2026-09-28
The Victorian Greens say Melbourne’s north needs more trains, not more delays, as Labor finally admits the Upfield line desperately needs duplication - while simultaneously delaying promised level crossing removals for the second time.
Labor’s announcement commits $80 million to another two years of planning, design and approvals for duplication, but does not commit to actually building the project or put a single extra train on the Upfield line.
At the same time, eight level crossing removals promised before the 2022 election for completion by 2027 - and already delayed once to 2030 - have now been pushed back again to 2033.
The Greens have repeatedly pushed for duplication of the single-track section between Gowrie and Upfield. In September last year, Parliamentary Budget Office costings commissioned by the Greens and published in The Age found duplicating the four-kilometre section would cost around $246 million - at the time likening the entire duplication to the cost of a single level crossing removal.
The Greens say communities in Melbourne’s north have already been neglected and taken for granted for years and they shouldn’t have to choose between overdue infrastructure projects.
Quotes attributable to the Victorian Greens MLC for Northern Metropolitan, Anasina Gray-Barberio:
“Melbourne’s north has been neglected for too long, and today communities are being handed another broken promise.
“Labor promised these level crossings would be gone by 2027. Then it was 2030. Now it’s 2033 - while communities across the north continue to grow and wait for the infrastructure they were promised. Communities in the north deserve so much better than empty pre-election announcements that just disappear over the horizon.”
Quotes attributable to the Victorian Greens candidate for Brunswick, Adam Pulford:
“The Upfield line is infamously the most unreliable in Melbourne. Our community needs more trains, not more delays.
“Last year Labor promised a business case, this year it’s ‘initial works’ over two years. Labor just needs to commit the $246 million to actually duplicating the Upfield, which is how we can get more trains running more often for our community.”
Quotes attributable to the Victorian Greens candidate for Pascoe Vale, Angelica Panopoulos:
“Our northern suburbs are growing rapidly. People shouldn’t have to choose between the level crossing removals they were promised and the train services they desperately need.
“It shouldn’t take decades of advocacy from the community and Labor staring down the barrel of losing marginal seats to the Greens to finally move on this.
“I’ve been speaking with commuters along the Upfield line for months now, and they don’t tell me they want another study, they want a train line that gives the same service as the South East.”