-----Original Message-----
From: Roderick Smith [mailto:rodsmith@werple.net.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 April 2017 6:17 PM
To: 'transportdownunder@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: snippets, Fri.7.4.17

Attached:

170407F Melbourne 'Age' - St Pauls Cathedral (when?).

170407F Melbourne 'Herald Sun':
- airport line.
- train to fun run.
- energy. with tdu.

Roderick.

Melbourne Express: Friday, April 7, 2017 .
Today's Mystery Melbourne is St Paul's Cathedral. The photo was taken before
spires were added to the building. The State Library estimates the pic was
taken between 1920 and 1929. Donna L was the first to pinpoint the date
based on what the women in the photo were wearing.
Now that you've seen our school holiday guide, there's one thing you should
keep in mind if you're planning to go to your destination using public
transport - there will be buses replacing trains on some routes this
weekend.
Tram routes 12, 78 and 109 will not be operating because of line works.
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-express-friday-april-7-2017-20170406-g
vfgbr.html>

April 7 2017 Andrews government talks down Melbourne Airport rail as PM
pledges cash .
The Andrews government has welcomed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's new
interest in building a rail link to Melbourne Airport, but played down the
project's urgency, arguing the best advice is it won't be needed for another
15 to 30 years.
Melbourne Airport rail was listed as a mid to long-term project in
Infrastructure Victoria's recent 30-year planning blueprint for the state.
Despite warnings of worsening Tullamarine traffic, the Andrews government
has made no commitment to a rail line to the airport. Photo: Chris Hopkins .
The Andrews government has said it is happy to be guided by that independent
advice and has made no commitment to build a rail line to the airport.
"The independent Infrastructure Victoria report that was released late last
year indicated that an airport rail link is needed within the next 15 to 30
years and we certainly want to work towards achieving that," Victoria's
Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan Ms Allan told ABC Radio on Friday
morning.
This is despite recent warnings from Melbourne Airport that its visitor
numbers are growing so fast that it expects the Tullamarine Freeway will
choke with traffic well before then.
The airport expects to welcome 64 million passengers a year 15 years from
now, almost double the current volume.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was a "big supporter" of rail and
that it was an "omission" that Melbourne did not have an airport rail line.
"It's very important to have more rail, particularly now in our big cities
as they become more densely settled but we're talking to colleagues about
our infrastructure priorities," Mr Turnbull said.
But he would not be drawn on specific details ahead of the budget when
questioned on 3AW morning radio.
Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester, who is also the member for
Gippsland, has been in talks with his state counterpart Jacinta Allan.
Fairfax Media understands that planning work is well advanced to upgrade the
Gippsland rail corridor, a train line that services the Latrobe Valley,
which has been hard hit by the closure of the Hazelwood power station.
The intervention from Canberra to use the asset-recycling cash on the
airport rail link has frustrated many in the Andrews government, who want
the $1.45 billion Victoria is entitled to spent on infrastructure projects
that are shovel-ready.
There is also frustration that the Turnbull government is dictating how the
entitlement should be spent when other state governments, particularly NSW,
are given much more freedom to spend their allocation from the scheme.
Under Treasurer Joe Hockey the asset-recycling scheme was set up to make a
payment to the state of an extra 15 per cent of any privatisation sales
made, which could be reinvested into critical infrastructure.
But when Victoria sold the Port of Melbourne for $9.7 billion the Turnbull
government said it would only pay an agreed $877 million to the project, of
which the vast majority was to be spent on Melbourne Metro rail.
Since then there has been haggling over Victoria seeking its full
entitlement of $1.45 billion to spend on projects it sees fit.
In March, Melbourne Airport told The Age: "We need a detailed study into
feasible solutions now because construction will take a decade and
realistically the solution will need to be operational in the next 10 to 15
years."
Money for an airport rail link is expected to feature in the April federal
budget, along with an injection of cash for an upgrade of fault-prone
regional rail lines to Warrnambool, Gippsland and Albury, News Corp reported
on Friday.
Ms Allan said Melbourne's rail network could not support an airport rail
line until the Melbourne Metro tunnel is completed in 2026.
"We welcome the Commonwealth's interest in the Airport Rail Link, and look
forward to working with them to advance a business case on this project,
which can't be built until the completion of the Metro Tunnel," Ms Allan
said.
"We also welcome their interest in regional rail, after months of working to
convince the Turnbull government that investing in regional rail and public
transport was worthwhile. We now hope to work with them to get even more
shovels in the ground in Victoria's regions."
The former Napthine government spent $6.5 million on a feasibility study
into an airport rail link, which recommended it should take a dogleg route
via Sunshine station and the Albion-Jacana spur line used by trains between
Melbourne and Sydney.
It also found the Melbourne Metro tunnel would need to be up and running
before an airport link could be supported.
But some experts fear Melbourne Metro will be too crowded out by trains on
the fast-growing Sunbury and Melton lines to ever support an airport rail
link.
In March, Ms Allan was briefed on a proposal for a separate airport rail
tunnel between Southern Cross Station and Sunshine, which would make for a
15-minute trip between the city and the airport.
The Air Train proposal, developed by the Rail Futures Institute, would also
need a dedicated fleet of trains designed for airport travellers. The
project has an estimated price tag of more than $5 billion.
Related Content
Despite warnings of worsening Tullamarine traffic, the Andrews government
has made no commitment to a rail line to the ...
Government warned Melbourne Metro won't support future airport rail link .
Age editorial dinkus square .
Low-carbon vision for high-growth Melbourne .
<www.theage.com.au/victoria/andrews-government-talks-down-melbourne-airport-
rail-as-pm-pledges-cash-20170406-gvfmxn.html>