Melbourne Metro

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<h2>Comment</h2>

The Victorian Government, freshly re-elected a year ago for another term, has a very large program of public transport projects that will impact on various suburban centres over the next few decades. 

Arden, Sunshine and Box Hill are three suburbs developers, property buyers and renters should keep an eye on.

The redevelopment of Arden will centre around a public transport project already under construction (Melbourne Metro) and Sunshine and Box Hill, based on publicly available information, will attract intense focus from projects that have their respective business cases underway (Melbourne Airport Rail Link and the Suburban Rail Loop).

The Melbourne Metro project that was initiated during the first term has recently entered the primary tunneling phase with two of four tunnel boring machines now working their way westward under the city.  The launching pad for the first two TBMs is located at the site of the future North Melbourne (née Arden) station, an area where the state government is a major landholder and one the state government has expressed an interest in 'doing things differently'.

In 2018 the Victorian Planning Authority released the <a href="https://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/arden/">Arden Vision</a> which outlines how the "Victorian Government and the city of Melbourne are committed to preparing in partnership land use and transport planning frameworks to coordinate and guide planning to 2050".

According to the vision document, North Melbourne station will open in 2025 and major development of the land surrounding the new station will begin shortly thereafter.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/pictures/article-images/arden_vision_2018.png" rel="gallery-all" title="The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="409" src="/s3/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/arden_vision_2018.png?itok=kC-25X3b" title="The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The Arden Vision. Image Vic.gov.au</figcaption></figure>Apart from the ongoing level crossing removal program, all other major public transport projects that are likely to leave an impact on land surrounding new stations are in various stages of planning and design.

Extending the Frankston railway line to Baxter has a business case under development expected to be completed by 2019.  Construction to duplicate the Cranbourne line will begin in 2021 with completion scheduled for 2023; the state government has also said this project is required before work can get underway to extend the Cranbourne line to Clyde.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link, the Suburban Rail Loop, the Western Rail Plan and initiatives to speed up trains to Geelong and Ballarat are four inter-related projects that have all been appropriated funds from the state budget that will see reference designs and business cases completed over the next 12-18 months.

<h2>All railways lead to Sunshine</h2>

We've said it before, and we're saying it again - cast your gaze westward to Sunshine.  Excluding central Melbourne, no other suburb in metropolitan Melbourne will see as much intensive new rail infrastructure and services in the foreseeable future.

The Regional Rail Link project from a decade ago routed connections to Victoria's second, third and fourth-largest cities through Sunshine and the Western Rail Plan looks set to expand on regional and metropolitan rail separation possibly through the quadruplication and (partial) electrification of railways between Sunshine and Deer Park, Deer Park to Wyndham Vale and Deer Park to Melton.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link had its route confirmed via Sunshine and what's known as the 'Albion corridor' (the stretch of railway used primarily for freight between Albion station and Broadmeadows station) and Sunshine likewise appears on maps for the Suburban Rail Loop.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/sunshine-vic?embeddable=list-map" width="100%"></iframe>

If the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, Suburban Rail Loop, Western Rail Plan and higher-speed trains to Geelong and Ballarat proceed - whether all at the same time or in a sequential fashion - Sunshine will have the best suburban connectivity to other parts of the metropolitan area and regional Victoria.

<h2>Box Hill is already flying high</h2>

Box Hill has always garnered our interest.  The railway lines that run through Box Hill on their way to the city are unlike other major corridors like Dandenong and Sunshine because there will be minimal greenfields development within the Lilydale and Belgrave branch catchments.

In short, the only population growth throughout the whole eastern corridor can only be catered for through higher-density development.  And the numbers speak for themselves.

Box Hill has at least 35 projects contained within a 1 square kilometre grid centred around the Box Hill station and Box Hill Central shopping centre.  Further up the line at Ringwood, where both Lilydale and Belgrave lines converge to provide a very high frequency of service all the way through the inner and middle rings of eastern Melbourne, has at least <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/ringwood-vic">19 high-density projects</a> in the pipeline.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="500" scrolling="no" src="https://www.urban.com.au/developments/box-hill-vic?embeddable=list-map" width="100%"></iframe>

The Victorian Premier has already publicly announced the Suburban Rail Loop, despite its business case and reference design currently underway, will be split in two phases through the east and north of the metropolitan area.  The first phase will run from Cheltenham on the Frankston line to Box Hill, servicing Clayton, Monash University and employment precinct, Glen Waverley and Deakin University located just south of Box Hill.

The second phase of the Suburban Rail Loop extending from Box Hill to Tullamarine Airport would then create a major node, accessible to and from the north, south, east and west via heavy rail, in an area that already has a large concentration of jobs and retail activity and an area that already supports major increases in residential density.

We'll be watching the release of each public transport business case with great interest.

Lead image credit: metrotunnel.vic.gov.au
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Alastair Taylor

Arden, Sunshine and Box Hill: three Melbourne suburbs to watch 

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As excavation gets underway at Anzac Station as part of the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, the Andrews Government has also announced the beginning of soil testing to help inform the detailed Business Case for Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

The Melbourne Airport Rail Link (MARL) will extend from the CBD to Melbourne Airport via Sunshine and form the north-western section of the Suburban Rail Loop.

Geotechnical drilling is the latest stage of preliminary works for the project and will be used to establish ground conditions and soil quality. The investigations involve drilling boreholes up to 25 centimetres in diameter and 45 metres deep to collect soil and rock samples.

Rail Projects Victoria, which will oversee delivery of MARL, is undertaking the investigations at six sites around the M80 Ring Road in Tullamarine and near the Maribyrnong River to guide further planning of the preferred Sunshine route. Each investigation is expected to take two weeks to complete.

The works will inform the Business Case currently being prepared which will include assessment of design and construction options for the new rail line, with further testing set to occur later this year.

The Andrews Government has committed up to $5 billion to build the link, with the Federal Government  also committing funding to the project. The total cost of the project will be determined in the full Business Case and is estimated in the range of $8-$13 billion.

Construction of Melbourne Airport Rail Link is scheduled to start in 2022, subject to required approvals with construction expected to take up to nine years.

A market-led proposal dubbed AirRail Melbourne is being assessed by the Government in parallel to the Business Case being prepared. AirRail Melbourne claims construction could be brought forward to 2021 under their proposal.

Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan visited the future Anzac Station site on St Kilda Road today, where excavation on the 300-metre-long, 30-metre wide, and 22-metre-deep station box is ramping up.

Temporary closure of St Kilda Road between Dorcas Street and Kings Way/Toorak Road West will occur on Monday 4 February, from 1:30am-5:00am, to relocate large construction equipment.

An acoustic shed will be built over the northern section of the Anzac Station site in mid-2019 to contain dust and noise as hundreds of workers remove around 400,000 tonnes of rock and soil to build the new station.

According to the State Government, suitable topsoil and excavated material will be re-used wherever possible in collaboration with community groups, local government and industry. This includes rehabilitating old quarries, improving public open space and supporting other suitable construction projects.

<h2>What they say...</h2>

<blockquote>
We’re not wasting a minute building the Metro Tunnel – excavation is now underway at every station and the massive tunnel boring machines will be digging under Melbourne by the end of the year.

The Metro Tunnel will create space to run more trains, slash travel times, and connect areas such as Domain and Parkville to the network for the first time.

- Premier Daniel Andrews
</blockquote>

 

<blockquote>
Whether it’s the Airport Rail Link, the Metro Tunnel, removing level crossings or planning for the Suburban Rail Loop – we’re getting it done. 

The Metro Tunnel will not only deliver more trains more often – it will create thousands of local jobs and kick-start the careers of hundreds of young Victorians.

We’ve made sure the Airport Rail Link will benefit all Victorians – delivering a new super-hub at Sunshine and paving the way for fast rail to the regions.

It will deliver wider benefits beyond simply moving tourists and business people between the CBD and the airport. It will help us transform the way people live, work and travel right across Victoria.

- Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan
</blockquote>

Lead image: AirRail Melbourne + Cross Yarra Partnership
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Laurence Dragomir

Drilling underway for Airport Link as excavation commences at ANZAC Station

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Major construction works have begun on the site of the new Parkville Station with the Acting Premier and Minister for Transport Infrastructure marking the occasion with a site visit last week.

Parkville, one of the five stations to be built as part of the Melbourne Metro project, will have a station box measuring 270 metres long, 30 metres wide and 30 metres deep, excavated over the course of 2019.

Initial excavation will be limited to digging three metres down where a temporary concrete and steel deck will be constructed that will protect the surrounding area from further dust and noise during the bulk of the excavation period.

The remainder of the excavation at Parkville will include trucks removing spoil through a ramp that will be constructed under the temporary deck. Rail Projects Victoria (previously known as the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Authority) published the video below on its YouTube channel recently to illustrate how the excavation process will work.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="400" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SqQr4xsnW5U" width="100%"></iframe>

According to the Acting Premier and Minister for Transport Infrastructure, excavation will run through to the end of the year at which point construction of the platforms and concourses will then commence.

Separately, the Metro Tunnel website is now carrying a page which <a href="https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/construction/building-the-tunnels-and-stations/tunnel-boring-machines/tbm-tracker">tracks the journey</a> of the first TBM from China to Melbourne.

Upon arrival at the Port of Melbourne, the TBM components will be trucked to the first launch site at North Melbourne (née Arden), where it will be set off to begin tunnelling under the city.

Four TBMs will be used on the project overall, with the third and fourth TBMs to be launched from Anzac (née Domain) station on St. Kilda Road where reportedly the TBMs will first make their way toward the eastern portal at South Yarra.
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Major construction kicks off at Parkville's new station

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Major construction on one of the Metro Tunnel's CBD stations has begun with the newly re-elected Premier joining Metro Tunnel boss Evan Tattersall inspecting the equipment that's set to get the job done in the CBD.

The parts of the machine were lowered 30 metres underground through the access shafts that have been built underneath the acoustic sheds that adorn the area around the state library station.  

Reassembled underground, the road header machines are set to mine their way through the rock underneath the CBD to create the access points and overall cavern for the State Library station that will connect with Melbourne Central station.

According to the state government, 6 machines in total will be used for both CBD stations - State Library and Town Hall that will connect to Flinders Street - with the second and third machine set to begin work on the State Library station site next year.

Approximately 1,500 tonnes of rock will be mined per day once all three machines are operating that will yield the equivalent of 70 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of spoil upon completion of construction.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/state_library.jpeg" rel="gallery-all" title="The Premier and Melbourne Metro CEO Evan Tattersall inspect the new road header machine"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="435" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/state_library.jpeg?itok=Mf-f09hC" title="The Premier and Melbourne Metro CEO Evan Tattersall inspect the new road header machine" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The Premier and Melbourne Metro CEO Evan Tattersall inspect the new road header machine</figcaption></figure>The same machines will build the shorter stretch of tunnel between both stations while the rest of the tunneling both north and south of the CBD stations will use Tunnel Boring Machines.

Cut and cover 'station pits' are currently under construction at Anzac, Parkville and North Melbourne (née Arden).  Two TBMs will be launched from North Melbourne station heading westwards first to the tunnel entrance, disassembled, brought back to North Melbourne station and then reassembled and set off in an easterly direction toward Parkville station.

At Parkville, the TBMs will be dragged through the station pit and then set off southwards to State Library station.

Two more TBMs will be launched from Anzac station firstly heading south-easterly to the eastern tunnel entrance and like at the western tunnel entrance, the TBMs will be disassembled, brought back to Anzac station and then set off in a northerly direction under the Yarra to Town Hall station.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cYyi0UzdVRk" width="100%"></iframe>
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CBD Metro tunnel station construction begins

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Victorian Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan, has marked the start of construction at the Parkville station site while also announcing Spring Street has signed the final contract to deliver the Metro Tunnel project. 

The Rail Infrastructure Alliance contract has a value of $1 billion that covers the construction of the eastern and western portals that connect the tunnel and surface tracks.

A consortium of John Holland, CPB Contractors and AECOM have been selected as the preferred bidders to deliver the RIA package.

On top of construction of the dive structures in South Yarra and Kensington, the appointed consortium will be responsible for rolling out the new high capacity signaling system between Tottenham and the Western Portal as well as between Caulfield and the Eastern Portal according to the original contract <a href="https://gateway.icn.org.au/project/3958/rail-projects-victoria-rail-infrastructure-alliance-ria">scope</a>.

<blockquote>
The RIA also includes works on train lines out in the suburbs to maximise the benefits of the Metro Tunnel and take full advantage of the extra capacity it creates.

Public spaces near the eastern tunnel portal, including South Yarra Siding Reserve, Lovers Walk and Osborne Street Reserve, will be rejuvenated as part of these works before being returned to the local community once tunnel entrance works are complete.
<cite>Spring Street media release</cite>
</blockquote>

The 'works on train lines out in the suburbs' referred to above, according to the tender's original scope, relate to construction an extra platform at West Footscray, adding driver amenities at Oakleigh, improvements to the Frankston line tracks between Caulfield and South Yarra and the construction of rail network redundancy crossovers in the vicinity of the eastern and western tunnel portals.

Construction underway at the Parkville station site is focused on creating underground support structures to enable further excavation to occur.  Approximately 200,000 cubic metres of rock and soil will eventually be removed to create the Parkville station pit below Grattan Street.

The other major contracts that have been signed related to early works which have been ongoing since 2016 and the primary civil, build-and-operate contract that relates to creating the tunnel and stations.

The Premier visited the manufacturing site for the TBMs on a recent trade mission to China in late May.

Outside the scope of the Metro Tunnel project but related to its operations, the Victorian Government has also signed a $2 billion contract to build a dedicated fleet of trains for the Pakenham, Cranbourne and Sunbury lines as well as signing a $1 billion rail systems alliance contract which will see a modern communications-based train control high capacity signaling system on track between Watergardens and Dandenong.

According to the Minister for Public Transport, the new tunnel and associated extra capacity created on other lines, the Metro Tunnel project will create room for a further 100,000 peak passenger trips each weekday.

Early works on the tunnel portals will begin later this year.
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$1 billion contract to construct tunnel portals on the Melbourne Metro project signed

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The Victorian Government has announced planning changes in order to move forward with its Inclusionary Housing Pilot that will deliver 100 new social housing dwellings and works to update ageing rail infrastructure in Melbourne's south-east will throw up another round of train replacements.

Victorian Planning Minister, Richard Wynne, announced amendments to local planning schemes for four different sites in Boronia, Broadmeadows, Parkville and Wodonga that move pilot sites forward and the government anticipates adding up to 100 new social housing dwellings as part of its programme.

"We need to build and invest in liveable communities and make the most of the land we already have, and this pilot will create up to 100 new social housing homes to support our most vulnerable," the Planning Minister said.

The amendments relate to the introduction of new zones, overlays that will preserve vegetation, ensure adequate traffic and parking management, provide public open space and ensure the proposed developments respond to local neighbourhood character.

In Broadmeadows, a 7,500 square metre park will be created for the local community's use and in Boronia there will be planning scheme protection for significant trees and local habitats.

The development of the new social housing dwellings will be pursued with community housing providers. 

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/vline_steamrail.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Despite the shutdown, Steamrail excursions will still run - hooray! Image: wikipedia"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="326" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/vline_steamrail.jpg?itok=TqSey8n0" title="Despite the shutdown, Steamrail excursions will still run - hooray! Image: wikipedia" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Despite the shutdown, Steamrail excursions will still run - hooray! Image: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_VLine_trains_passes_a_steam_locomotive_at_Pakenham.jpg">wikipedia</a></figcaption></figure>In August another round of train replacements for the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will occur because work will begin on updating old railway infrastructure that will enable the new fleet of High Capacity Metro Trains to run on the rail line.

On the 4th and 5th of August, buses will replace trains between Dandenong and Cranbourne and between the 4th and 12th of August, buses will replace trains between Dandenong and Pakenham.

On the 13th and 14th of August, buses will replace trains between Westall and Cranbourne and Westall and Pakenham.  All Gippsland V/Line services will be replaced by coaches for the entire journey between the 6th and 14th of August.

Despite the shutdown, the Steamrail Snow Train excursion, as it won't require overhead electricity, will still run as scheduled on the 5th of August.

Platform works at Dandenong, Officer, Cranbourne and Hallam will continue during the train replacement periods.  The other 9 stations beyond Dandenong already have platform lengths that will comply with the longer HCMTs that will soon be introduced.

Overhead wires and stanchions and signaling are the primary corridor-wide upgrades happening in the area with the government describing the infrastructure as 'decades-old'.  

The Cranbourne line has two level crossing removal projects underway at present with multiple between Dandenong and Pakenham still in the early planning phase.

Each new 7-car HCMT train will have passenger carrying capacity of 1100 people and the first train is set to begin operations from mid-2019.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/affordablehousing/housing-supply-and-planning/inclusionary-housing">vic.gov.au</a>
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Victoria's Inclusionary Housing Pilot one step closer, works to extend Cranbourne and Pakenham platforms kick off

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It was a case of <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/forget-carnegie-murrumbeena-the-real-expense-in-expanding-the-dandenong-corridor-lies-elsewhere">hold your horses earlier today</a>.  A state election is around the corner and Melbourne's favourite infrastructure story honeypot is producing the goods but before the media frightens the locals, a much bigger issue needs to be sorted before anyone commits to property acquisitions in the level crossing removal zones.

The Rail Futures Institute's (RFI) 'Airtrain' concept has been profiled on Urban.com.au and elsewhere and if you're reading about it for the first time, RFI is an advocate for an infrastructure future which sees a shift to rail when it comes to transporting ourselves around Melbourne.

The Airtrain concept builds on previous public studies that have identified the 'Albion corridor' - an existing rail route that sees freight and standard gauge passenger trains to Albury and Sydney run out to Sunshine then turn back to Broadmeadows - as the best route to get an airport rail line up and running in Melbourne.

RFI's difference is their focus on speed and the railway line hosting both metro and regional passenger services on its own corridor.  To get speed you need to remove obstacles and the Airtrain concept sees liberal use of tunnels to do just that.

There is a joint state and federal business case being conducted as we speak and the Prime Minister is reported to have said he wants to see it get done quickly so the $5 billion the Federal Government has promised to spend on an airport rail link can be put to use.  Recent <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-airport-rail-link-preferred-route-emerges/news-story/a72dd26f055f8fb991a8d11544bbd2fe">reports</a> suggest the Albion corridor via Sunshine route is the frontrunner but whether city &amp; regional-focused Airtrain concept is what the business case has in mind will not be known until it is publicly released.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/rfi_airtrain_0.png" rel="gallery-all" title="The Airtrain concept - image: RFI"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="409" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/rfi_airtrain_0.png?itok=OVVqrL8p" title="The Airtrain concept - image: RFI" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The Airtrain concept - image: <a href="http://www.railfutures.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/180530-Airport-Brochure_v7.pdf">RFI</a></figcaption></figure><h2>Extending the concept to the south-east</h2>

An extension of the logic contained within the Airtrain concept - new track either on the surface or in tunnels - could be one solution to providing a new corridor for express, regional and freight services to and from the south-east.

I have my colleague Laurence Dragomir to thank for the idea of centring any new fast line to the south-east on Southern Cross as he wrote back in <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/all-roads-lead-to-southern-cross-station">April</a>.

Southern Cross station would be expanded underground, to the west of the main station buildings and platforms in the Wurrndjeri Way median.  There would be two levels of platforms, much like the existing City Loop stations with Melbourne Metro 2 platforms on one level and the Airtrain/South East fast line platforms on the other.

The Airtrain tracks would enter a tunnel just north of Southern Cross Station's neck (Dudley Street) and then join with the station box.  The track would then continue south-southeast under the Yarra and then head directly for Caulfield where the tracks would then come back to the surface.

From Caulfield the tracks would run in parallel with the existing skyrail corridor and pass around the outside of each of the new stations - they're express tracks, no need to build platforms at them - this is a pattern that would be repeated in the other skyrail sections or on the surface through such stations such as Huntingdale, Westall, Sandown Park, Yarraman. 

The only existing stations that would see new platforms (for the express tracks) are Caulfield, Clayton and Dandenong.  The two express tracks would continue, built around the stations at Hallam, Narre Warren and Berwick where the four tracks would become two in a high-speed junction in between Berwick and Beaconsfield stations.

You'll need to zoom in on the map below, however back around North Melbourne, a connection to the docks would be made before the airtrain tracks head south of Dudley Street and a connection to the Frankston line would be built.

In both instances, this is to facilitate freight trains using the tunnel, specifically, the Port Rail shuttle concept: it needs a connection at the Port, the Frankston line and a connection beyond Dandenong to the Cranbourne line.  This would shift freight completely away from the slower inner-city traffic.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" scrolling="no" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/embed?mid=1ivwaYdubpUKboGeS4flF2bRIr4MYWntr" width="100%"></iframe>

<h2>The operations</h2>

Like with the Airtrain concept, the new tunnel and surface tracks between Caulfield and Berwick would be used for metro, regional and freight uses.

By linking the Airtrain tracks with the South-East fast line, we've created a path that could see the Bendigo and Gippsland lines 'joined' in an operational sense - a train starting in Bendigo/Echuca/Swan Hill would travel all the way through to Traralgon/Bairnsdale/Sale and vice versa.

The regional stopping pattern within metropolitan areas would be Melbourne Airport, Southern Cross, Clayton (for Monash NEIC), Dandenong, Pakenham.

The airport shuttles, which RFI says will run every 10 minutes, would simply extend all the way to Pakenham. A turnback/third platform built at Southern Cross on the Airtrain/South-east level can be used for balancing the needs of Pakenham commuter services (i.e run more trains to Pakenham in peak per hour than all the way through to the airport).

Stopping pattern for metro services would be Pakenham all stations to Dandenong, Clayton, Caulfield, Southern Cross, Sunshine, Melbourne Airport and return.  Cranbourne/Dandenong/Westall services would simply operate all stations to Caulfield then to Domain into the Metro 1 tunnel.

If we use the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/forum/ptvs-network-development-plan-for-metropolitan-rail">2013 Network Development Plan</a> as a guide for frequencies, Pakenham &amp; Gippsland will eventually need paths for 10x metro trains and 2x regional trains per hour in peak.  The Airport line from the NDP shows 6x trains per hour - and the Airtrain concept calls for the same amount per hour - with terminating platform at Southern Cross, Pakenham metro services can increase without running trains all the way from the Airport.

With approximately 12x per hour in peak - if we use the NDP as a guide - there is both scope for increases in both metro and regional and no doubt enough space to run an hourly freight, even in peak hour.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/levelcrossings/photos/a.1989028387838503.1073741905.843601892381164/1989033024504706/?type=3&amp;theater">Level Crossing Removal Authority</a>.
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Extending RFI's Airtrain concept to the south-east

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<h2>Comment</h2>

Hold your horses, before everyone gets too excited about extended length trains or quadruple tracks between Caulfield and Oakleigh that will likely force property acquisition in an area that's just seen - still seeing rather - a change in its rail corridor, everyone should sit down with a warm cup of tea and breathe.

The goal of quadruplication - adding another two tracks to an existing two-track rail corridor - is to allow faster services with less stops, to give other types of rail traffic priority or a combination of the two.

Melbourne media's favourite infrastructure story honeypot over the past two years has been the level crossing removal project, specifically the impacts on residents affected by the changes made to the rail corridor and stations between Caulfield and Oakleigh.  Yesterday in <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/residents-could-face-more-sky-rail-pain-as-expert-says-work-needed-20180621-p4zmr3">The Age</a>, we had the latest instalment.

The story by Age Transport reporter Timna Jacks confirms what the level crossing removal authority's social media team have posted in response to questions on its facebook page and have listed on their FAQ section for the Caulfield to Dandenong corridor.  That is, even though corridor expansion (through adding more track) is not within the Level Crossing Removal Authority's scope, the current construction work and newly upgraded corridor won't preclude expansion.

<blockquote>
The PTV document also confirms plans to build a third and fourth track between Caulfield and Dandenong, which would enable express V/Line trains to run to and from the city.

Building the two tracks would be expensive and complex, particularly along the rail corridor, which is just 20 metres wide at its narrowest point between Murrumbeena and Carnegie.

The new tracks would likely require homes to be acquired in suburbs where property prices are more than $1 million.

Level Crossing Removal Authority chief executive Kevin Devlin said the authority had "no plans to build a third or fourth track on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line".
<a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/residents-could-face-more-sky-rail-pain-as-expert-says-work-needed-20180621-p4zmr3"><cite>The Age</cite></a>
</blockquote>

The expense and complexity of adding more tracks to the Dandenong rail corridor won't solely be focused on the stations and the narrow corridor between Caulfield and Oakleigh, but between Caulfield and the city.

Because you wouldn't add two more tracks and not continue the extra track to its ultimate destination (the city) - that would only serve to limit capacity on the quadruple track section of the corridor. Two tiers of service through the suburbs, express and stopping all stations, which then have to fight for capacity in the inner-city takes us back to square one, especially when regional and freight trains are involved like they are on the Dandenong corridor.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/murrumbeena_0.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Murrumbeena station during the final days of major construction works - image: LXRA"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/murrumbeena_0.jpg?itok=fy45FN31" title="Murrumbeena station during the final days of major construction works - image: LXRA" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Murrumbeena station during the final days of major construction works - image: LXRA</figcaption></figure>The Melbourne Metro project will orphan a track pair from South Yarra towards the city - and this has been acknowledged in the 2013-era network development plan; electrified Geelong services would terminate here according to the final phase of the document - but it's also a candidate for re-activation for even more Dandenong corridor capacity.

Caulfield to South Yarra might be able to fit another a track pair on the surface if:

<ol>
<li>heritage issues are of no concern in order to radically redesign the tracks and platforms through the 'MATH' (Malvern-Armadale-Toorak-Hawksburn) stations.</li>
	<li>the government of the day is happy to widen every overbridge through the area.</li>
	<li>significant amounts of properties are acquired including an apartment tower that abuts the rail corridor in South Yarra and possibly all the retail premises on either side of the Chapel Street bridge.</li>
</ol>
It would take a government with a lot of political capital to burn to go down, pardon a pun, that route. It's fairly safe to completely write that idea off.

If there is no pressing need to give regional and freight services a faster path through the city, four tracks could be built from Dandenong to Oakleigh and then connected with the Glen Waverley or Alamein lines through a relatively short tunnel, adding Chadstone to the rail network, therefore allowing the extra trains to travel on rail corridors that have a lot more capacity to burn compared to the Dandenong corridor.

This would provide a good out-of-town connection in an area that will see a lot more employment focus in future, but provide a fast &amp; clear path for regional and freight services it will not.

It would have once been considered gold-plating but seeing how the NSW government is building Australia's first real metro (that, very much, would have been written off as gold-plating 10 years ago) and the real expense in adding more tracks to the Dandenong corridor is to do it utilising the only realistic option to connect a third track pair between South Yarra and Caulfield: a tunnel. 

(It's an opportune time to remind everyone the original East-West needs assessment, 'The Eddington Study', that first brought the metro tunnel into public consciousness would have done just this - a tunnel (built in two phases) from South Kensington to Caulfield).

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/carnegie.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Carnegie station just before trains switched to the new upper level - image: LXRA"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="387" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/carnegie.jpg?itok=ZnEFt_o8" title="Carnegie station just before trains switched to the new upper level - image: LXRA" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Carnegie station just before trains switched to the new upper level - image: LXRA</figcaption></figure>Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/levelcrossings/photos/a.1989028387838503.1073741905.843601892381164/1989032221171453/?type=3&amp;theater">Level Crossing Removal Authority</a>.
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Forget Carnegie, Murrumbeena, the real expense in expanding the Dandenong corridor lies elsewhere

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In the final iteration of this three-part series we look at providing a baseline overview of the project development pipeline within the vicinity of each of the three non-CBD stations on the Melbourne Metro project, and today it's North Melbourne - the new new North Melbourne.

Known as Arden until the naming competition results were announced, the new station (note: the existing North Melbourne station will be renamed to West Melbourne) will be the epicentre of a significant redevelopment zone.

Previously tenanted by Boral and Hy-tec concrete batching plants, the North Melbourne station site is state government-owned land which will also be a launch site for the tunnel boring machines.

Much of the land located directly east of the former Industrial site that will host a new station is zoned for mixed-use under the City of Melbourne's planning scheme and likewise, Design and Development Overlays that encourage higher-density uses but restrict heights on character and helicopter flight path grounds are in effect.

A good example of a development that is common in the area, is <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/buildings/charlotte-241-dryburgh-street-north-melbourne">Charlotte at 241 Dryburgh Street</a> - 5 levels, 40 odd apartments, approximately 15m in height.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/nmelb_map.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Parkville station and nearby projects in the development pipeline"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="311" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/nmelb_map.jpg?itok=HrpZ_m5e" title="Parkville station and nearby projects in the development pipeline" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>North Melbourne station and nearby projects in the development pipeline</figcaption></figure>The Arden Urban Renewal Precinct, as it is described by the <a href="https://vpa.vic.gov.au/project/arden/">Victorian Planning Authority</a>, has had a draft vision and framework published and it envisions the area will be a base for 34,000 jobs and 15,000 residents.

Overall there are three precincts which are seeing long-term planning work carried out:

<ul>
<li>Arden, bordered by Dryburgh Street, the Upfield rail corridor and Canning Street/Macaulay Road, it also contains Arden Central.</li>
	<li>Arden Central which is the location of the new station and will see the most significant redevelopment over time.</li>
	<li>Macaulay which includes land on either side of the Upfield rail corridor and Citylink north of Canning Street and is covered by the city of Melbourne's C190 planning scheme amendment.</li>
</ul>
The VPA, City of Melbourne and Melbourne Water are also exploring opportunities for water management, open space and land use around the Moonee Ponds Creek.

The development pipeline as it stands includes 11 projects - all of them residential or mixed-use - with a combined 893 dwellings within 500m (as the crow flies) from the new North Melbourne station.  3 projects are under construction with 481 dwellings set to enter the market shortly and two other projects are actively being marketed with a relatively small 37 dwellings in total across both of them.

5 projects are approved that include 324 dwellings - at the time of writing, there were no projects at planning assessment.

See below for a full list of projects in the development pipeline located within the vicinity of the new 'new' North Melbourne (Arden) station.
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An overview of the projects in the vicinity of the new North Melbourne (Arden) station

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2700 dwellings across 26 projects.  They're the headline development pipeline numbers for the area within 500m of the new Anzac station that will built under St. Kilda Road.

4 of the 5 Melbourne Metro stations are located within areas that, for the most part, are either extremely well served or very well served by existing inner-city public transport links.

The construction of the city loop in the 70s and 80s is regularly credited with expanding development within Central Melbourne, especially within the vicinity of Melbourne Central or Museum station as it was known when it first opened.

Melbourne Central shopping centre still stands, even to this day, as the largest redevelopment site in the immediate area of the station with the Kisho Kurokawa-designed tower and cone over the Coop's Shot tower acting as the vanguard of what was to come.  

When railway stations are built, the development community comes running - over time, at least.

Therefore, before the primary construction work kicks off, it's good to get a baseline as it's likely there will be an uptick in the development pipeline during the construction (which will last 3-5 years) and when the new station is operational.

<figure><img alt="" class="image-article_full_width_580px" height="321" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/anzac_map.jpg?itok=kdqbBZ7l" title="ANZAC station and nearby projects in the development pipeline" width="580"><figcaption>Anzac station and nearby projects in the development pipeline</figcaption></figure>All but 2 of the 26 projects located, as the crow flies, 500m from the new Anzac station are residential.  1 is mixed-use residential and hotel and the last project will be all hotel.

4 projects are under construction which will deliver 953 units to the local market once complete and there are a further 5 projects which have their sales and marketing campaigns underway with a total of 354 dwellings one step away from construction.

10 projects are sitting at approved which, should they see construction, will add a further 1113 dwellings to the precinct and there are 7 projects which could possibly yield another 294 dwellings at the planning assessment stage.

A great deal of the projects are located on Park Street and Palmerston Crescent with most other potential redevelopment sites closer to the station entrance having already been built on.

Kings Way is a significant pedestrian barrier at present and if any stakeholder agencies or councils decide to improve connectivity for pedestrians across Kings Way, expect to see jostling for development sites on the western side of the road to increase.

See below for a full list of existing development pipeline projects near the new Anzac station.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/library/designs">metrotunnel.vic.gov.au</a>.
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