Audit shows folly of axing airport rail link
Today’s audit of Victoria’s infrastructure by Infrastructure Australia not only shows the folly of Daniel Andrews’ scrapping of East West Link, it also shows the folly of Labor’s axing of the Airport Rail Link.
The audit finds that congestion costs on the Tullamarine/Airport road corridor are set to become Melbourne’s third highest by 2031, up from eighth highest in 2011. The audit also predicts soaring demand for bus travel to Tullamarine, with a more than three-fold increase by 2031.
Despite this, Labor’s rail plan announced in February axed the airport rail link that was going to be built as part of the Coalition government’s Melbourne Rail Link.
Regrettably, all this leaves Melbourne and Victoria with
– no plans to join the Eastern Freeway to CityLink
– no plans for a second east-west river crossing
– no plans for a rail line to the airport
– no plans to provide rail services to the massive new Fisherman’s Bend development
– 15 more years of CityLink tolls threatened to pay for Premier Andrews’ proposed Western Distributor, and
– no money in last month’s budget for most of Labor’s other big infrastructure promises.
For the full report by Infrastructure Australia, see Australian Infrastructure Audit.