The Western Rail Plan is a metropolitan rail infrastructure project being undertaken in Melbourne, Australia. The project was initially announced during the 2018 Victorian state election by the State Government. It includes the electrification of two currently existing regional lines to Melton and Wyndham Vale, as well as fast rail to Geelong, and other network capacity upgrades. The project will allow for much higher capacity on the Western Corridor. The electrification to Melton is part of Stage 3 of the PTV Network Development Plan. $100 million is being invested in detailed planning and design work, to deliver the full separation of regional and metro services on the Geelong and Ballarat lines. Staging of the works component of the plan are being developed alongside the business case for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.
Since 2023, the Andrews Government has delayed or cancelled the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, electrification to Melton, electrification to Wyndham Vale, and Geelong Fast Rail.
History
The Western Rail Plan was announced by the Andrews Labor government just over a month before the 2018 state election, as one of a number of rail projects promised during the election campaign. However, one aspect of the plan, high-speed rail to Geelong, had been proposed by the Victorian Liberal Party on 3 October 2018, about two weeks before the Andrews Government revealed its Western Rail Plan.
Plans for electrification were originally developed by Public Transport Victoria in the 2012 Network Development Plan, which suggested that the line to Melton should be electrified within the next 15 years. Wyndham Vale electrification was Stage 4, which meant the project would be undertaken within 20 years. However, in the revised plan, it was added to stage 3.
Six local councils along the Serviceton line, Brimbank, Melton, Moorabool, Ballarat, Ararat and Pyrenees, initiated a campaign for the electrification to Melton in May 2018, around six months before the 2018 state election. Along with electrification, they called for 12 peak-hour electric trains from Melton, and off-peak services every 20 minutes by 2026, as well as 10-car trains and trains every 10 minutes at all non-peak times by 2030. A publication by the City of Brimbank warned that if those measures were not taken, there would be chronic overcrowding.
Planning for electrification to Melton and Wyndham Vale started in mid-2021 and was scheduled to be completed by mid-2023.
Project description
Melton electrification
Part of the line between Melton and Deer Park was duplicated during the Regional Rail Revival Project, which made provision for electrification and a future increase in services. Electrification to Melton would potentially triple the carrying capacity of the line, and will allow up to 1500 people to travel on a single train. As part of the electrification, the Melton line would be quadruplicated, to separate regional and metropolitan services. Two level crossings located in Deer Park would be removed to allow trains to run on the line at a higher frequency. There were plans for a station at Mount Atkinson, as well as a station serving the Paynes Road precinct.
Wyndham Vale electrification
The line to Wyndham Vale, connecting with the line to Geelong, was originally built as part of the Regional Rail Link project, including two new stations, Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, opening on 21 June 2015. Since the opening of the two stations there has been patronage growth of 131%. Provision was made for other stations at Truganina, Tarneit West (Sayers Road), Davis Road and Black Forest Road. As with the Melton electrification scheme, quadruplication of the line was proposed, to separate regional and metropolitan services. A link between Wyndham Vale and Werribee was also part of the project, with the potential for that link to become part of the Suburban Rail Loop. Prior to the 2022 Victorian state election, the Andrews Labor Government announced that Tarneit West would be built and planning works for Truganina would begin.