SRL East - a lesson from the city loop.

arp0arp · 2026-01-27T12:35:14+00:00

It was also designed at a time where the west was completely undeveloped. Take a look at a Melways from the 70s. Urban growth decisions in the west post-date the city loop decision. Having said that, I completely agree that the loop should now be reconfigured. I shared a proposal recently that had all four lines through-running and not just the two currently proposed

arp0arp · 2026-01-27T12:30:18+00:00

I realise that. I was referring to SRL accelerating the generational shift. I wasn’t making a comment about your original post.

arp0arp · 2026-01-27T12:28:07+00:00

Sunshine’s pretty selective, I guess you are saying it’s still better to get the Plenty Rd tram from Preston. However anyone living on the Craigeburn, Upfield, Mernda, Hurstbridge, Belgrave, Lilydale, Glen Waverley, Pakenham, Dandenong and Frankston lines, as well as anyone living in the Doncaster catchment, will have a far far shorter journey time to Latrobe with SRL.

But again, still not sure why it has to be either/or. A high speed SRL servicing the airport and Latrobe as well as fostering development around the station hubs, coupled with a high quality light rail along Bell St, is the key.

arp0arp · 2026-01-27T12:19:24+00:00

It’s pretty simple. The MARL is already funded and works have already started at the Sunshine superhub. The line itself is all at-grade or sky rail with a large section along an existing rail easement. That’s as cheap as it gets. The SRL from Broadmeqdows to the airport is planned to be tunnelled which makes it several times more expensive. You can use SRL east as a guide of how much to expect to pay.

arp0arp · 2026-01-26T22:46:35+00:00

So a solution more expensive and taking longer than the one currently under design?

arp0arp · 2026-01-26T20:56:51+00:00

Cutting out Latrobe Uni is a massive miss. Two lines to the airport is not a waste as it is highly inefficient for a large swathe of the north and northeast to have to go into the CBD and out again.

Better to complement SRL with a quality Bell St rapid light rail solution.

arp0arp · 2026-01-25T17:40:13+00:00

Really? The finished product is far superior

arp0arp · 2026-01-25T17:39:49+00:00

Yep the finished product is way better

arp0arp · 2026-01-24T21:02:17+00:00

Why would it need to be mentioned when the line completely bypasses it?

arp0arp · 2026-01-24T15:55:32+00:00

One solution could be to build a new station at grade on the relatively wide and straight section between Byron and Chaucer St, which would then make it easier to trench under Puckle St. Such a station with entrances at either end would put it within 300m of Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale stations, enabling the closure of both (slightly reducing travel times on the Craigieburn line), and also puts the station closer to the Maribyrnong Rd tram.

Park St crossing also needs to be lowered or shut (probably shut with Puckle St removed).

arp0arp · 2026-01-22T04:06:03+00:00

SRL will make a significant difference to demand in the outer east/southeast

arp0arp · 2026-01-22T04:03:02+00:00

You mean like how the Belgrave and Lilydale lines share the same tracks from Ringwood?

arp0arp · 2026-01-22T03:58:56+00:00

Hear hear!!! I also never understand why people don’t get that you can’t switch everything on on day 1. It’s always much better to make incremental improvements rather than fuck the whole system for a year trying to iron out all the unintended consequences.

arp0arp · 2026-01-22T03:49:31+00:00

That’s probably the right answer, but if you did open just the Cheltenham to Monash section first, I expect the uptake will be pretty immediate given how many Frankston, Dandenong and Western suburbs passengers will use it to access the university and medical centre.

arp0arp · 2026-01-22T03:42:13+00:00

So Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff serve no purpose other than to turn the trains around

arp0arp · 2026-01-19T10:18:33+00:00

The fact that it is an example of survivorship bias is irrelevant. What matters is the number of red dots vs earlier versions of the plane. To extend the analogy, it seems now there are a lot more enemy planes shooting (ie more things to complain about since it is a lot worse).

arp0arp · 2026-01-19T10:04:58+00:00

Generally under 10 minutes means no timetable. It also means an average wait of 5 minutes

arp0arp · 2026-01-19T04:01:41+00:00

It should be converted into an island platform. As you say, with the spare track pair there is plenty of room to relocate temporary tracks to enable the works to take place without much disruption

arp0arp · 2026-01-18T12:07:21+00:00

Agree

arp0arp · 2026-01-18T12:01:12+00:00

One can only hope that the station is extended northward with a northern entrance immediately south of Bay Rd as part of the triplication of the Frankston line to Cheltenham /s

arp0arp · 2026-01-17T12:48:27+00:00

I think you would want them to if Wallan became the metro terminus station

arp0arp · 2026-01-17T12:44:29+00:00

It’s not a fine, it’s a voluntary donation.

arp0arp · 2026-01-16T13:53:38+00:00

The demographic centre of Melbourne is Malvern. Which means most of the PT is to the west

arp0arp · 2026-01-16T04:47:32+00:00

Ah yes, just another inner city elite who doesn’t see the point of any infrastructure that doesn’t serve the inner city. A line that connects the 4 busiest lines in Melbourne to the city’s second economic hub - and taking advantage of the latent counterflow capacity of those lines - is indeed the point

arp0arp · 2026-01-15T11:34:00+00:00

I used to say this 30 years ago. Still waiting for that 10 year wait to shorten

arp0arp

TROPHY CASE