crossing Removal
The government has promised to invest $80 million in a study to duplicate the Upfield Line, but will delay the removal of level crossings on the line by seven years. The project aims to improve the reliability of rail services to Melbourne's north, but has been criticized by the Coalition and the Greens.
A major infrastructure project in Melbourne's north has been given a significant boost, with the government promising to invest $80 million in a study to duplicate the Upfield Line. However, the plan comes with a caveat: the removal of level crossings on the line will be delayed by seven years.
The Upfield Line, which runs through the northern suburbs, still has a section of single-line track between Gowrie and Upfield stations, limiting the number of services that can be run on the line at any one time. Premier Ben Carroll said duplicating the line would be crucial for Melbourne's north and improve the reliability of rail services to the area.
"I'm from Melbourne's north-western suburbs; this has been spoken about for generations," Mr Carroll said.
The estimated cost of the duplication is between $650 million and $1.4 billion, but the government has not committed to funding the project. Instead, it will conduct a detailed study on what the duplication will require, with the aim of completing the planning and duplication study by 2028.
"$80 million to do a detailed study on what the duplication will require, those four kilometres of track," Mr Carroll said.
The premier said the Upfield Line would be duplicated by 2033 if he is re-elected in November's state election. Minister for Public Transport Vicki Ward defended the decision to spend $80 million on a study, saying it was a financially prudent investment in the future of Melbourne's north.
"The government is giving the money to the Victorian people and the people who live on this line," Ms Ward said.
The announcement has been criticized by the Coalition and the Greens, who say the government has delayed the level crossing removal for two more elections. Shadow Minister for Transport Infrastructure Evan Mulholland accused the government of delaying the level crossing removals repeatedly as a political strategy.
"Whenever this government needs somewhere to cut, it picks the Upfield line, and it picks the northern suburbs," Mr Mulholland said.
The Victorian Greens also criticized the announcement, saying the government had not committed to actually building the project and was delaying much-needed works on the line.
"Labor promised these level crossings would be gone by 2027. Then it was 2030. Now it's 2033 — while communities across the north continue to grow and wait for the infrastructure they were promised," Greens MP Anasina Gray-Barberio said.
The government says the delays will align the work with the duplication of the line in 2033, saving $686 million.