A NEW rail line, linking Melbourne's western suburbs with the city, has won $3.2 billion in federal funding, despite many of the big-ticket items in the Brumby Government's $38 million transport plan missing out on budget cash.
The 44 kilometres of new track disentangles regional and metropolitan trains and will run from west Werribee and Southern Cross station. The rail line or "regional rail express" is the biggest project funded nationally from the Building Australia Fund. It is expected to provide capacity for an extra 9000 regional and suburban rail passengers an hour when completed in 2014.
But the Victorian transport plan's other headline projects, including the $3 billion inner-west road link and the controversial $6 billion north-east "missing link" between the Metropolitan Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway did not receive funding. The federal budget did allocate $40 million — from 2011-12 — for pre-construction work for the rail tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield rail tunnel. Last week's Victorian budget allocated $3 billion in spending for the 12-year transport plan, including funding for the extension of the Epping line to South Morang.
The western suburbs rail link and the Footscray to Caulfield rail tunnel are the two Victorian "priority projects" identified in Sir Rod Eddington's long-awaited list of national infrastructure priorities.
Developing the port of Hastings, improving the rail-freight connection between Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, duplication of the Melton train line and the Frankston Bypass are among the Victorian projects identified as "pipeline projects" with potential.
Sir Rod's report found that these 28 pipeline projects lacked sufficient information to make an assessment, did not provide robust enough analysis or had a timing issue.
In a rebuff to the Brumby Government, there is no funding in the federal budget for the $750 million Frankston bypass.
Premier John Brumby had virtually challenged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to fund the 25-kilometre road, repeatedly saying the project "ticks every box" of the Mr Rudd's nation-building agenda.
The road, to link Carrum Downs with Mount Martha, will now be built as a public-private partnership, with the Victorian Government having committed $354 million to the project in last week's state budget.
The Commonwealth health spend delivered the $426 million promised for the Parkville Comprehensive Cancer Centre, as well as $120 million for the Australian Red Cross Blood Service in Victoria for a blood-products centre.
