Ms VAGHELA (Western Metropolitan): My adjournment matter is directed to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, the Honourable Jacinta Allan, MP. The action I seek from the minister is to provide an update on how the Andrews Labor government will make sure that the Suburban Rail Loop caters to the demands of the growing population of the Western Metropolitan Region. The Suburban Rail Loop is a remarkable project which will completely change the Victorian public transport system. The Suburban Rail Loop will connect Melbourne’s middle suburbs to priority growth precincts and link all Victorians to major health, education and employment centres. The 90-kilometre rail link will connect every major railway line from the Frankston line to the Werribee line via Melbourne Airport, easing demand on existing lines and shifting more Melburnians out of their cars. Infrastructure is near and dear to my heart, and I believe that well-designed infrastructure projects like the Suburban Rail Loop will bring prosperity not only to Western Metropolitan Region but to the whole city of Melbourne. When it is finished, the people living in Western Metropolitan Region will not need to travel through the centre of Melbourne to access jobs. High-growth economic precincts outside the CBD will have access to talent all over Melbourne, thanks to the Suburban Rail Loop. I want to encourage all Victorians to have their say on all elements of the project through a community survey and the local pop-ups that have begun along stage 1 of the Suburban Rail Loop.
RESPONSE:
Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure) (29 October 2019): I thank the Member for Western Metropolitan for raising the adjournment on the transformative impact the Suburban Rail Loop will have on Victoria’s public transport system. As Melbourne’s population grows, driven by people attracted to our city’s liveability, the western suburbs will continue to be amongst the fastest growing areas. The Andrews Labor Government is committed to supporting this growth through a number of public transport infrastructure projects that will meet future capacity and demand and provide new ways for people in Melbourne’s west to travel around Melbourne. The Suburban Rail Loop will transform the way people move around Melbourne by establishing a direct rail connection between Melbourne’s major employment, health, education and activity precincts outside the central business district. It will take cars off our congested roads and connect our growth precincts, creating new opportunities for Victorians to work, study and play in areas that were once-thought of as being too difficult to reach by public transport. Detailed planning and design work for Suburban Rail Loop and Melbourne Airport Rail is well underway and stakeholder and community consultation for the projects has begun. The Andrews Labor Government continues to be committed to supporting population growth and development in Melbourne’s west, through its comprehensive planned major transport infrastructure investments for the region, including delivering a new rail link to Melbourne Airport and planning underway for faster rail to Geelong and Ballarat, which will boost capacity to key western suburbs including Melton and Wyndham.