From: "Brian May" <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au>
On 7 May 2014 22:29, Peter < Petros.Listig@fdrive.com.au > wrote:
The "re-engineered" Metro Rail will not enter the tunnel north of the CBD, instead it is planned to go from South Yarra via Domain to Fishermans Bend and... voila - appear at Southern Cross. From there a new Airport Link will go through Footscray and Sunshine - so will leave Southern Cross the "North Melbourne" way.
Make sure you are well informed before the criticise the MRL.
See: http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/projects/melbourne-rail-link
Well, as a "cheap point" to start with: What does our government know about it? http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/premier-off-track-on-location-of-new-monta... "Hours after Premier Denis Napthine said the Montague station would be at Southbank, Planning Minister Matthew Guy held a press conference to insist the station would be at Fishermans Bend." The same type of ignorance of facts occurred when Naphtine introduced the East West Link. He had no idea was his government was planning. I ask you to look at the plan - what does it do to relieve pressure on the Southern Cross to North Melbourne link? E.g http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/121257/Melbourne... , page 4. Nothing! In the meantime, land next to North Melbourne station is earmarked for residential development. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/new-cbd-suburb-egate-20140425-zqz8c.html At the moment it is used by Metro and industrial railway towards the Port. Amongst others it feeds the Bunbury tunnel in Footscray which was considered as part of the Regional Rail Link at one stage.
As well as a much needed link to the airport.
At the moment there is a Skybus reaching the Airport in ca. 20 minutes, and leaving Southern Cross every 10 minutes. In the future you can take a train via Footscray/Sunshine. a: Try it in 20 minutes b: try it in 20 minutes and need 15 minutes between Southern Cross to pass North Melbourne only. Well, you may possibly wish your Skybus back;-) Okay, they will most likely have "right of way" to "show off" the success - so I will see you taking your train to the airport once in a year while I am stuck every day on the way to work. At the moment some of the trains are not even usable for me: the trains (coming every 20 minutes) are declared "express" so they reach the last station on time. Good for Metro's punctuality bonus - bad for me as a user "served" by Metro.
What a pity that it is already overcrowded there..
The 109 tram is also overcrowded towards Point Cook. So you could use the same arguments here.
The 109 runs from from Port Melbourne eastwards to Box Hill, not to Point Cook. The Airport Link goes through North Melbourne.
The media has lost the point, it isn't just a tunnel, it is a complete redesign of how many lines use the city loop, making it more consistent and less confusing in the process (e.g. the 'new' loop pair will be bidirectional and won't change direction at midday every day).
Well, the proposal above promises designated tracks for all lines using the City Loop. AFAIK there are four tracks only. I invite you to walk the streets, drive the roads, take your bike or catch the train I am using. They include most of the the area covered by the proposals central to Melbourne's infrastructure development. Look at the locations, the state our infrastructure is in and where we can extend it. The current plans are made by aliens, it seems to me. And they are financially ridiculous: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/east-west-funding-part-of-a-bumpy-road-for-... The East West Link is three times the cost of the Wonthaggi desalination plant, which will cost Melbourne water users some $18.6 billion over the life of the public private partnership. The East West Link PPP will cost $36.1 billion to $41.7 billion over the 20-year life of the PPP, based on whether the discount rate (effective interest expense) is 8 to 10 per cent. According to the budget papers, existing PPPs worth $7.8 billion are paying $770 million a year, equal to 9.8 per cent. This is possibly more of a financial time bomb for Victoria's future than any budget deficit. In fact it a huge debt dressed up as a "surplus". We may have a "surplus" these days but end up with a Greek budget crisis in the future which will it truly make unpleasant to live here. The problem: Try to explain it to the public to stop this madness. It needs reading more than just a headline and a catchy phrase... But it will not bother Naphtine. He will be in comfortable retirement then, I am sure. Regards Peter