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I’m very pleased to be here. We’re announcing the sixth package on the Regional Rail Link
project. This is the sixth and final package and I believe that this package, like the
other packages, contributes to what is a very important project for Victoria and an important
project for Melbourne, and obviously an important project for Ballarat and Bendigo and Geelong
because this project separates the V/Line services from the Metro services and that
means better services for both the Metro and V/Line rail networks and I think commuters
will very much appreciate it. This final package is a package worth more than $40 million.
It’s a package which makes the link from West Werribee to the Geelong line, and we’re
very pleased that this package has been awarded to Leighton Downer as a joint venture and
it will consist of an overpass over Bulban Road and a separation of those lines in order
to lay the two new lines to come into the Geelong line. It’s a significant package
in its own right, but it is the final piece of the jigsaw in the Regional Rail Link. It’s
a project which does have Commonwealth funding and we very much appreciate that, and there’s
no doubt that this is a project which will assist the public transport system in Victoria,
but it will benefit jobs, it will benefit the economy and it will benefit the regions.
And to think that there are more than 5,500 thousand jobs associated with this project, it puts
it into perspective and we expect this project to commence by the end of the year and to
be concluded in 2014, and we are expecting that services will commence on the Regional
Rail line in 2016. And when those services commence I think everyone will see that his
project has been worthwhile and will make an incredible difference to the public transport
system in Victoria. Prime Minister.
It really is good to be here to be able to say that Regional Rail Link is now full steam
ahead; that every part has been the subject of contract and construction will now move
into full mode, getting this very important project done.
And we’re getting to turn the sod today on the last section and celebrate that the
final piece of the puzzle has been the subject of contracting and now will move to construction
phase. But overall, we’re talking about a huge project. I’m very proud that the
Australian Government has been able to commit $3.2 billion towards this project and work
in partnership with the Victorian Government to get it done.
It’s the largest public transport infrastructure project in Australia today.
It will supply 5,600 jobs during the life of the project and then when it’s completed,
it will be a major contributor to productivity and infrastructure in Victoria in Melbourne’s
West. What we will have here in 2016 is trains starting to run on new lines.
And that means we can move more people to more places more often. It means that Victoria’s
three biggest regional cities – Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat – will each have their
own dedicated tracks through the metropolitan system. And by separating the regional lines
from the metropolitan lines, we’re able to increase capacity and improve timetable
reliability for both. So, we will see enough extra train services to move up to 9,000 extra
passengers across the network in peak times. For us locally, here in Melbourne’s West,
this is a hugely important project. This is an amazing growth corridor where so many people
come to make their lives, to buy their first home, to have their families. And so this
project, including the new train stations will be a revolution in services for people
right here in Melbourne’s West, in my electorate. So, it’s a great delight to be here, to
turn this sod and to celebrate a project that is now in full construction mode. Thank you
very much.