Victoria’s largest public transport project since the City Loop, the Regional Rail Link, has been hit by a two-month delay and will not open until late June.
Trains were scheduled to begin operating along the 45-kilometre link between Southern Cross Station and West Werribee in April but will not do so until June 21 after the government made a surprise decision last week to delay the link’s opening.
According to the state government, a shortage of available V/Line trains forced it to defer the opening of the $4.3 billion project, the first major expansion of the state’s rail network in more than 30 years. It will include new stations at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale.
The eight-week delay will hold back until June wholesale changes planned to Melbourne’s train, tram and bus timetables.
Labor has blamed the delay on the former Napthine government, accusing it of planning to open the link without enough trains to run a full timetable.
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said in a statement that: “If RRL was introduced in April, as the former Coalition government had planned, any delay in rolling stock delivery or train faults would mean service cancellations and chaos for commuters.
“The bungled order for rolling stock shows that the Liberals and Nationals don’t have a head for public transport or a heart for regional services.”
But Opposition public transport spokesman David Hodgett said the government should stop “making excuses” for its problems.
“All we hear from Daniel Andrews is either excuses like Regional Rail Link or lies like over the East West Link compensation,” he said.
“So my advice to Daniel Andrews is to stop making excuses, start being honest and get to work for Victorians.”
The Regional Rail Link will help relieve rail congestion in the west by giving V/Line trains from Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo dedicated paths in and out of the city. The separation of Metro and V/Line trains will create capacity for extra metropolitan services, particularly along the chronically overcrowded Werribee line.
A fleet of 43 new VLocity train carriages, ordered by the Napthine government, is being manufactured by Bombardier in Dandenong. The first of the three-car trains entered service in October.
