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The Dandenong railway line triplication project was an initiative of the state government of Victoria, Australia, to add sections of a third railway line from Caulfield to Dandenong to expand the capacity of and relieve congestion on the Pakenham railway line, part of the Melbourne suburban rail network. The project underwent a reduction in its scope after being first announced in 2006. The triplication was initially planned to extend for the entire Caulfield-Dandenong section of track, but in July 2008 it was announced that it was "unlikely" there would be a third rail track for the full length. According to VicRoads the more likely outcome would be that there would be three tracks for some sections and the existing two tracks in others.〔(Minutes of Glen Eira City Council meeting, 22 July 2008. )〕〔("Plan for new Dandenong train line off the rails" by Jason Dowling, The Age, 5 August 2008. )〕 The Department of Transport amended its website to state it would undertake a program that included the addition of "sections of third track".〔("Anger at Caulfield end of line", by Paul Riordan, Caulfield Glen Eira Leader, 5 August 2008 )〕〔(Dandenong Rail Corridor Project, Department of Transport website )〕 Elements of the plan were revived in a September 2012 Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure Department briefing to the Government as part of an infrastructure plan for the expansion of the Port of Hastings. The briefing predicted additional rail tracks between Caulfield and Dandenong would be needed by 2022 to cope with additional freight movement. ==Scope and aims of the project== The project was announced in 2006 as part of a major public transport policy statement called Meeting Our Transport Challenges and was estimated to cost as much as $1 billion.〔 〕 It was described as "the biggest investment in the rail network since the construction of the City Loop, (would ) deliver a substantial boost in the capacity of Melbourne’s rail network". The network had been plagued with problems of overcrowding after a surge in passenger numbers, as well as increasing train delays and cancellations, much of which was attributed to bottlenecks in the network, chiefly on the Pakenham line. The 2007-08 State Budget allocated $37 million of its $362 million train package for the first stage of the project, which funded construction work at Cranbourne station of stabling, a station upgrade and additional parking. The second stage, due to begin in 2009,〔(Dandenong Rail Corridor Stage 2 fact sheet, Department of Transport, 2008 )〕 would have included additional train stabling at Westall station and a 2.7 km section of third track between Centre Rd and Springvale Rd. The 2008-09 State Budget allocated $153 million for the Westall project, claiming it would allow "short starter trains" to start and finish their journeys at Westall, running behind express trains from Cranbourne or Pakenham, and helping to even out passenger numbers across services on the line. Later stages were to include the construction of a third track between Caulfield station and Springvale station (commencing by 2011), station upgrades and construction of a third track between Springvale and Dandenong (commencing between 2011 and 2016). Bob Annells, chairman of Connex Melbourne, which was at that time franchised by the State Government to operate suburban passenger rail services in Melbourne, warned that there would be "considerable disruption" to rail services during the infrastructure works. A report on the ABC current affairs television program ''Stateline'' claimed the capital works project intended to reduce overcrowding and improve reliability "will mean things get worse before they get better".〔(Will faulty brakes mean the end of the line for Connex? transcript, ABC Stateline Victoria, 9 February 2007 )〕 The allocation of funding in the May 2007 Budget for works only at Cranbourne, from the nearest section of the proposed third track, prompted speculation that the project was in doubt. ''The Age'' newspaper quoted "a source close to the Government" saying the Government had "gone quiet" on the triplication project in the Budget and that Treasurer John Brumby had commissioned a review because he was not convinced it was value for money. The triplication had first been mooted in the 2001 State Budget and the 2005-2006 Budget allocated an initial $25 million for "consultation, planning and development work on public transport options for the Dandenong growth corridor". In a statement to the Victorian Parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee in May 2007, then Transport Minister Lynne Kosky described the triplication as "a huge project; 15 per cent of the travelling metropolitan population actually use that line, so it services an area of more than half a million people." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dandenong railway line triplication」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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