The politics of SRL

Concept art of an SRL train (via Big Build)

In Part 1, we looked at what the Parliamentary Budget Office actually says about the costs of building SRL, and why the media narrative has gotten this wrong. In Part 2 I want to talk more broadly about the politics and messaging of SRL. 

How should we build Melbourne Metro 2?

Diagram of proposed MM2 amongst Melbourne's network (via IV)

Recommendation 61 of Infrastructure Victoria's 30-year strategy is to "Prepare for Melbourne Metro Two and direct Geelong rail services". They're more positive about the project than last time, and it seems the potential for Geelong services to use it has been one of the key things to influence this. But they're less keen on the northern part of the project, recommending it be built in two stages and that the route from Southern Cross to Clifton Hill be reconsidered. Let's take a closer look at this. 

Level crossing-free lines

Union Rd, Surrey Hills (via Philip Mallis)

The government recently announced they'd be grade separating ten more level crossings, bringing it to a total of 85 pledged and/or delivered under the Andrews government. They also announced they'd be closing four crossings, so it's sort of 89, but their messaging consistently says 85 so let's stick with that. As Daniel Bowen pointed out on his blog, this means about half the level crossings in suburban Melbourne on the 2008 ALCAM list will have been eliminated - very impressive. 

Should High Speed Rail be part of a green stimulus?

Australia, and the world, is in the midst of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone is (quite rightly) pretty focused on the task of actually fighting the disease right now. But it is quite clear that this fight will tip us over into a recession - if not a full-blown depression - and so we're starting to see some early thoughts on what kinds of actions governments can take to get the economy moving once we're in that recovery phase.