Premier

Matthew Guy “Explains” His Unravelling Regional Rail Plan

04 October 2018

In a day-long media blitz, the Liberal Leader got on with selling his regional rail plan.

ON COST

MITCHELL: How much does it cost for a kilometre of that track?

GUY: It’s about a million dollars a kilometre if you’re taking out signalling and a range of others.

MITCHELL: For the fast track? It’s a million dollars a kilometre?

GUY: Mmm, there’s more to it, much more to it than that – that’s just talking about your ballast, and uh.. stone, and sleepers, and rail but there’s more to it than that.

MITCHELL: So all up what’s it cost for the 200km track?

GUY: Well… at the moment you’ve got to upgrade your class one track, it’s a bit more technical than just saying what’s the cost from here to there… You’ve actually got a whole bunch of variables as to where you’re building and what kind of ballast you’re going to use and if you’re going over certain kind of soils and clays and the rest.

ON TICKET COST

MITCHELL: How much will tickets cost? How much will they go up?

GUY: Ha ha ha, I haven’t thought that far ahead!

ON LAND ACQUISITION

MITCHELL: Will you need to acquire land?

GUY: No, you’re using existing reservation.

[NB. The existing rail corridor has curves, angles, and grades not capable of running 200km/h trains.]

ON GEELONG RAIL BY 2022 AND INTERACTION WITH AIRPORT RAIL (NOT OPERATIONAL UNTIL AT LEAST 2027)

MITCHELL: How do you get the Geelong train there faster – you’d reduce the number of stops?

GUY: Well you can put on an express service which doesn’t stop to complement your existing services, that’s the first instance, the second instance is obviously using the new Airport Rail Lines from Sunshine-in and then adding extra tracks to Wyndham Vale, and that would then give you express lines out.

MITCHELL: Will this affect the Air Rail Link – the link to the Airport?

GUY: No! Quite the contrary, it would complement it. And we would use some of those tracks. Actually I’ve been watching this with great interest I think those express tracks from Sunshine are part of this solution.

ON GIPPSLAND

CHAVASTEK: Where will the tunnels be on the Gippsland line?

GUY: I’m not going to pre-empt that

CHAVASTEK: Surely you know

GUY: This is about 6 hours old give me a chance, Nicole

AND WHAT DOES THE PUBLIC THINK

“I’m not really trusting what he says. Sorry Matthew.” Member of the public, Channel Nine News

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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