From the 23rd of May 2026 trains on the Sunbury Line will no longer have the option to travel along the old surface main lines to the city with those tracks being removed and replaced with a maintenance path. A maintenance path that in over 120 years has never been required.
This will mean the only electrified route to Sunbury is through the Metro Tunnel.
It also means there will no longer be a route outside of the Metro Tunnel for freight trains through the system using the Sunbury Line and train controllers will loose the ability to route V/Line services around problems on the RRL lines which they can do now.
This main line route is an alternate for Bendigo Line trains if the RRL is out of service or has a serious problem causing service unavailability.
Calder Park will no longer be suitable for storage of non-HCMT train sets (I believe some Comengs are stored there currently), unless you want to fanoogle them through the tunnel very slowly to Hawksburn.
How will transfers of trains be possible with the mainline removed?
All who have reviewed this proposed change believe it be ridiculous. Metro Trains has again planned to remove much needed alternative routing within the network. Passengers are sick and tired of being delayed on the network due to poor decision making by Metro Trains a company owned by the Chinese and whom are coming to the end of their contract.
The Melbourne system has been voted for many years the worst run system metro passenger system in Australia and there is no need to wonder why. The network under Metro Trains and its management is in terminal decline.
Delivering network performance with integrity, pride and a commitment to safety at every step. Responsible for infrastructure, rolling stock, and operational control and management systems. The Network Assets team manages the integrity of our assets and strengthens network performance through continuous improvement and reliable delivery.
The person ultimately responsible for this proposed change must be Peter Gleeson the Executive Director of Network Assets. (pictured above) His overview of his role is clearly misplaced. It should be referencing positive network asset development, alignment with expectations of the customer and to international standards of network management, clearly it does not.
It does saying strengthen network performance but in this case he is doing the opposite. it is about time these so called management experts are called out for poor decision making that will have a detrimental impact on standards.
Every change on assets is on him. So what was his criteria to remove a key junction and with it the ability route around service issues on what is arguably 2 critically important main lines in Melbourne? He acts with integrity? How does this change provide any integrity to the network?
Did he receive information about the efficacy of the change no one else in the rail industry can find? Why does this man find it important to sign off on such a crtitcal devaluation of a network owned by Victorians not him or his chinese owned company?
Was he also responsible for the removal of points in the Caulfied area that on several occasions bought the network to a complete standstill?
This change should be immediately stopped as it does not add any value to the network in removing this main line track infact it will have the opposite affect.
Given the poor management of the network over the tenure of MTM it is surely time for a change.
–Original diagram source: https://x.com/literar63
