To understand the Sunshine upgrade as proposed by Labor, it helps to think of the project as a level crossing removal or the transformation of a busy road into a freeway.
Sunshine sits at the meeting point of multiple regional and suburban rail lines coming from Victoria’s west, including 70 per cent of the V/Line network.
The tracks around the station are like a busy traffic intersection where trains are sometimes forced to wait to get into the correct “lane” or reach the platform.
The Sunshine project aims to solve these problems by redesigning the network along a six-kilometre stretch of rail so that regional trains, suburban services and freight are kept on their own separate paths. Doing so will make room for 40 trains an hour.
This includes building a series of rail bridges that will steer trains onto the correct track without having to cut across the path of others. The Level Crossing Removal Project, which has been performing a similar task across 110 different Victorian intersections, is the department delivering the upgrade.
A new pair of tracks will also be built between Sunshine and West Footscray to make this untangling process more simple and add capacity for more trains. Sunshine station will be expanded, with two new platforms accommodating these tracks and receiving most V/Line routes.
By making these changes, V/Line trains will converge more simply onto regional rail tracks towards Southern Cross Station while suburban services from the airport, Sunbury and eventually Melton will funnel onto the same path directly into the Metro Tunnel.
V/Line services that are currently forced to skip Sunshine because of capacity constraints will all be able to stop at the station.
This is why it is being touted as a regional “super hub” where a passenger from Bendigo headed to Geelong would always be able to transfer trains without having to travel into the CBD.
Other improvements include the extension of high-capacity signalling, used for Metro Tunnel services, past West Footscray and out to Sunshine, allowing trains to run much closer together and more frequently.
An electrified Melton line will also have high-capacity signalling in sections. The project adds a connection point in the network that means suburban Melton trains can plug into the new system without significant further work around Sunshine.
The federal opposition’s plan for the precinct does not specifically include the Melton electrification, new track pair or rail bridges, but would preserve improvements for regional passengers outlined in the Airport Rail business case. This document proposed adding an extra platform for V/Line services.
Victorian Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams told The Age the disruptive nature of the project meant it needed to be done in one go, with Sunshine the most complex part of the network outside the CBD.
“It’s incredibly short-sighted. It will set the west back significantly ... You would be putting back Melton electrification by over 10 years,” she said.
“This is one of Australia’s fastest growing regions. You can’t plan for more services along that corridor, and the Wyndham Vale corridor as well, unless you do this work to make that happen.
“I don’t think westies who live on this side of town, whether it be in the regions or in the suburbs, deserve a half-baked option.”
The Victorian government first proposed the electrification of the Melton line in 2018, but since then, the region is yet to receive a firm commitment on when it would be delivered.
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Infrastructure Victoria this year has recommended work on the project begin by 2030, warning the Western Freeway will be over capacity in the next five to six years, and crowding on peak-hour Melton trains will increase by 50 per cent between 2031 and 2041.
A Liberal spokesperson said there were serious questions around the $4 billion proposal and if elected the Coalition would “assess the business case, projected works, and the cost of the proposed Sunshine Station redevelopment to ensure infrastructure funds are being spent prudently”.
“The cost of upgrades at Sunshine station at present is being driven by the Allan government’s SRL gold-plated scoping requirements,” the spokesperson said.
“The Coalition will not progress the Suburban Rail Loop.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to withdraw $2.2 billion in federal funds committed by Labor to SRL East, an underground rail line from Cheltenham to Box Hill.
Melbourne Airport Rail has been described as one part of the larger Melbourne-wide rail loop and was even rebranded SRL Airport by Daniel Andrews ahead of the 2022 state election. It is being managed by a different government agency.
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