Less than a week until the Federal election.
I wanted to highlight the Sunshine station upgrade, which has become a Federal election issue.
They say “do it once, do it right” – of course there’s a cost to that.
Federal Labor has agreed to fund Airport rail including a big upgrade to Sunshine station which sets it up for future Melton electrification.
The Federal Coalition says they’ll also fund Airport rail, but with only minimal changes to Sunshine station. We don’t know precisely what this entails exactly but it seems to be reverting to the previous plan of only one additional platform. It means further work would be needed to provide Melton quadruplication and electrification.
Labor’s plan
Here’s the plan published by State Labor (dubbed the “Sunshine Superhub”), which assumes the Federal money comes through. Confusingly it includes what Melton electrification and track expansion would do, even though that’s not funded yet.
Some notes about the Labor plan:
- Sunshine would expand to 6 platforms. From the right hand side: 1&2 for the Sunbury line and Bendigo line; 3&4 for Airport and future Melton electric trains; 5&6 for V/Line Ballarat and Geelong line trains
- But immediately post-Sunshine, post-Airport, pre-Melton electrification, there’d only be two tracks (as now) from Sunshine to Caroline Springs, which would be connected to Sunshine 5&6.
- Flyovers for Bendigo line trains to join the Sunbury tracks, and for Airport and Sunbury trains to merge would help avoid conflicts
- The 3rd platform at West Footscray would also help with this – basically separate tracks between West Footscray and Albion where the Airport trains branch off
- It looks like Airport trains would serve Tottenham, but not Sunbury trains
Once Melton electrification and quadruplication occurs:
- The existing tracks heading west from Sunshine via Ardeer and Deer Park and Caroline Springs would be electrified
- Additional tracks would run along the south side of the existing tracks, providing an express line for Geelong and Ballarat trains. There’s already space for these tracks, including at the new Deer Park station.
- Suburban trains would run to Melton, terminating in the two additional platforms being built as part of the current upgrade project
From what I can see, this all makes sense, and if the full Sunshine upgrade goes ahead, it really does make Melton electrification more straightforward. The State government is keen to emphasise that it means a minimum of works around Sunshine in the future.
Of course it comes at a large cost; $4 billion.
If the Coalition wins the Federal election and cuts it back, we’re left with the old design at Sunshine, only 5 platforms, and the Airport line connection may make the future Melton project (or at least the track expansion part of it) doubly difficult.
Capacity
By the way, Monday’s Herald Sun (paywall) raised concerns from some about broader capacity through Sunshine. This seemed to be based on a 2016 document which envisaged the busiest hour having 6 Sunbury, 8 Watergardens, 9 Melton = 23 trains, plus 6 from the Airport = 29, which supposedly would stretch the capacity.
But a later 2022 document revised these to 6 Sunbury, 6 Watergardens, 6 Airport. Plus 6 Melton later = 24.
And we’re only talking about the busiest single hour (peak of the peak) and an eventual theoretical service frequency, many years in the future, probably after other capacity measures such as 10 car trains.
So I’m finding it difficult to get too concerned about this right now – particularly in a post-2020 world when peak hour travel demand is quite different to the Before Times – though it is building back up on some days of the week.
I’m far more concerned that we won’t see benefits on the other lines, especially outside peak when wait times of 40-60 minutes are not uncommon.
Other (non-transport) election issues
Skip this bit if you’re only interested in transport.
Before I vote, I always look at the parties and what they’re proposing.
Federal Labor is a bit lacklustre at times.
But on broader issues, I consider the Coalition is pretty problematic. It seems to me that Dutton tried to run with the Trump playbook… but now everybody can see how chaotic it has been for the Americans.
- A DOGE-style position for Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
- A move to try and give politicians unconstrained power to deport dual national criminals
- All the ridiculous culture war stuff against Welcome To Country and flags
- And of course the nuclear plan which is clearly a way to postpone real action on climate change by spending billions for power generation that is decades away and more expensive than any other option
- Back on transport for a moment, they want to scrap EV subsidies and subsidise petrol instead, and remove fuel efficiency standards. I’d always prefer measures for fewer cars on roads, but if we have to have them, then encouraging inefficient petrol guzzlers is madness.
And I also don’t understand why neither side is capitalising on the mess that the US is making of their overseas students. It’s a huge money spinner. If Australia doesn’t taking advantage of it, surely someone else will?
Bear in mind I’m in the seat of Goldstein, where the race isn’t Labor vs Liberal, it’s Independent (Teal) vs Liberal.
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but that’s how I see it this time round. Form your own views.
Happy voting, and if you’re trying to track down a local sausage sizzle, try democracysausage.org!
23 replies on “You are my Sunshine”
Not shown on this map, but surely any expansion of Sunshine into a Sunshine Superhub will come with a complete rebuild of the western block adjacent to Sunshine station (currently full of auto-oriented commercial), with new forecourt and station entrance, and new expanded bus bay. I say this because earlier renderings of Sunshine under the Western Rail Plan depicted this, and it looks like our new ‘Sunshine Super Hub’ is combining MAR-Sunshine and WRP-Sunshine together. The only way Sunshine becomes a ‘Super Hub’ is by becoming a neighbourhood-defining multi-modal hub.
The Federal government is only obligated to contribute to works that are of national significance and an airport rail line falls within that standard. Any other additional works that are relevant to Victoria only are the responsibility of the state. So Dutton is taking the right approach on that. Albanese is exposing himself to accusations that he is bailing out the Victorian government. A current equivalent is the Western Sydney Airport Metro, which the Feds are funding 50%. The state is carrying the other 50% because there are other urban development issues that will benefit from the line.
It not correct to state as fact that the federal government is only obligated to contribute to works that are of national significance. There is no constitutional or legislative requirement for that.
In fact, Section 96 of the Australian constitution specifically allows the federal government to “grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit”. Nothing there about national significance.
Thanks to the initiative of Sarah Henderson MHR (initially derided by Jacinta Allan), the federal government contributed significantly to the partial duplication of the line from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds. Was that of national significance?
Thanks for having about the recent Hearld Sun Article.
@Paul Westcott. In the sense that’s it’s intercity, maybe, but in general the Feds shouldn’t favour one state over another by funding local infrastructure. In this case, it seems to me that the State government should fund the additional work at Sunshine itself.
@Tony, I believe that the Abbott Government funded light rail in Canberra, even though it wasn’t a national significant project. And I also think the Abbott Government funded projects in Sydney, again wasn’t of national significance. But then again, One Nation (not the political party, but the infrastructure project that came before Pauline Hanson), which was funded by the Federal Government was nationally significant, and I think was partially funded by the states. So I think there is a role for the federal government to fund some of these projects, but I am willing to compromise if I am wrong.
Yes. People are obviously entitled *think* that the federal government should only contribute to “works that are of national significance” (however that might be judged), or that the Commonwealth shouldn’t favour one state over another by funding local infrastructure. However, the fact remains that there is no obligation for it to do so.
Two sections of the Australian constitution prohibit discrimination between the states, but neither relate to infrastructure spending. Section 51 (ii) prohibits discrimination between states as regards taxation, and Section 117 provides protection against discrimination on the basis of state of residence.
In fact, Section 51 (xxxiv) specifically allows the Commonwealth to make laws regarding “railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State”. No mention of national significance.
Honestly, I can see how and why this version of Sunshine will work, but I’m not convinced it’s the ideal design. My preference would probably be a semi-Footscray design, with a bus interchange in lieu of, or under, the Chaplin reserve, flanked by Western platforms in a cutting linking to Anderson Rd and Northern platforms roughly between Devonshire Rd and Dickson St at surface. (The bus interchange would also cover over the Western line platforms.) This would move the whole locus closer to the existing development, and give ample room for flyovers of any arrangement through the present station site, as well as capitalising on the layout of both the Anderson Rd grade separations.
@indigohex3. I would imagine that Federal funding for Canberra light rail was on the basis that it is the national capital. All NSW rail and tram projects, including the original Sydney Airport line (but excluding half of the Western Sydney Airport line) have been self-funded by NSW. (Abbot actually refused funding for NSW.) The Brisbane Airport line was funded by Queensland government (with private funding too I believe), Perth Airport line has a Commonwealth contribution and so has Gold Coast light rail. Only the last-mentioned could be considered to be in the category of a state project with no national significance, although I recall that the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast were a factor behind initial Commonwealth funding. Inland Rail is of course a national project. It seems to me that the overall picture is that projects of national benefit attract Commonwealth funding, but projects of state benefit only do not. Exceptions are of course the occasional pork-barreling, like when the WA electric bus program, already fully-funded by the WA government, was adopted for funding and promotion as a Federal initiative by Albanese in order to help win the 2022 election. This could be argued as being the case at Sunshine too.
I am very grateful to Sarah Henderson for picking up and running with the need for rail duplication beyond South Geelong. However, I’m under no illusions that the fundamental reason the Coalition backed the idea was to protect Henderson in her very marginal electorate. “National significance” had nothing to do with it, and was never mentioned.
@Paul Westcott. Yes, it could be another case of pork barrelling, but also it is part of the national rail network and thus eligible for Federal funding. See the maps here for rail and road considered part of the National Land Transport Network that’s eligible for Federal funding.
https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/resources-funding-recipients/national-land-transport-network
@Tony, thanks for the link. If I’m reading it correctly, the SG line west from Geelong is part of the national network, but Geelong southwest to Waurn Ponds (towards Warrnambool) is not.
https://investment.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/national-land-transport-network-corridors-rail-victoria.pdf
So Port Botany, Port Kembla, Port of Newcastle are national significant
BUT
Port of Melbourne, Long Island(Hastings), Port of Geelong, Port of Portland are not.
Priorities ???
AND 3/4 of the Victorian ports mentioned are linked through SUNSHINE.
@Daniel Bowen. Yes, it looks as though I’m caught out by my lack of familiarity with Geelong, but looking at the map closely, it looks like the national network turns off the Geelong Line at North Geelong and heads towards Ararat and Ballarat. So South Geelong is on the state network.
It’s so frustrating to listen to the coalition politicians being interviewed on the Sunshine upgrade station. They don’t seem to understand the proposed works. Many are suggesting scrapping the upgrade completely, asserting that these works are for the SRL, and yet wanting the airport rail to go ahead. Without these upgrades, the airport rail would be so bottlenecked.
My comment is not transport related but in response to your view that international students are a huge money spinner. Not a lucrative export for Australia as often tuition is paid by working in Australia (so by definition not an export).
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2025/04/international-student-exports-are-one-big-lie/
@David – the Chaplin Reserve was never available for rail use – it used to be a soccer field owned by a local club, but they sold it for development a few years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaplin_Reserve
What would be helpful with mega projects like Sunshine is having greater transparency on the costings. $4 billion seems like a staggering amount of money for a couple of new platforms and some flyovers. However, the pouring of new concrete is only part of the cost. Doing it in a built-up area in a way which allows minimal disruption to busy rail corridors adds significant financial impost.
When we decide not to plan for the future, there is inevitable disruption and even greater cost later on.
@Tony, thanks for the clarification.
@Tim, I think we need to plan for the future, which includes Airport Rail and Suburban Rail Loop (which I do believe that Airport Rail will eventually be part of, unless I am mistaken). Unfortunately today, it is politically inconvenient to plan for more than four years into the future, and Suburban Rail Loop is more than four years, hence it is being targeted by the Murdoch press and certain political parties. It is sadly now about the next four years and not planning for the next generation.
All looks good, but, If they want this to be a western transport “superhub” interchange shouldn’t they maybe include a platform 7 for the standard gauge VLine/XPT services?
Shayne, yes there should be a platform for the standard gauge mainline but the government has not included this in the project objectives, despite this being consistently raised by stakeholders on the north east corridor.
Daniel is correct about the peak service pattern with Airport via Metro Tunnel of 24tph, but what about the off-peak? This will be 15tph because Airport is 6tph all-day. These all use the South Yarra to Westall section. So how will they run freight around that, including the government-funded Dandenong port-rail shuttle?
When do we get electrification to Geelong?
Using Vline trains for what is effectively suburban service to Tarneit is pretty unsuitable because of poor access and long dwell times.