Ever since the Metro Tunnel was first announced, the big question has been “how many trains will they actually run through it off-peak”. Well, there still isn’t an answer to it, but the 2022 Melbourne Airport Rail business plan does give some hope that it’s something more than the pitiful service currently provided on the Sunbury line.
Some background
Early government media releases used generic language such as:
“This project will create space to run more trains, more often, right across Melbourne. We’re getting it done.” said Premier Daniel Andrews.
“We know these changes will be disruptive but we need to get on and build the Metro Tunnel – so we can deliver the frequent, reliable, turn-up-and-go transport system passengers need.” said Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan.
The only hard figures being an increase in peak capacity.
And the Melbourne Metro Program “Business Case Baseline” document dated February 2016 showing half of off-peak trains terminating at West Footscray.
Leaving Sunshine as a station where V/Line services outnumber ‘Metro’ ones.
But those pathetic sounding numbers didn’t actually reflect the service that the government intended to provide through the Metro Tunnel – a spokesperson ringing up blogger Daniel Bowen and telling him it was just a “base case” and not a service plan – which just left us all in the dark as to what the Metro Tunnel would deliver.
But is this it?
In September 2022 the Victorian Government published the Melbourne Airport Rail business case, with a 296 page main report, and a 413 pages of appendices.
And on page 11 of the appendices is what we’ve all been waiting for – a proposed service specification for the Metro Tunnel.
The assumed service specification of each option is summarised in the tables below. Note these assumed service specifications are for the purpose of comparing the options only. All changes to the Base Case under each option are highlighted orange.
The number of trains due to use the Metro Tunnel before the opening of the Melbourne Airport line.
| Peak Hour | Peak 2-hour | Interpeak | Offpeak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Corridor | 18 | 36 | 12 | 12 |
| Sunbury | 6 | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| Watergardens | 6 | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| Sunshine | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| West Footscray | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Airport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Corridor | 18 | 36 | 12 | 12 |
| Pakenham | 9 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| Clyde | 9 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| Westall | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
And after the Melbourne Airport line has been completed.
| Peak Hour | Peak 2-hour | Interpeak | Offpeak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Corridor | 18 | 36 | 12 | 12 |
| Sunbury | 6 | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| Watergardens | 6 | 12 | 3 | 3 |
| Sunshine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Footscray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Airport | 6 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| East Corridor | 18 | 36 | 12 | 12 |
| Pakenham | 9 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| Clyde | 9 | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| Westall | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
So if the above is to be believed, the Sunbury line is in line for a massive off-peak service increase once the Metro Tunnel opens:
- Sunbury – twice as many trains, from every 40 minutes to every 20 minutes,
- Watergardens – twice as many trains, from every 20 minutes to a ‘turn up and go’ 10 minute frequency,
- Sunshine – three times as many trains, with a ‘turn up and go’ 10 minute frequency, with three more trains slotted in between,
- West Footscray – four times as many trains, with one every 5 minutes.
And once Melbourne Airport line opens, things will become even better – the Sunshine and West Footscray shortworkings will be extended through to Melbourne Airport, providing a 5 minute off-peak frequency to the Sunbury line as far as Sunshine.
Now we just need to hope that this is what actually gets delivered!
Great find, Marcus. This is really encouraging if it actually gets implemented.
This does suggest the new West Footscray turnback will become completely useless once airport rail is running – only a decade after it was built?
I’m also wondering about the 9tph to Pakenham and Cranbourne during peak hour. That would mean 18tph (every ~3 minutes) from Dandenong. Is that even possible with upgrading the section between Dandenong and Westall to CBTC?
It appears the West Footscray turnback will go unused once the airport line opens – the new branch taking over the role of terminating trains that don’t continue on to Watergardens or Sunbury.
18tph between Dandenong and Westall could happen on conventional signalling, but CBTC would make it more reliable – but I’m unsure as to who would fund it, reality could be just doing the same as Metro Tunnel Day 1 service and still turn them back at Westall.
Technically, you are correct, but if there are issues beyond West Footscray, then the turnback would be required, so even when the line to the Airport is finished, the turnback would still be needed in case of emergencies.
Why was it always branch lines planned in the outer northern (or northwest) suburbs?
Sunbury/Airport – branch lines
Craigieburn/Upfield (if/when extended as planned) – branch lines
Mernda/Wollert – branch lines
All planned as branch lines to get people into the city.
The eastern suburbs did get their branch lines built 100+ years ago when the suburbs out there were being built, so can’t really say it’s a horrible idea.
Can the rail infrastructure at Sunshine enable a train every 20 minutes to turn back, while also allowing through trains every 10 minutes? At West Footscray a third platform was constructed for turnbacks, whereas at Sunshine there are only 2 Metro platforms. I suspect we will instead see one train every 10 minutes turn back at West Footscray.
Are there any published plans of how electrified Melton and West Werribee lines would fit into the Metro tunnel? There doesn’t seem to be capacity other than taking the 6 trains per hour to Watergardens at peak and redirecting 3 trains per hour to Melton and 3 trains per hour to West Werribee. There dosn’t seem to be the infrastructure nor space at Sunshine to enable these lines to join the tracks to the metro tunnel. My solution is to build a new pair of tracks just the south of the exisiting Brooklyn freight line and join the new Melbourne Metro 2 tunnel. A new pair of platforms at the southern end of the current Sunshine station would serve the Melton and West Werribee lines, and facilitate easy access to Fisherman’s Bend from areas west and north of Sunshine.
At Sunshine they’d have to terminate in platform 2, change ends, then head back towards outbound trains a few hundred metres before they get to the crossover back to the citybound track.
So possible, but not really the most efficient operation – so I suspect they’ll just terminate at West Footscray instead.
As for what happens with electrified Melton and West Werribee line trains – the Melbourne Airport Rail business case considered thee options:
https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/710179/MAR-Business-Case-Main-Document.pdf
– Option 1: Metro Tunnel – connecting to the CBD via Sunbury tracks and the Metro Tunnel.
- Option 2: Regional Rail Link (RRL) – connecting to the CBD via the existing RRL track pair to Southern Cross Station.
– Option 3: Sunshine Tunnel – connecting to the CBD via a new tunnel to Southern Cross Station.
So an extra track pair inbound from Sunshine via tunnel is another possibility.
could an idea be to use the Bunbury St tunnel for peak services to Melton and West Werribee? I know this is supposed to be freight only but for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. who knows in the future, they may make a parallel Bunbury St tunnel for passenger services into the city
Using the Bunbury Street tunnel was proposed as an alternative to building Regional Rail Link in the 2010s by the likes of Paul Mees, who believed we could just sweat our existing assets harder rather than building more tracks.
https://australasiantransportresearchforum.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2010_Mees.pdf
I suspect that they have a plan regarding repurposing the West Footscray turnback post MARL.
It has track connections to both tracks, at both ends, which would allow express services to overtake stopping all stations services in peak direction. Obviously that would delay the stops all train unless the third track was extended towards Tottenham, but in ten years it would be a great political pledge:
“Faster Airport trains for free”
Surely a vote winner! Just don’t tell the thousands whose journey became 2 minutes longer…
The section of third track at West Footscray isn’t particularly long, with the section behind the centre platform being designed as a siding for a ‘hot standby’ train to wait pending deployment towards the city.
What was post metro the proposed service for the upfield line? I think I remember seeing a poster with ‘6tph’.
I believe that was dependant on a turnback being built at Gowrie as part of the “Wider Network Enhancements” package, but it got descoped.
https://wongm.com/2022/11/wider-network-enhancements-and-the-metro-tunnel-project/