Swanston Street

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The various spaces and elements which combine to form RMIT's New Academic Street (NAS) have progressively begun to open to students and visitors alike.

 I was recently fortunate enough to be part of an informal group tour through the completed spaces within NAS, led by Harrison and White which had a hand in the project.

Located at the University's City Campus, the $220 million NAS project was conceived and delivered over a period of 6 years, and includes a range of transformative projects with the intent of creating a stronger relationship between the campus and the street. Of course the development also delivers an improved student experience, including new breakout spaces and study spaces.

<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/nas_stitch_01.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="The NAS Project has opened up the City Campus to the street and the sky. "><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="381" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/nas_stitch_01.jpg?itok=Mn3Fqpz_" title="The NAS Project has opened up the City Campus to the street and the sky. " width="580"></a>

<figcaption>The NAS Project has opened up the City Campus to the street and the sky.</figcaption></figure>To assist in realising this vision RMIT engaged Lyons Architects, whom also designed the Swanston Academic Building (SAB) directly opposite, to build on some of the conceptual thinking behind the design, particularly in terms of how students engage with the spaces which are dispersed throughout the building.

Lyons instead sought to bring on board another four relatively smaller architectural practices to assist in providing the campus with an eclectic mix of architectural diversity, guided by a single vision. 

MvS Architects, NMBW, Harrison &amp; White (HAW) and Maddison Architects were joined by Landscape Architects Taylor Cullity Lethlean in proposing a series of interventions to penetrate through the fortress-like perimeter of the brutalist 1970's buildings.

<blockquote>
Working closely with RMIT to achieve the university’s goals of a future-looking building that has an unprecedented focus on students.

Rather than knock down the existing buildings and start from scratch, the design team embarked on a bold project of adaptive re-use which radically transformed buildings 8, 10, 12 and 14, reconfiguring the heart of the campus.

The design team has successfully rebuilt the centre of the campus for students, and in doing so, enabled the university to continue to retain, attract and grow student numbers. This major project has transformed the scattered RMIT city campus into an interconnected, vibrant collection of buildings. RMIT now offers students a truly vivid, intense city-like experience.

- Lyons Architects
</blockquote>

<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/nas_stitch_02.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="A juxtaposition of architectural forms combine to activate Bowen Street."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="381" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/nas_stitch_02.jpg?itok=vthScNh1" title="A juxtaposition of architectural forms combine to activate Bowen Street." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>A juxtaposition of architectural forms combine to activate Bowen Street.</figcaption></figure>New laneways dissect the campus and help to mediate the level change, creating clearly defined connections between Swanston and Bowen Streets through the University while also improving the wayfinding experience through the buildings. 

The project also involved the internal reconfiguration and renovation of Buildings 8, 10, 12 and 14, with a greater focus on delivering additional student spaces, improved student facilities and amenities, plus expanding the existing Central University Library.

<blockquote>
The work of NMBW within this ensemble focuses on making new entrances and ‘arcades’ through the existing monolithic buildings, with associated new vertical circulation (stairs, escalators, small lifts), reworking specific rooms for casual student use within the library, introduction of mixed-mode and naturally-ventilated student spaces, provision of retail tenancies, toilets and general amenities, and the design of a wholly new 3-level building utilising structural timber.

(The Garden Building) creates a ‘student tower’ and beacon at the centre of the new precinct formed by the wider infrastructural works associated with New Academic Street. At plaza level, the new structure makes a covered public space, permanently open and served by a small café. Two levels above are workshop-studio style flexible rooms that can be linked to the library or operated independently. The top level is a social roof terrace, a lively space as part of the suite of landscape spaces at this new level of major public circulation.

- NMBW
</blockquote>

NMBW's Garden Building on Bowen Street was a personal favourite with the 3-storey structure utiliseing  glue-lam timber columns and beams to form a new relationship to the existing buildings via a large staircase which allows pedestrian access from Bowen Street up to the new rooftop, spiraling around the perimeter.

<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/20180130_150011.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="NMBW's Garden Building to Bowen Street."><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="351" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/20180130_150011.jpg?itok=stbLuvHC" title="NMBW's Garden Building to Bowen Street." width="580"></a>

<figcaption>NMBW's Garden Building to Bowen Street.</figcaption></figure>The introduction of five projections along Swanston and Franklin Streets to activate the facades of the Bates Smart-designed edifices, further add to the permeability of the existing buildings and reinforce the vertical circulation up the buildings.

The projections also collectively create a visual relationship between the NAS project and some of the outdoor spaces of the SAB directly opposite, opening the campus up to the outdoors, allowing for passive surveillance and animating the buildings above the street.

Once again each intervention has been designed by a different architecture firm and continues the architectural language from the Bowen Street facade, further reinforcing the connection with Swanston Street; both visually and physically. 

As someone who studied at RMIT, the University's large scale capital works program came well after I had departed, so while I haven't been able to appreciate or utilise the facilities and spaces of the Swanston Academic Building, Design Hub or New Academic Street as a student, I have enjoyed revisiting the City Campus and seeing how it has evolved. 

A visit to the NAS project is definitely recommended, with further areas still to be completed.

The Melbourne Metro project will further enhance the precinct with a new entry to State Library Station to be built on Franklin Street.

<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/metro_cbd1-1.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Concept image of State Library Station's Franklin Street entry. Image: MMRA "><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="385" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/metro_cbd1-1.jpg?itok=SkC6GawO" title="Concept image of State Library Station's Franklin Street entry. Image: MMRA " width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Concept image of State Library Station's Franklin Street entry. Image: MMRA</figcaption></figure>For further images taken during the tour click on the slideshow below:
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Laurence Dragomir

A tour of RMIT's New Academic Street 

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It may not be the first high-rise student accommodation project within the CBD but it shapes as the most prominent. While the first to do so was <a href="http://www.dko.com.au/cms_subcat_14/urbanest-la-trobe">Urbanest La Trobe Street</a> which received its final touches earlier this year, Scape Student Living expect 393 Swanston Street to create a new benchmark within the sector.

In light of a recent Urban.com.au article highlighting the near on <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/an-overview-of-melbournes-student-accommodation-projects">6,000 student beds currently in development</a>, it's an apt point in time to peruse the plans for the development which Scape Student Living have indicated will be completed during 2018. Deakin House located at 393-397 Swanston Street, directly opposite RMIT, is set to make way for the tower which gained approval during March 2015.

<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/image150.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Artist's impression of 393 Swanston Street. Image courtesy DCM"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="408" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image150.jpg?itok=r3GxHy5o" title="Artist's impression of 393 Swanston Street. Image courtesy DCM" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Artist's impression of 393 Swanston Street. Image courtesy DCM</figcaption></figure>393 Swanston Street presents as Scape Student Living's first project in Melbourne, with the outfit backed by Sydney-based Telopia Capital and Dutch pension fund APG. With 750 beds included within the Swanston Street project, Scape Student Living have sought to bring a new level of amenity and community to the project.

According to a <a href="http://www.afr.com/real-estate/scape-to-transform-20b-student-accommodation-sector-with-acquisitions-20150615-gho7vc">recent AFR article</a> the development will see apartments include a desk, ensuite, double bed and kitchenette, with the project modelled upon the successful London namesake operation. London Scape not only fosters student studio rooms and teaching spaces but also rentable co-worker and incubator space for new businesses.

Up to date information released by the Federal Government's <a href="https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Pages/default.aspx">Department of Education and Training</a> shows that both local and national international student enrolments continue to grow strongly, suggesting that when 393 Swanston Street is launched, it will be met with strong uptake.

<h2>From the ground up</h2>

<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/image143.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Various aspects of the approved development. Image courtesy DCM"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="388" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image143.jpg?itok=15_Hl_w-" title="Various aspects of the approved development. Image courtesy DCM" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Various aspects of the approved development. Image courtesy DCM</figcaption></figure>Two basement levels are set to house the majority of services associated with the development, with scope for 157 bicycle bays also allowed for. Ground floor will feature a cavernous lobby with main access via Little La Trobe Street while and cafe and two retail spaces fronting Swanston Street accounting for most of the rest of the 780sqm ground floor area.

398sqm across Level 1 is dedicated toward common amenities, with spiral stair connecting ground floor to the amenities area. A terrace fronting both Swanston and Little La Trobe is also incorporated over Level 1.

Subsequent levels carry apartments with all receiving at least one source of natural light. The majority of floors are spread over 570sqm with 16-20 apartments per floor the norm, although the tower's form does taper inwards over the top few levels. Levels 38 and 39 carry external terraces while Level 41 holds only nine apartments with a northern aspect.

Reaching a height of 136.7 metres, 393 Swanston Street's crown is expected to receive signage upon completion. Both the south and west elevations are mostly inactive given the adjoining sites at <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/377-391-swanston-street-melbourne">377 Swanston</a> and <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/projects/scape-la-trobe-212-la-trobe-street-melbourne">212-222 La Trobe</a> have approval for high-rise towers, the latter Scape's next Melbourne project.

<h2>Scape Carlton?</h2>

Scape Carlton or Scape CUB may be the moniker attached to the group's latest acquisition, the final piece of the CUB Carlton site moved on by Grocon mid year. Scape Student Living were revealed as the purchaser of the site during July in a deal valued at $20 million.

The scale and composition of any development set to call the corner of Swanston and Queensberry home is as yet unknown. In previous years McBride Charles Ryan conceived a <a 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/CUB-5-full.jpg">design for a student accommodation tower</a> on an adjoining parcel within the CUB site.
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silvermb

Exploring the expected new benchmark for student living

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It just wouldn't be Melbourne at the moment without another Asian-backed property developer holding grandiose plans for a clutch of forthcoming inner-city apartment towers. Eagle-eyed Urban.com.au contributor Nicholas Harrison has spotted the latest in a conga line of new developers seeking their slice of the Melbourne action.

Sydney-based Besgate Group is the latest entrant into the market with three sizeable residential towers in the works, including 640 Bourke Street which may well tip over 270 metres in height. The privately owned consortium has had exposure of sorts in Melbourne previously, listing La Banque as their only Melbourne project although Melbourne-based Brady Group was the developer for the Little Lonsdale Street apartment tower.

Previous to their Melbourne aspirations, Besgate Group have completed a string of projects in both Sydney and predominantly Shanghai over the past decade, with B1 Tower Parramatta and Atria North Sydney among their recent projects. Their Melbourne projects are as follows:

<h2>140 King Street</h2>

<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/king_2-750x283.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Recently to planning. Image courtesy Besgate"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="219" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/king_2-750x283.png?itok=pcWdOkDv" title="Recently to planning. Image courtesy Besgate" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Recently to planning. Image courtesy Besgate Group</figcaption></figure>Lodged with the State Government for assessment earlier this month, Besgate Group carry images of the proposed residential tower on their website. Le Roi as it's expected to be named, will replace a three-level office building with a 58-level residential tower complete with an articulated black exterior.

Situated over a 781sqm block, the tower will hold 271 apartments, with an element of commercial space expected as well. At approximately 180 metres in height, the project has an estimated value of $300 million and is in close proximity to the 224-metre Bourke Place Tower.

<h2>558-566 Swanston Street</h2>

<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/swanston_1-750x283.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Massing concept for 558-566 Swanston. Image courtesy Besgate"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="219" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/swanston_1-750x283.jpg?itok=Ofdq1OGF" title="Massing concept for 558-566 Swanston. Image courtesy Besgate" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Massing concept for 558-566 Swanston. Image courtesy Besgate Group</figcaption></figure>Besgate Group landed the former City Peugeot dealership at 558-566 Swanston Street which was offered for sale during late 2013. The 1,396sqm land holding is located midway between the CBD and Melbourne University, with 29 metres of frontage to Swanston Street and sight lines over Lincoln Square.

As seen above, the massing form for the project suggests a residential tower just shy of 20 levels, with retail offerings expected at ground level. Dubbed The Ivy, 200 apartments are slated for the project with a value in excess of $150 million.

<h2>640 Bourke Street</h2>

<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/bourke_2.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Artist's impression of Le Poste. Image courtesy Besgate"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="219" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/bourke_2.jpg?itok=Zc-ebBbl" title="Artist's impression of Le Poste. Image courtesy Besgate" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Artist's impression of Le Poste. Image courtesy Besgate Group</figcaption></figure>Last but by no means least is Le Poste which is expected to grace the former Australia Post offices at 640 Bourke Street. The site itself has planning approval for a Hayball-designed <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/projects/640-bourke-street-melbourne">42 and 32-level residential complex</a> carrying 563 apartments.

Diagonally opposite the recently approved 226 metre Elenberg Fraser-designed <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/new-apartments/premier-tower-134-160-spencer-street-melbourne">134 Spencer Street</a>, Besgate Group have plans for an altogether larger development for their Bourke Street address. A mixed-use scheme of 85 and 55 levels is expected with a total of 989 apartments within.

Valued in excess of $600 million, the project will maintain the existing heritage listed façade of the original Australia Post Office, with the remainder of the site likely to make way for the tower estimated at 270 metres in height.
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Besgate Group readies their surge into the Melbourne apartment market

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It looks increasingly likely that one of a pack of underwhelming buildings which front Swanston Street in Carlton will undergo an exterior rejuvenation shortly. Completed during 2004, Arrow on Swanston at 470-496 Swanston Street is defined by its precast exterior, but not necessarily for long.

Client Livingsprings Pty Ltd has enlisted Melbourne architecture and urban planning firm <a href="http://www.particular.ch/">Particular</a> to devise a refurbishment &amp; addition works program that will see new life given to the drab structure. City of Melbourne have given notice to approve the project in recent weeks, advancing the multi-million dollar project closer to reality​.

<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/setwidth980-ar01-lvl-10-web2.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Expected rooftop loft suites extension. Image courtesy Particular"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="389" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/setwidth980-ar01-lvl-10-web2.jpg?itok=9gHk6FPJ" title="Expected rooftop loft suites extension. Image courtesy Particular" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Expected rooftop loft suites extension. Image courtesy Particular</figcaption></figure>Particular list the project on their website as commencing shortly, with the existing 3.5 star serviced apartment and student accommodation building expected to receive a decidedly golden upgrade. Masses of vertical fins will be applied over the facade along with new finishes to balconies and windows which will bring a higher degree of articulation to the existing building's exterior.

Up high a rooftop loft suite extension will see six additional gold-clad dwellings added, while the current mid-building car park entry point off Swanston Street will be relocated to the southern boundary via a laneway.

While the homogenous blob that is the current structure has come in for attention, it's at street level where Particular's revised 470-496 Swanston Street design gains another facet.

<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/setwidth980-ar01-grand-entrance-web.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="A new steet level interface. Image courtesy Particular"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="773" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/setwidth980-ar01-grand-entrance-web.jpg?itok=31F9rnPE" title="A new steet level interface. Image courtesy Particular" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>A new street level interface. Image courtesy Particular</figcaption></figure>Renders sourced via Particular show a much softer presentation to Swanston Street with timber, greenery and gold highlights set to replace precast and reflective glass which offers little by way of interaction from Swanston Street. An alfresco area and stone sidewalk are included within the project renders, as is a lobby set back from Swanston Street, which aids in decluttering the building's street level interface.

Particular also mention a new niche retail and food precinct located along the base of 470-496 Swanston Street, with two separate applications presented to City of Melbourne for assessment. Combined they seek to provide a mixture or licensed restaurants and retail tenancies, plus a ground/basement function centre.

<h2>Comment</h2>

Book-ended by RMIT and Melbourne University, Carlton's stretch of Swanston Street could have easily become a showcase for amazing contemporary, design as the majority of buildings developed along the strip were done so in the last decade. Rather, it has become a horrible homage to precast concrete and cheap student digs with a distinct lack of built form/street level character.

Fender Katsalidis' <a href="http://www.fkaustralia.com/project/s/name/astorial/">Astorial</a> aside, the list of substandard residential buildings is long. The initial Arrow on Swanston is joined by Apartments Uropa, Brookes Gillespie House, Eastern Precinct, Micasa 8, Swanston Student Complex and the more recently Tune Hotel.

<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/image38_0.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Overt your eyes"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="546" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/image38_0.jpg?itok=AieCRA_k" title="Avert your eyes" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Avert your eyes</figcaption></figure>The new Arrow on Swanston looks to be a step in the right direction toward a more dynamic, engaging streetscape and built form outcome. Unfortunately much of the rest of Swanston Street in this area has been permanently scarred by the ill-though-out design and planning decisions of the past.

Still one resurrection is better than none.
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Righting a Swanston Street wrong

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When the Wall came down, thousands cheered as the bulldozers moved in. Millions more tuned in on their televisions to watch this once in a lifetime event. The Wall had divided the city in two for years, leaving it to develop almost completely different cultures.

People would stop and try to peer through the cracks, trying to remember what a unified city was like. Finally, that time was coming to an end. The population would finally remember how the other half lived; long lost relatives would be reunited with much emotion.

It was the pressure of these long awaited scenarios that made the leader sweat profusely as he stepped forward towards the podium to make an announcement that everyone was so desperately wanting to hear.

"The Melbourne Metro is complete! The Great Wall of Swanston St can come down!"

Mass hysteria ensures, as the crowd cheer as loudly as they've never cheered before. Crying true tears of joy, they have their street back.

<img alt="" height="332" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/pictures/article-images/berlin-wall-coming-down.jpeg?itok=EgmTqJAw" width="405">

Denis Napthine's comparison of the Metro tunnel's planned Swanston St works to the Berlin Wall are nothing short of absurd, and ranks amongst the worst excuses to not upgrade public transport this state has seen. Hardly surprising, given he has only ever given tacit support of the project, through clenched teeth like a kid telling his mum how much he loves Brussels sprouts.

The Premier even tried telling us that Tony Abbott had softened his stance on funding the Metro, only to be immediately rebuffed and told he had no such intentions of funding any urban rail project, anywhere. "Roads are a sign of progress" Abbott reiterated, a view talked about in great detail in his conservative manifesto, Battlelines.

The 1950s rang, they want their infrastructure policy back.

Of course, this most backwards of philosophies has helped Napthine push his favourite barrow, the East West Link. Thinking that people would jump for joy at the announcement of another freeway, he wrongly assumed that the Melbourne Metro project would have disappeared into the background never to be spoken of again, just like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multifunction_Polis">Multifunction Polis</a> and the <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/grollo-tower-one-mans-vision-unrealised">Grollo Tower</a> before it.

But, shock horror, it turns out Abbott isn't the messiah, and his philosophy is completely outdated. Those pesky voters want a functional public transport system after all! With internal polling showing the current Spring Street Government in real trouble in November, an ever increasingly desperate Napthine resorted to relentlessly beating the Metro with a stick, in the hope that if he could scare enough people away from it.

It sounds like a plot from a bad stalker movie.

And so here we are: Swanston St will be the new Berlin Wall. The Metro was first mooted back in 2005, with the previous Labor Federal government setting aside funding for it in last year's May budget. So despite years of research and planning, Denis Napthine has suddenly come to the realisation that the route is all wrong, and that we need to start all over again. Six months out from an election, no less! Phew, lucky we have Denis to save us from impending disaster.

So is there method to this madness? Let's analyse the three options:

<h2>The Russell St Option</h2>

Basically the same as the original route, except rather go from Melbourne Central, under Swanston St to Flinders St Station and then under the Yarra to Domain, it runs under Russell St instead, with new stations on the corner of Russell and Latrobe, and Russell and Flinders.

This would still require mass disruption along Russell St, but admittedly it doesn't have the same foot or tram traffic of Swanston St. While this would be a positive, there is one major drawback. The Metro is meant to achieve three major outcomes: greater frequency of trains, greater reliability through decoupling of lines, and greater connectivity between lines.

A Russell Street route would inevitably require passengers to walk a whole city block to catch a connecting train. Not only is this a huge inconvenience (especially for the disabled and elderly) it would pose a further challenge in having to build an underground walkway to connect them.

In a day and age where we are bending over backwards to make using public transport easier, this is a definite no-no.

<h2>The Fishermans Bend Option</h2>

This is the option thrown up by Napthine as the preferred alternative - moving it west. Given the Premier has released little information about the actual path I assume the route would utilise existing track to Southern Cross, then run under the river with stops at Fishermans Bend and Port Melbourne before joining the original route at Domain.

Given the government had previously failed to promise to build a station in Fishermans Bend until after most of the housing was built, this would be a step forward. However the main benefit of this option is meant to be a much reduced cost owing to avoiding the CBD, which logic would dictate the opposite would be true given the potentially longer tunneling required. The tunnel would still need to go under the Yarra, at quite a considerable depth.

Secondly, as no part of this route runs directly under the path of a road, it would almost certainly mean that none of it could be built cut and cover. So how exactly would this route be cheaper? That's not even taking into account the cost of all the planning which would have to start again from scratch.

To top it off, it doesn't even run through the part of the city which would likely attract the most passengers. A conceivable by-product of the project would be to help alleviate tram overcrowding along St Kilda Rd/Swantston St, not add to it!

<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/Metro-Port-Melb-route.jpg" rel="gallery-all"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="369" src="/sites/urbanmelbourne.info/files/styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/Metro-Port-Melb-route.jpg?itok=P-m2Cs1h" width="580"></a>

<h2>The Swanston St Option</h2>

And that brings us back to the original plan. First officially announced in 2008 as a result of the Eddington report, the tunnel was originally meant to run from Footscray to South Yarra, before being respectfully pruned to a South Kensington to Domain route. Its proposed stations were strategically placed:

<ol>
<li>Arden - The site of future urban renewal.</li>
	<li>Parkville - Situated right at the junction of the hospital precinct and Melbourne University, this would conceivably become one of the busiest stations in the network.</li>
	<li>CBD North/CBD South. Critical interchange points with the two busiest stations in Melbourne, allowing passengers to change onto every other line. Note to the station naming gods - please let common sense prevail and make these stations additional platforms of Melbourne Central and Flinders St, rather than calling them something else so that no one makes the connection that they are actually on top of each other!</li>
	<li>Domain - Major tram interchange and gateway to the St Kilda Rd business and residential precinct.</li>
</ol>
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And this is only the first part of the PTV heavy rail plan. The second proposed tunnel, running Clifton Hill-Parkville-Flagstaff-Southern Cross-Fishermans Bend, will add some much needed extra capacity to the South Morang Line, a line which currently terminates in one of the largest growth areas in Australia.

In turn, this would free up capacity on the Clifton Hill-Flinders St section, allowing the possible future addition of a line to Doncaster. At the other end of the line, the whole of Fishermans Bend could be serviced, rather than just the northern precincts as proposed by Napthine, which misses the section with the highest planned density: Wirraway.

The route has undergone much rigorous analysing. First proposed in an independent report, it's backed by PTV, Infrastructure Australia and many transport experts and advocates. Almost all of the planning has been done, with IA labeling it 'Ready to proceed'. Napthine is well aware of this, and up until now has been one of those supporters, at least in theory.

Yet, despite 3 years of government, it has taken him until now to realise the route is all wrong, and needs to be thrown out with the garbage. Rather spending his energy on sourcing some funding, he has shown it petty regard, foolishly implementing deliberate time wasting strategies like a new name (Metro Rail Capacity Project) and proposing alternative routes that are painfully inferior. All in a naive attempt to garner support for the real apple of his eye - The East West Tunnel.

Reality check Mr Napthine - you can't make people buy a Ford by teaching them to hate Holden!

Much has been made of ripping up Swanston St, but does it even need to be built cut and cover? More importantly, can it be? Given Melbourne Central station was built cut and cover itself, wont the metro have to go underneath it anyway? The same at the Flinders St end - won't it have to go fairly deep to tunnel under the Yarra? This argument seems to be yet another red herring in a long list of excuses not to build it.

Political agendas aside, Victoria will be poorer for not building the Melbourne Metro in its current form. Public transport patronage has increased dramatically over the last 15 years, and we face decades of crush capacity if we don't address it correctly now. We only get one chance at this - it's not like we can rip up a tunnel if we get it wrong.

To loosely quote Pink Floyd, every delay, every loony alternative, every excuse, is just another brick in the political wall.
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