Train capacity crisis to hit breaking point in 2018
An article entitled “Train capacity crisis to hit breaking point in 2018” resonated with me as a Buyers Agent and resident of Melbourne.
Several years ago now I purchased a new home for a client in Newport in Melbourne’s west. She was so excited to be moving closer to the city and cutting down her commute time to the CBD. She had been traveling by car from Sunbury which is just over 40 kilometres from Melbourne and took her over an hour each way. Some months after moving into her dream home, she invited me to visit and inspect her renovations. I inquired whether she was loving living closer to work. Her response shocked me! She told me that unless she was at the train station by 7:30 am, she couldn’t get on it as it was too full. Further, she said that this had worsened since she moved in 6 months ago when she could get on the train routinely at 8 am.
I can only imagine this situation has worsened over the years. Newport is 7 stations from CBD on the Williamstown line. There are 8 more train stations on the line to Werribee and people getting on further out mean the train is full by mid route.
“Melbourne’s busiest railway lines will be overwhelmed by passenger growth within three or four years, leaving more and more commuters unable to board peak-hour trains, new figures show. The city’s rail capacity crisis is expected to hit hardest on lines in the western and northern suburbs, which are projected to hit bursting point at least seven years before the planned solution – the $11 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel – is completed.
The latest projections from Public Transport Victoria predict growth in peak-hour patronage of about 90 per cent on the Werribee/Williamstown lines between this year and 2025, 80 per cent on both the Sunbury and Upfield lines, more than 70 per cent on the South Morang line and more than 60 per cent on the Craigieburn line.”
You will be fascinated to read this article from The Age by Adam Carey published on 22nd September, 2015.
Read more: https://www.theage.com.au/victoria/commuters-to-be-squeezed-out-of-the-loop-as-rail-overcrowding-crisis-looms-20150922-gjsank.html#ixzz3n1HXtIlJ
For up to date information on what’s happening in real estate in Melbourne, contact Janet at jspencer@buyersolutions.com.au or 0418 101 146.
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