LAST week the Liberal Nationals Government pledged to build faster rail between Shepparton and Melbourne that would double current maximum speeds, cutting travel times to under two hours if elected in November.
The faster rail is said to slash travel times from the current 146 minutes to 117 minutes, a saving of around 30 minutes.
Reaching speeds of up to 160km/h on the Shepparton line, the statewide network will be the fastest in Australia. The Shepparton line has a current maximum of around only 80km/h.
An elected Liberal Nationals Government also pledges to double the number of Shepparton and Melbourne weekday services and also pledges to fund new-generation, faster, long haul variants of the successful V/Locity trains which will provide better comfort and leg room, safety and amenity for passengers.
At an estimated total cost of $15B to $19B, this super-infrastructure project will transform regional Victoria and is affordable, sensible and realistic.
Building a faster and high speed rail network across Victoria will create at least 10,000 new jobs.
Leader of the Opposition, Matthew Guy said, “Faster rail will unite our cities and grow the whole state, not just Melbourne.
“To build a state of cities and grow all of Victoria, we need to build faster rail connecting our regional centres and we need to grow regional jobs and deliver more services to the regions like teachers, doctors, healthcare workers and police.”
Leader of The Nationals, Peter Walsh said, “When we reduce travel times we increase opportunities for people to live in one place and work in another.”
Liberal Candidate for Shepparton, Cheryl Hammer said, “This announcement for fast rail is visionary and will make the difference here in the Shepparton electorate for future economic growth, jobs and to encourage people to choose to live here.
“This plan for European style fast rail will deliver the standard of public transport that we have been fighting for, and deserve, here in the Shepparton region.”
The Nationals Candidate for Shepparton, Peter Schwarz said, “It’s going to be terrific for getting our commuters where they need to be, and it will also be a key driver to encourage more major employers to look at relocating to places like Shepparton and that means more jobs and more opportunities in regional Victoria.”
