The announcement was made as part of the federal election campaign on the 22 October 2007 on the site of the proposed South Morang Rail station.
The state Labor government promised in 1999 to build the extension to South Morang in its first term.
Announcing the funding, Treasurer Peter Costello said it was conditional on the State Government committing to the rail link to Mernda.
The extension of this railway line has long been promised by the State Government, he said.
This is an area of Melbourne where suburbs are almost appearing overnight.
It's been too long for the railway line already.
The overpasses would be built at McDonalds and Plenty roads at South Morang and include an overpass at Civic Drive to allow the extension to South Morang to proceed immediately.
Local Liberal MP Fran Bailey said the lack of a rail line to Mernda was frustrating and very inconvenient for residents who have been waiting 8 years for the state government to honour its promise.
The State government has previously announced it will extend the line to South Morang between 2016-21 but this is totally unacceptable to the Alliance and local residents who welcomed the commitment by Treasurer Peter Costello.
This is great news and gives the state government 80 million more reasons to start work on the extension to the Epping line immediately.
The South Morang Rail Alliance calls on the state Minister for Transport to accept this funding initiative and announce the commencement of work on the extension in the current financial year and urges federal Labor to match or better the Government's offer.
This site will keep the community informed of any responses from the federal ALP.
Home Page of the South Morang Rail Alliance
Go to this link to find out more about the South Morang Rail Alliance
Why we need the rail extension
Check out this link to understand the need for the extension
This link gives more details of the federal Liberal promise
Contact the Secretary at secretary.smra@hotmail.com
The $80 million commitment by the federal Treasurer
This is great news for the Alliance and residents of the City of Whittlesea who have been waiting for some leadership on this issue
|
A welcome announcement
Liberal member for McEwen Fran Bailey has been lobbying hard for this announcement on behalf of the residents of the City of Whittlesea and was praised for her persistence by the federal Treasurer
|
Good news for the Alliance
The state government would be completely irresponsible if it did not accept this offer of $80 million towards the rail extension to Mernda. The Alliance predicts that a failure to do so will result in an electoral backlash at the next state election.
|
|
|
|
|
