East‑West Rail Tunnel, Vic
Linking Melbourne's western suburbs and central business district
The Government will provide $40 million towards pre‑construction planning, design and engineering works for the East‑West Rail Tunnel in inner‑city Melbourne.
The new rail tunnel involves construction of:
- a 17‑kilometre, two‑track tunnel between Dynon and Caulfield.
- seven new stations including Arden Street, Parkville and Domain (St Kilda Road)
- new connections to Melbourne Central and Flinders Street stations linking the western suburbs and the central business district.
Relieving congested metropolitan rail lines
Melbourne is continuing to experience significant population growth, placing increased pressure on existing transport systems. Rapid growth in demand for metropolitan rail services is expected, especially in Melbourne's north and west. The East‑West Rail Tunnel will help alleviate this pressure by providing increased capacity for all northern and western urban rail services.
The East‑West Rail Tunnel will deliver real benefits to the wider Melbourne metropolitan area by creating additional capacity for the Melbourne metropolitan rail network — supporting an additional 120 trains during peak periods each day, or an additional 84,000 commuters.
This new underground rail link will benefit the entire metropolitan rail network by creating more rail track in inner‑city Melbourne, relieving congested rail lines and improving travel times.
Construction is expected to commence in 2012 and is scheduled for completion in 2018.
