Public Transport Minister Ben Carroll says that commitments are “always evolving over time”.Credit:Darrian Traynor
Opposition transport spokesman David Southwick said that the Andrews government had broken an election promise to the western suburbs because ofcost blow-outs in its other infrastructure projects.
“The cancellation of these much-needed rail upgrades is a betrayal of Melbourne’s growing western communities,” he said.
While not addressing the issue of duplicating the existing tracks,Allan said the Metro network could not be extended to the outer west until other work was completed. That work includes the expansion of a section of the line between Deer Park and Melton from a single track to two and the removal of four level crossings as part of a $650 million pledge made before the 2022 election.
The Wyndham andMelton local government areas have grown 70 per cent over the decade to 2022 to a combined population of just over half a million people,and is forecast to grow another 50 per cent to 791,000 by 2036.
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