Category: Media releases
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Business as usual budget drops the ball on public transport
Victoria is in danger of regressing to a 20th century car-dependent model for transport planning, and needs to renew its ambition on public and active transport, the Public Transport Users Association said today. “After the bold initiatives of 2015 and 2016, this year’s state budget looks more like something from five or ten years ago,”…
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PTUA welcomes study into high speed rail for Geelong
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the state government’s announcement of a study into faster rail services for Geelong. A $50 million study will investigate the possibility of trains running at between 250 and 300km/h between Melbourne and Geelong. PTUA Geelong Branch Convener and Regional Spokesperson, Paul Westcott, said faster trains would provide…
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North East Link plans to kill off Doncaster rail forever
The Public Transport Users Association says that detailed design plans for the North East Link and its accompanying busway include taking over the median reserve for additional car lanes. This will ‘kill stone dead’ any long term plan for trains to run to Doncaster, according to the PTUA. “What’s being proposed is a radical reorganisation…
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PTUA welcomes Coalition commitments to regional rail in western Victoria
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has today welcomed the state Coalition’s commitments to improve regional rail in western Victoria if elected in November. A study commissioned by a group of councils in western Victoria in 2017 called for a swathe of improvements to public transport in their regions, including returning passenger trains to Horsham…
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Put our buses to work for everyone: PTUA responds to Infrastructure Victoria action plan
Melbourne’s buses need to be overhauled to follow the heavy-lifting example set by Melbourne’s trams, the Public Transport Users Association said on Friday. The call comes in response to Infrastructure Victoria’s “Five Year Focus” strategy, which outlines short term actions to tackle Melbourne’s traffic congestion. The report calls on the State Government to make better…
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Show us a plan, and don’t neglect local services, says PTUA
The Victorian Government needs to show the public an integrated plan for moving people and freight. But the government also needs to match its busy infrastructure programme with a commitment to frequent local public transport service, the Victorian Transport Infrastructure Conference heard on Thursday. According to a presentation by Dr Tony Morton, President of the…
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Care urged on Rowville tram proposal: avoid rushing into half measures, says PTUA
The Public Transport Users Association has cautiously welcomed a proposal to develop a new tram line connecting Rowville to Caulfield railway station via Chadstone Shopping Centre. But the PTUA is concerned the project could leave the community worse off in the longer term by precluding a conventional train line along Wellington Road. “The previous government’s…
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Public transport users call for Westgate submarine
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has called for the introduction of a passenger submarine linking the bayside western suburbs of Melbourne with the CBD instead of the controversial Westgate Tunnel. “There’s clear demand for improved public transport in Melbourne’s west,” said PTUA’s maritime spokesperson Daniel Morton. “A passenger submarine can deliver this with minimal…
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PTUA welcomes improvements to Shepparton line
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the government’s announcement that the introduction of a fifth daily train to Shepparton will be brought forward. Enabling work, including a new crossing loop and more train stabling, was originally to be completed by 2020, but the state government announced on Wednesday that construction will begin sooner…
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Regional rail upgrades welcomed
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has welcomed the agreement between the federal and Victorian governments which will see the release of $1.7 billion for improvements to the state’s regional rail network. The PTUA’s Regional Spokesperson, Paul Westcott, said there was a need for significant improvement of the state’s longer-distance regional rail lines. The funding…
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Victoria’s transport planning crisis: Put the public first and end partisan brawling over big infrastructure, says PTUA
The Public Transport Users Association has called for a public interest ‘circuit breaker’ to end the crisis in major infrastructure planning. The call comes amid the scuttling of Transurban’s controversial West Gate Tunnel project by the Legislative Council, which the PTUA says is merely the latest manifestation of a planning crisis in Victoria reaching back…
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Ballarat commuters shortchanged by piecemeal track duplication
The Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) has today criticised the state government’s piecemeal approach to track duplication works near Bacchus Marsh. The Melbourne Metro Authority, which is delivering the Ballarat Line Upgrade (BLU) project, announced changes to the project in December 2017, including changing the location of one of the crossing loops. The project originally…
