Hume City Council has welcomed the Victorian Labor party's commitment of the next stage of works to duplicate the Upfield line, however more needs to be done to support commuters in our growing community.
The $80 million commitment over the next two years to get construction ready for the duplication will ultimately reduce waiting times for commuters in suburbs including Broadmeadows, Dallas and Campbellfield, once works are completed.
Hume City Council has identified the duplication as one of its partnership advocacy priorities, along with six other Councils in Melbourne's north as part of the Northern Councils Alliance (NCA).
As part of the unified ask, the NCA also requests the City Loop be reconfigured to separate the Upfield and Craigieburn lines to improve capacity, frequency and reliability along both lines and to extend and electrify the Upfield line to Wallan with new stations, including at Beveridge and Cloverton, to support the rapidly occurring residential, commercial and industrial development in the region.
Melbourne's north is projected to accommodate 30 per cent of Melbourne's future growth over the coming decades and be home to more than 1.5 million people.
Council is calling on all major parties to match this commitment to resolve critical constraints on train services in Hume and unlock the potential of Melbourne's north.
Quotes attributable to Mayor of Hume City, Cr Carly Moore:
"Melbourne's north is booming, and we need the infrastructure to keep pace with that growth.
"This funding commitment is a promising step, but it cannot be the end of the investment. We need further funding to deliver the duplication, reconfigure the City Loop and electrify the line to Wallan.
"I thank the Victorian Labor Party for listening to our community, but we need a commitment to finish the job. I also invite the Liberal National Coalition to put forward its plan for this critical train line.
"Our communities deserve certainty that this infrastructure will be delivered to support their needs now and into the future."
