Next Steps For North East Rail Line Upgrade
23 May 2018
Victorian Government:
Community consultation is about to
commence on the $235 million
North East Line upgrade Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack
and Victorian Minister for Public Transport and Major Projects Jacinta
Allan said today.
Mr McCormack said the North East line steering committee, chaired by
Transport for
Victoria, met this week with partners including the
ARTC, V/Line,
Public Transport Victoria,
Rail Projects Victoria and
VicTrack, with discussions continuing to
be productive between all parties.
“The Committee is finalising the scope of works and delivery schedule,
which will include an independent review of the works by Monash
University, to provide further rigour and assurance that the scope will
deliver on the Commonwealth’s $235 million commitment to upgrade the
line to achieve Victorian Class 2 standard performance,” Mr McCormack
said.
“This will support the running of new modern trains on the line which
the Victorian Government has committed to delivering.
“Community consultation on the works will begin in less than a
fortnight, with the ARTC and Transport for Victoria to present at the
upcoming Hume Corridor Passenger group meeting on Thursday 24 May to
provide an update on the North East Rail Line project.”
Consultation will continue for several weeks in the lead up to the
release of the delivery schedule.
Mr McCormack said community engagement was essential in the project’s
delivery and said the Committee was committed to hearing from community
leaders and other key stakeholders to finalise the upcoming schedule of
community engagement.
“Separate to the North East Victorian line upgrade, I am also pleased to
advise the ARTC are investing in additional track tamping works
throughout May and June to improve V/Line passenger service
performance.”
Victorian Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan welcomed the
progress made by the steering committee and the cooperation with the
ARTC to consider options to improve the immediate passenger experience.
“With several train faults, delays and cancellations over a number of
months, the Victorian Government has also asked V/Line to review the
causes and provide advice on what steps needed to be taken to provide a
better service for both passengers and staff,” Ms Allan said.
“There are a range of factors that contribute to poor V/Line performance
such as track condition, signalling faults, passenger delays and rolling
stock maintenance. This data is also being used to inform and prioritise
the scope of works and the delivery schedule for the North East Line
project.
“It’s great to see community consultation commencing and agencies
working together on what we can do now to provide a better passenger
experience.
“Once we have the scope and schedule of works finalised, the Victorian
Government will know the timeframe for new trains to be ready on the
upgraded track.”
The North East Line upgrade is part of the $1.7 billion Regional Rail
Revival program.
--ENDS--
Source: Victorian Government - www.premier.vic.gov.au
Contact: N/A
External Links: www.regionalrailrevival.vic.gov.au
Recent news by: Victorian Government