With record population growth currently flooding Melbourne:
And the city’s population expected to swell to by 70%-plus to 8 million mid-century (or 9 million at the current rate):
Melbourne’s train system is being buckling under the strain, according to The Age:
Melbourne Metro’s oldest trains, the 1980s Comeng fleet, are to be dumped onto the state’s most strained lines in the city’s north and north-west…
The documents also show that routes in the city’s fast-growing north, west and south-east are under enormous pressure, prompting Metro Trains to call for “urgent” action to boost services on lines that are at capacity during peak hour.
An internal company document obtained by The Age warns that Melbourne’s rail commuters cannot wait until the Metro Tunnel is built in 2025, with the rail operator advising that several lines need a solution now.
The northern group – which includes the Sunbury, Craigieburn and Upfield lines – is already at capacity during peak hour, meaning no more services can run through the City Loop.
But the pressure is spreading right across the network, prompting the need for new timetables that encourage commuters to travel outside of peak periods, the company’s 2017 Strategic Operational Plan warns.
“The expected growth in MTM [Metro Trains Melbourne] patronage, especially through the peak period, will place considerable pressure on our network,” Metro said.
“The highest growth is expected on the Werribee, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Craigieburn, Sunbury and South Morang/Mernda Lines”…
The most overcrowded line is Craigieburn, with 63 per cent of services breaching their load in the morning peak period in 2015, the report found.
The shenanigans on Melbourne’s trains is only one symptom of the Australia’s immigration-fueled population ponzi. To this you can add congested roads, less affordable (and smaller) homes, schools bursting at the seams, and overall reduced resident amenity.
Infrastructure Australia’s own projections for Melbourne show liveability will unambigously worsen as the city’s population balloons, with worsening congestion and reduced access to jobs, schools, hospitals and green space:
Clearly, the best way to avert Melbourne’s looming infrastructure disaster, as well as maintain resident living standards, is for the the State Government to tap its federal counterpart on the shoulder and demand they slash Australia’s immigration program.
