Revamping Melbourne's Transport

A few ideas for the Suburban Rail Loop and better transport for the Outer East

The Suburban Rail Loop has the potential to be transformative for Melbourne, giving it something that is hasn't had before: a railway system that isn't based on getting to and from the CBD. But it still risks becoming a white elephant if sufficient transport connections to it aren't provided.

Connecting the City of Knox

Knox itself will not be served by the loop, and only one station on the loop will be easily accessible by public transport, Box Hill. This is despite Glen Waverley being much closer to all of Knox. Although it was once proposed that the Glen Waverley line should be extended to Knox City or even Ferntree Gully, the time when that would have been possible have passed. Geography and urban development have made any thought of heavy rail here impossible. But with a little imagination and investment a different solution to Knox's transport woes can be found, using something we already have: Trams.

Map of Eastern Melbourne showing the route of the Suburban Loop (Green), the proposed tram routes to Knox, and a possible future connection to Dandenong (Orange)

Proposed Tram Extensions

Three tram routes should be extended:

1. Route 75 from Vermont South to Upper Ferntree Gully (via Knox City): 12km

2. Route 6 from Glen Iris to Knox City (via Glen Waverley): 17km

3. Route 3 from East Malvern to Rowville (via Chadstone and Monash Uni): 19km

Why These Connections?

These three tram routes would give Knox three more connections to the Rail Loop: at Deakin Uni, at Glen Waverley and at Monash Uni. It would also allow Knox City to become a transport hub and mini CBD servicing the Outer East. Connecting Rowville to Knox City via a Stud Rd tram would further enhance this role, as would a connection to Dandenong in the future. We would then have tram connections between a hub at Glen Waverley, a hub at Knox and a genuine second Melbourne CBD at Dandenong.

Knox City is the Prime Location for this kind of mini CBD, because Knox itself is so self contained and has a lot of potential for development. Being 25km from the centre of Mebourne makes it far enough away to be a hub in itself, not necessarily looking to the CBD as the centre of all things. The council had planned for a major housing redevelopment around the Shopping Precinct, with tens of thousands more people moving into the area; there is no way this can be done without proper transport links to the rest of Melbourne.

Rowville is also crying out for any kind of public transport connection to Greater Melbourne. A long promised train line is not going to happen since, possibly ironically, the funding has been taken up by the expense of the Suburban Loop. The loop also provides rail access to Monash, further reducing the need for heavy rail to Rowville. A tram is the next best alternative, and will provide much of the same benefits as heavy rail, with nowhere near the same cost. The proposed route to Rowville will also serve Chadstone and many areas west of the loop, further increasing patronage on the Suburban Loop itself.

Problems

Recently the Government has been reluctant to extend any tram lines. The mooted Light Rail connection to Rowville has been replaced by an attempt at an experimental 'Trackless Tram', a technology which seems to combine the worst aspects of electric buses and trams for no real benefit to anyone. Batteries are still heavy and inefficient and tyres are nowhere near as efficient as metal wheels on metal tracks. It's doubtful whether it's even that much cheaper than a new tram line. The more conspiratorial would suggest that the proposal is simply a way to do nothing while pretending to be futuristic.

The Government might also baulk at 50km of new tramlines in the Eastern Suburbs, on top of the billions of dollars required for the Suburban Loop. Especially with newer areas also in desperate need of transport investment. But they must understand that the Loop alone is not enough, and all those billions will be wasted if a few million dollars more is not spent on new transport links to the loop.

Why does any of this matter?

The Suburban Rail Loop is, for once in the history of this state, a proactive transport project. It has so much potential which Governments of the future might ignore. The project can't just end with the loop itself, it must be more than that. It must change the way Melbourne operates as a city. The connections to Knox are just one example, but think about how it might transform somewhere like Box Hill into another hub, or make Doncaster the centre of the North East. The plan will already make Monash and Deakin Uni's much more accessible from the city and the west, but with just a little more thought and planning, both could become easy commutes from the south east as well.

At some point very soon Melbourne will have to stop expanding. It has already reached its natural limits in the North East and East, and is getting very close in the South East as well. But with houses still in short supply more, accessible, accommodation must be found. And for that to happen better public transport links must be established.

Melbourne's Current Urban Boundary (blue), from the State Revenue Office

The suburban rail loop must be the start of this process, not the end. Alone, it will not solve many of the problems that currently exist. But when connected with a whole new integrated transport system, it will be a truly revolutionary development.

Do I expect any of this to be done? No.

The expense is probably too great at a time when money is tight for all Governments. But I do fear that if investments like the ones I am proposing are not made, the Suburban Loop will go the way of the Outer Circle railway; a forgotten extravagance doomed to failure.