Experts urge Victoria to freeze $34.5b Suburban Rail Loop

The Age reports that the group argues each of the three projects is the product of a “deeply flawed, whimsical” selection process. It also says the projects fall short of what the state’s Transport Integration Act requires and lack credible business cases.

The group also wants an open, peer-reviewed program completed by independent reviewers, and a business case released publicly, before any changes to these or future projects go ahead, per the paper.

The Age says the commission is weighing evidence that multibillion-dollar investments were affected by political interference and compromised planning decisions. A separate submission from an independent transport planner, who the paper says worked on several Victorian rail and road projects, urged the inquiry to tackle what it calls a deeper cultural problem in how the state approaches major projects. In The Age’s account, that submission argues the next government should bring back independent advice from the public service, open analysis, legally enforceable duties and ongoing outside scrutiny.

For Victorian builders and contractors on these projects, nothing changes yet: The Age does not report any decision to pause work, and the royal commission has not yet held a public hearing.

The numbers

The Age gives the project costs as $34.5b for the Suburban Rail Loop, $13b for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link and $4.1b for the Sunshine Super Hub.

The state election campaign is formally under way. The Age reports that Premier Ben Carroll visited the Governor, Margaret Gardner, on Tuesday 3 November to issue the writs. The formal campaign runs for 25 days, to the close of polls on 28 November.

The Age also reports that Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has promised a pause and review of the Suburban Rail Loop.

What’s next

The royal commission is due to hold its first public hearing on Monday, The Age reports. The figures and claims above are those The Age reports, not documents we have seen.

Voters go to the polls on 28 November. The Age says the freeze call arrives with the election under way, and that pressure is on the Opposition Leader to widen her Suburban Rail Loop pledge to every Big Build rail project.

Our earlier coverage of the airport rail project is in the CPB Contractors and SMEC Sunshine hub story.