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. 

Mythbusting the costs of SRL

The Suburban Rail Loop (via PBO)

There's been a lot of political movement on SRL lately, so I thought it was worth a follow-up to my post from last year, to go through some of the myths and misconceptions that have arisen around the project. Today in Part 1 I want to explain why most of the media reporting on the PBO costings is dead wrong, and in Part 2 I'll talk about the political realities of campaiging on a project like this. 

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? 

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.

Why the Airport Rail tunnel should stop at Footscray

Travel Diaries: Barcelona

Having left Singapore, the next stop on my trip was Barcelona. I am normally the kind of person who does an obsessive amount of research on the public transport options before I go somewhere, but for this trip I decided to keep that to a minimum, so that - as much as practical - I could experience it firsthand and see how easy and intuitive it was for the uninformed visitor.