“A train line to Rowville in Melbourne’s outer east was first proposed in 1969. But five decades later in the federal electorate of Aston, the car is still king.”
“A train line to Rowville in Melbourne’s outer east was first proposed in 1969. But five decades later in the federal electorate of Aston, the car is still king.”
@AussieWirraway @ajsadauskas@lemmy.ml Since it was first proposed, there have been a number of reports that have looked into it.
A fatal flaw is that many assumed that modal share for public transport would not increase over the buses.
So in that time, the state and federal governments have wasted literally billions on building EastLink, widening the Monash freeway, Wellington Rd, Ferntree Gully Rd, Stud Rd, and other stroads in the area.
And during peak hour, they’re all congested because of induced demand.
It’s still happening
The state government is either currently, or has recently, looked at a number of road upgrades in the area, including an extension of Dorset Rd, widening of Napoleon Rd, Henderson Rd and Wellington Rd.
https://engage.vic.gov.au/dorset-road-extension-napoleon-road-upgrade
https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/projects?Project_id=100910-18VIC-UCO
https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/planning-and-projects/melbourne-road-projects/henderson-road-and-kelletts-road-intersection-upgrade
So the state has wasted billions of dollars by not building the Rowville railway, and is in the process of throwing good money after bad with more roads.
Rail to Rowville shouldn’t be a higher priority than the Airport link or a tunnel from Newport to Clifton Hill, but it should definitely be on the list.
As for SRL, it substantially improves the value proposition of that project by strengthening the network effect. (2/2)