Max Westwood
Seven local councils, including Whittlesea and Hume, are joining forces to push for faster train services on the Upfield line.
The seven councils—Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Merri-bek, Nillumbik, Whittlesea, and Mitchell Shire—have created a group called The Northern Councils Alliance to lobby state and federal governments to reduce wait times for Upfield line passengers.
Their campaign, ’Connect Melbourne’s North: It’s time to transform our transport,’ urges governments to duplicate and extend the line.
The alliance wants a section of single track between Gowrie and Upfield duplicated because the current situation limits how often trains can run.
Passengers using the Upfield line have the longest wait time of any major metro line, with the average wait time being between 15 and 20 minutes during peak periods in the morning and afternoon and up to 30 minutes in the evening.
In comparison, passengers on separate lines such as Mernda and Glen Waverley, wait less than 10 minutes between trains in the same time-frame.
The councils are also imploring the state government to implement plans to lengthen the Upfield line to Roxburgh Park and to join it to the Craigieburn line.
Hume mayor Naim Kurt released a statement supporting the move.
“Public transport provision is not meeting our community’s needs. We urgently need a bus network that will replicate the planned Suburban Rail Loop route, so that residents, particularly those in the outer areas, can access the services they need,” he said.
“For example, we need to make sure that access to education is possible for all our residents and especially our young people who rely on public transport.”
Whittlesea chair administrator Lydia Wilson said “For our state to succeed, Melbourne’s north needs to succeed. Investment in the future, in terms of access to health, education and community services, improved transport options and infrastructure to support electric vehicles, will be critical to our economic future”.
The extension would allow electric metro services to Wallan, Donnybrook and Kalkallo, areas which are currently only served by V/Line trains.
Additionally, it would also allow for the building of new stations at Beveridge and Cloverton.
A Victorian government spokesperson said the government has “invested more than any previous Victorian government to transform transport connections for communities in Melbourne’s north”.
“When the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025, a year ahead of schedule, it will create capacity to deliver more trains across every rail corridor and free up the City Loop to enable more services on the Craigieburn and Upfield Lines.“
