The design problems and high cost of the Suburban Rail Loop will make it the greatest public transport infrastructure failure in Australia unless it is substantially altered, writes Michael Buxton. | OPINION
The two previous Melbourne attempts at circular railways, the Inner and Outer Circle lines, failed.
Only 15 stations will be provided over the 90-kilometre length of the loop, at an average spacing of six kilometres compared to the average 1.83-kilometre spacing between the 219 existing metro stations. Only four intermediate stations are proposed for the first stage of 26km from Cheltenham to Box Hill, all at major centres and none for the 200,000 residents who live along its route.
The loop will connect major centres, not communities, but these centres will provide only a fraction of CBD jobs.plan. This proposes a range of transit technologies, such as heavy and light rail, using multiple cross-city routes over 223km at a cost of about $31 billion, almost three times the distance of the government’s project for a fraction of the cost.
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