This opinion piece was submitted by Benalla's Suzie Pearce:
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For the past year or more ARTC has been promoting the $235 million North-East Rail Upgrade, forgetting to mention that this is nearly 20 years behind works started in the rest of Victoria.
In 2016/17 the state and federal governments agreed that works were needed to upgrade the North-East Line to a similar standard as other regional lines.
The Federal Government made funds available and it is included in the list of works jointly funded with the state as part of Victoria's $2 billion Regional Revival Program.
Elsewhere passenger rail improvement began in the early 2000s under the Victorian Government's Regional Fast Rail Program.
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The North-East Line was not included because of the lease arrangements with Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) whose interests are freight trains.
These tracks are used by V/Line passenger trains to Albury, the NSW TrainLink XPT service to Sydney and freight trains.
They will soon also be used by the Inland Rail double-stacked freight trains travelling between Melbourne and Brisbane.
The poor condition of both tracks has created problems relating to passenger service punctuality, reliability and lack of passenger comfort.
The overdue need has been made clear in the past 12 months by reported rail incidents for passenger and freight trains, plus some that were unreported.
The poor condition has also delayed product from the Benalla Precast Cement Works travelling to Melbourne by rail as intended.
This has created a range of compounding problems that includes excessive noise resulting from shunting, day and night, at the Benalla railyard.
It is faster to drive 200 km from Benalla to Melbourne than travel by rail.
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Trains take a circuitous route into Melbourne rather than share the more direct Seymour/Melbourne broad-gauge corridor.
These upgrade works will not change this.
Infrastructure Australia's business case review of the North-East Rail Upgrade Project (December 3, 2019) deemed that benefits to the community had been materially overstated.
It believed that works might make the trip smoother, but would only temporarily address the mud hole problems.
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ARTC awarded John Holland the works contract (press release December 9, 2019).
ARTC Victoria general manager projects Ed Walker has revealed that the contract was sub-let to 12 north-east Victorian subcontractors.
The state-owned Rail Projects Victoria was made project manager.
The scope of works include track rehabilitation, replacement of signalling infrastructure and power supply to improve reliability and resilience, plus structural improvements including vehicle and pedestrian crossings.
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While the North-East Line is getting catch-up track works, the rest of the state where V/Locity trains are already operating (or soon will be), are being funded to have station upgrades, car parking and line extensions to new stations.
These works will create economic opportunities inequitably denied the north-east, which is now also facing major infrastructure undertakings to accommodate the Inland Rail Project.
There is no money promised in that project, or any other project, to repair the damage to Benalla Station and its precincts once these works are completed. The whole length of the Victorian component of that project faces this dilemma.
Mr Walker said at a public meeting in Benalla last November: "we (ARTC) want Benalla to be proud of the outcome”. Surely this applies to all works that ARTC is responsible for.
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ARTC should not be proud of the carelessly undertaken recent upgrade works in Benalla.
They have not enhanced the rail asset and Rail Projects Victoria has not ensured their quality on behalf of the state.
They will not entreat passengers to return to rail travel and their value to the state is very questionable.
I hope they are not typical of works all along the North-East Line.
More importantly, I hope they do not foreshadow the quality of works to be expected for the Inland Rail Project that ARTC is charged to deliver.
Below is my list of (what are, in my opinion) poor works recently undertaken:
● Ballast has fallen into the pedestrian underpass at the station, luckily not hitting anyone. More is about to fall;
● Ballast has flown/fallen from uncovered trucks on public roads hitting car windscreens;
● The major gateway crossing at Nunn St has been inadequately upgraded. On the north side a bit of bitumen and splash of yellow paint on one side of the old pedestrian crossing has been added and still no safe pedestrian crossing on the south side that leads to several youth sporting facilities. Vehicles still have to slow and noisily bump over the level crossing on a main road;
● The Arundel and Faithful Street pedestrian crossings show no regard for complying with design standards for disabled, elderly or family users and at Faithful St, children from the school next door;
● The quality of pedestrian crossing works at Arundel St is amateurish even after a Benalla Rural City Councillor who lives nearby, complained and more work was hastily added;
● All six vehicle crossings in Benalla have been roughly sealed and unfinished at their sides; and
● Overdue signalling works have not been undertaken.
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