Straight from the files of news articles that should’ve been posted 20 years ago, today we learn that the Victorian state government is poised to announce that they’ll be allocating funding for a dedicated train line connecting the CBD to Melbourne Airport. The State Liberal party, headed up by Victorian premier Dr (he’s a vet) Denis Napthine, will outlay plans for the link in the upcoming budget, which is due to be delivered on May 6th, officially placing a finite number on the amount of days you’ll have to rattle around on a Skybus as it barrels down the Tullamarine Freeway.
The proposed plan will see trains running between Southern Cross station on the western fringe of the CBD and the Airport, for a trip that will take around 25 minutes, or a bit over seven consecutive plays of Sugar Ray’s 1999 smash hit “Every Morning.” Using existing infrastructure, the trains will run west to Albion, and a subsequent new extension will then link to the airport. Visitors arriving in Melbourne for the first time will be treated to the visual array of wonder that is Melbourne’s inner west, with landmarks such as the Footscray markets, the shipping yards or South Kensington Station providing them with a taste of the cultural melting pot that is Melbourne, Victoria. Though no longer passing SexyLand when travelling to and from the airport is clearly an issue worthy of mass protest.
The addition of a rail link to the airport increases the likelihood of the much-vaunted Melbourne Metro tunnel going ahead as well, in order to ease the extra congestion on the city loop that increased traffic will yield. The tunnel – an ambitious project that will link the north of the city with South Yarra and St Kilda – is a pet project of the Napthine/Baillieu government. Napthine has a vested interest in digging the tunnel, given that he himself is a bit of a bore.
The Government has not, as of yet, disclosed where the $3billion required for the project will come from, nor have they given any information as to how much a ticket on the proposed airport train will cost. But I’m willing to bet the answers to both of those issues are “somewhere under the couch” and “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”
Photo: Robert Clanfone via Getty Images.
via Herald Sun.
