Proposal for high speed monorail to Melbourne Airport

[whatmeworry]

No need for a speedy resolution here so let's try to get it done by 2050 seeing it can open for the half century celebration.
By then we can switch some of the NBN workforce onto it.

Ironically Melbourne was the richest city on the planet in 1900.

 

[erkpod]

Just saw this on the news. The report says it even has an escape hatch!

Can't help think of the Simpsons.

Mono = One.
Rail = Rail.

For all of Sydney's faults, at least we can catch a train to/from the CBD & the airport.

 

[cove]

I never knew that about Melbourne. What went wrong after 1900 ?

 

[Programme]

I tend to look at Singapore as a great example of how public transport can work.
Yet Singapore, with it's wonderful airport, does not have a direct train to the CBD.
After catching a train from the CBD to Tanah Merah, you need to change to a smaller shuttle train to the Airport.

In a similar vein, I think Melbourne could demonstrate it's love of trams by having a high priority articulated tram service run down Melrose Drive, Keilor Road and Mt Alexander Road to Essendon Station.

It would be straightforward with reasonably level ground. There would need to be a flyover into Essendon, arriving into a dock platform for seamless interchange but it would put people on to the rail network in a simple manner.

Serious priority would need to be given for the tram, self activating the traffic lights unlike the token priority than is given to trams currently in Melbourne.

Simpler than a tram, consider the previously preferred option of rail to the airport via Broadmeadows. There is an existing electrified line to Broadmeadows and a mostly clear alignment from there to the airport (open land to the east of runway 09/27, presumably reserved due to aircraft noise). A shuttle line from the airport to Broadmeadows would be relatively short and cheap. Country trains from the north east could be routed via Upfield/Coburg or Albion/Sunshine to free up rail capacity.

...the only problem would be forcing airport passengers to interchange at Broadmeadows. :shock:

 

[Hvr]

Skybus are an independent bus company based at Tullamarine. Driver Buslines is in Glen Iris area. I have never heard of any link before. Where did you get the info from?

Have a read of this very recent story from The Age.

 

[TomVexille]

Skybus are an independent bus company based at Tullamarine. Driver Buslines is in Glen Iris area. I have never heard of any link before. Where did you get the info from?

I don't actually know, but I suspect the two are related. Driver Bus Lines is based just down the road from my office in Mount Waverley and I routinely see Skybus buses heading in and out of their depot. Also the constant advertisement of Gray Line Tours (a Driver Bus Lines company) on the Skybus hints at a relationship, but that could just be advertisement.

 

[DalyWaters]

Simpler than a tram, consider the previously preferred option of rail to the airport via Broadmeadows. There is an existing electrified line to Broadmeadows and a mostly clear alignment from there to the airport (open land to the east of runway 09/27, presumably reserved due to aircraft noise). A shuttle line from the airport to Broadmeadows would be relatively short and cheap. Country trains from the north east could be routed via Upfield/Coburg or Albion/Sunshine to free up rail capacity.

...the only problem would be forcing airport passengers to interchange at Broadmeadows. :shock:

Other problem from Broadmeadows = Large bridge required to cross the valley at massive expense. From Essendon crosses no valleys.

 

[Dalescott]

Skybus are an independent bus company based at Tullamarine. Driver Buslines is in Glen Iris area. I have never heard of any link before. Where did you get the info from?

Skybus is owned by Driver Buslines. It is common knowledge within the industry.

 

[tuapekastar]

I don't think a dedicated train is absolutely necessary *right now*, but may well be in the future, and if so now is the time to be planning for it.

 

[TomVexille]

I don't think a dedicated train is absolutely necessary *right now*, but may well be in the future, and if so now is the time to be planning for it.

It took almost an hour and a half a couple weeks ago to drive from Malvern to the airport, leaving at about 3:20 in the afternoon. Anything to reduce that congestion is needed.

 

[smit0847]

As much as I would love it I cannot see if happening in the next decade. If Melbourne won an Olympics it might pop up very quickly....

 

[dajop]

There's a lot that could be done with MEL airport transport. One thing an express public bus that goes to North Melbourne station (or even get some Skybuses stopping there enroute to Southern Cross), to provide access to/from western and northern suburbs, Carlton/Melbourne University) and the city loop. Another one is to have more regular buses to/from Sunbury to meet the Bendigo line trains. Would make it quicker and easier for people in the north of the state to access the airport via transport.

The idea to run a line to Broadmeadows has merit though, along the lines of the JFK and Newark Airtrains, it could also link into two or three stops in the long term car park, the Holiday Inn precinct and the terminals.

 

[whatmeworry]

I don't think a dedicated train is absolutely necessary *right now*, but may well be in the future, and if so now is the time to be planning for it.

Cities in Germany with only couple of hundred thousand people have dedicated train lines to the Airport.

So at what trigger point does MEL get a train line?

• Melbourne reaches 5 million people.
• They the build the proposed underground train stations.
• They build an unnecessary road tunnel from the eastern freeway to the ring road.
• Qantas makes a profit...

Melbourne has a long track record with taking so long to build much needed infrastructure.

In the case of the City Loop, first conceptualised in 1929, it took 56 years before opening in 1985.

CityLink was first proposed in 1969 but not completed until 2000, the Western Ring Road took 55 years to finally open in 1999 and the Box Hill activity centre, built above the railway station, was first conceived in 1954 and planned throughout the 1970s but did not open until 1992.

Mr Rawnsley said it was not clear why Melbourne took so long to build major infrastructure projects.
"If we compare the Melbourne processes to Sydney ... it's a similar 30-year gestation period," he said.

​

East West Link, CityLink, Western Ring Road: Waiting years, but is it worth it?

''By 2033 we expect more than 60 million passengers a year and we need all forms of ground transport - taxis, private vehicles, buses, Skybus, and a train - to work well for people to get to and from their flights."​

Metro rail tunnel plan will include Melbourne airport link

 

[TomVexille]

Cities in Germany with only couple of hundred thousand people have dedicated train lines to the Airport.

So at what trigger point does MEL get a train line?

• Melbourne reaches 5 million people.
• They the build the proposed underground train stations.
• They build an unnecessary road tunnel from the eastern freeway to the ring road.
• Qantas makes a profit...

Melbourne has a long track record with taking so long to build much needed infrastructure.

​

East West Link, CityLink, Western Ring Road: Waiting years, but is it worth it?



Metro rail tunnel plan will include Melbourne airport link

Can I blame complacency? People seem to say, "it's fine right now, why do we need to do anything/spend money?" instead of working towards the future.