By Charlene Macaulay
Wyndham Vale could receive its own electrified metropolitan train line under a state government election promise to deliver fast rail to the regions and more metro services to growth suburbs.
Premier Daniel Andrews said if re-elected this November, the Labor party would spend $100 million developing a business case for the Western Rail Plan, which includes the full separation of regional and metro train services on the Geelong and Ballarat lines by building electric rail tracks from the city to Wyndham Vale and Melton.
Two new stations would also be built at Melton and Wyndham Vale, while a potential connection from Wyndham Vale to Werribee is also on the cards and could form the western section of Labor’s proposed Suburban Rail Loop.
This means that instead of V/Line trains sharing track with metro trains, the services would run express from the city to Wyndham Vale and Melton along a separate stretch of track to allow faster services and patronage growth.
Regionally, it means train trips from Geelong to Melbourne would also be streamlined down to 45 minutes.
According to government data, patronage of Wyndham trains has jumped from 95,000 monthly boardings in 2015 to 166,000 boardings in 2018.
Construction of the $150 million plan would start by 2022 and take about a decade to complete.
Mr Andrews said the growth of Melbourne’s western suburbs meant the train network needed an overhaul.
He said this project was the missing link that would integrate the Metro Tunnel, Airport Rail Link and proposed Suburban Rail Loop.
“This plan will deliver the transformation that our state needs – electrification of rail lines out to the west, and fast rail to Geelong and Ballarat, returning country trains to country communities,” he said.
The announcement comes a fortnight after the state opposition vowed to build a European-style high speed rail link between Geelong and Melbourne if the Coalition wins government.
Under the Coalition plan, which is expected to cost between $15-$19 billion, the Geelong Metro project would re-establish a direct train service between Geelong and Werribee, with a service from Werribee to Waurn Ponds via Geelong.
