09 May 2012

The Age: Doncaster rail study may lead to more buses


AN IMPROVED bus service along the Eastern Freeway may be the result of the Baillieu government's study into a possible rail line to Doncaster, which is now likely to be leap-frogged by plans for a multibillion-dollar road tunnel linking the freeway and CityLink.  As reported in The Age
Buried in the detail of the Doncaster Rail Study documents is an acknowledgement that rail is not the only option under consideration.
Last week's state budget committed $15 million to the east-west freeway proposal. The government listed the freeway as its top priority in a November 2011 request to Infrastructure Australia for federal funding.
While engineering survey work and geotechnical drilling along a possible freeway route is expected to begin within weeks, the drawn-out $6.5 million Doncaster rail study will not be completed before next year.
The Doncaster rail proposal is also ranked behind two other massive rail projects - the regional rail project to add capacity in Melbourne's west, and the proposed rail tunnel from South Kensington to South Yarra.

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