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The public transport advocacy group for Victoria, Australia
Media Release
18/11/1998
Rail $100 million or freeway $800 million
A train to Monash, Waverley Park and
Rowville must now be considered
A senior transport consultant to the State
Government has conceded that a train line to Rowville may cost as
little as $100 million - a massive $225 less than the rail option
costed by the Department of Infrastructure.
The Public Transport Users' Association says
yesterday's evidence by transport consultant Mr Graham Currie, to
the Scoresby Transport Corridor EES panel hearing, discredits the
Department of Infrastructure role in the EES process.
The PTUA has called for an evaluation of rail
options to Rowville by independent rail engineers.
For many years the State Government has been looking
at extending rail services to Rowville and the 1969 Melbourne
Transportation Plan proposed a route from Huntingdale via Waverley
and Monash University.
A more recent alternative included the partial
undergrounding of an extended Glen Waverley line.
In 1996 Mr Currie prepared preliminary cost
estimates for the two routes, calculating them at Glen Waverley
($85 million) and Huntingdale ($100 million). The department then
re-examined the Glen Waveriey line to find it would cost more than
$325 million, However there was no re-examination of the
Huntingdale option.
On cross-examination before the panel yesterday Mr
Currie acknowledged that a rail extension from Huntingdale may only
cost $100 million.
While the PTUA believes the Glen Waverley figure is
grossly inflated it is more concerned that the alternative cheaper
route via Huntingdale was completely ignored by the department.
The PTUA says the department's failure to consider
the Huntingdale rail option exposed its real agenda - to push
through the Scoresby Freeway at the expense of public transport.
PTUA president Dr Paul Mees, said the $100 million rail extension
must now be evaluated as an option and compared to the $800 million
freeway.
"The fine detail of the EES report show.
that a mere 1.2 per cent increase in public transport patronage
would have the same economic impact, through the reduction of
traffic on local roads, as the Scoresby Freeway.
"There is no doubt that a train to Rowville
would help achieve that 1.2 per cent increase and the benefits
would come at a cost to taxpayers of only $100 million compared to
$8OO million for a freeway,
"Blind Freddie and even the government's own
adviser can see that the train wins over the freeway on both
economic and environmental grounds, yet this opt/on was not
considered.
" We now call on the government to
commission an independent firm of rail engineers to evaluate the
rail options to Rowville'" said Dr Mees.
(Note; Mr Currie works for management consultants
Booz Allen Hamilton)
Contacts:
PTUA Office 9650 7898
Page not found | Public Transport Users Association (Victoria, Australia)