Victorian Suburban Rail Loop: Peter Dutton plans to axe project to fund airport rail link
A $13 billion airport line at the centre of a major infrastructure federal coalition election offering could sound the death knell for a suburban rail loop, if the opposition wins government.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to pump an additional $1.5 billion into Melbourne’s airport rail to shorten travel from the city to half an hour and reduce congestion on the arterial Tullamarine Freeway.
The additional $1.5 billion - which would take the Commonwealth share to $6.5 billion, or half of the estimated cost - would be matched by a future Victorian Coalition Government, Mr Dutton said.
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The catch is that the money will come from the axing of Federal Labor’s $2.2 billion commitment to the suburban rail loop, if the coalition wins the May 3 national election.
That would all but put the final nail in the coffin of the contentious project, as the debt-laden state struggles to find funding.
The contentious suburban loop is a major 90km orbital rail project running from Melbourne’s southeast to the outer west via the Tullamarine airport, with the first stage set to open in 2035.
The airport link is a separate project that would be connected to the massive loop in decades to come.
Premier Jacinta Allen hasn’t been able to explain how the state would make up the funding shortfall if a Federal Liberal Government axed the funding but vowed to continue with the loop regardless of which party took power.
Victoria hoped the federal government would cover a third of the more than $30 billion price tag for the first phase but it has been reticent to do so beyond the $2.2 billion it has already committed.
The independent Infrastructure Australia has called for an “exit strategy” in case it cannot be delivered as costs blow out.
A further $50 million will go towards future public transport in Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs, Mr Dutton said.
The Coalition is scrapping for votes in outer suburbs, especially in the key battleground states of Victoria and NSW.
It comes off the back of Mr Dutton and Nationals Leader David Littleproud announcing $10 million for a new weather radar for western Queensland after visiting the flood-affected area on Monday.
