SRL and the Tsar's Finger

The three phases of the Suburban Rail Loop (via MTIA)

Recent coverage of the secretive origins of the Suburban Rail Loop has highlighted the failures of process that have led to the plans we see today, and has led some people to question whether it's even worth proceeding with the project. So should the project go ahead, and if so, what needs to be improved? 

Re-naming Melbourne's Metro lines

The lines of Melbourne's rail network are generally known by their terminal stations, usually out on the fringes of suburbia. The line between Werribee and the city is known as "the Werribee line", the line between Sunbury and the city is known as "the Sunbury line", and so on. This makes sense at the moment, because Melbourne's rail network is very radial - trains start out on the outer fringes of the urban area, they converge at the CBD, and they turn around and come back out again - in many cases after doing a lap around the City Loop. But the shape of our network is starting to change, so we need to reconsider our naming conventions as well.