Transport experts have lauded the boldness of a $50 billion suburban Melbourne rail tunnel plan, but say it could cost much more and the detail is too vague.
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Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled the 90km suburban rail loop proposal on Tuesday, with building to begin late 2022 and finish by 2051.
It would link Cheltenham in the southeast to Werribee in the southwest and connect to the proposed Melbourne Airport rail line, with up to 12 new underground stations and 400,000 people tipped to use it daily.
If re-elected in November, the Labor government would tip in $300 million for a proper business case.
Details including the location of stations and route alignment are yet to be confirmed and the government will rely heavily on commonwealth funding for it.
Monash University transport engineering expert Graham Currie welcomed the "extremely ambitious" project but said $50 billion seemed a low estimate.
"There are going to be many issues that we need to look at but I'm not going to criticise it for being too bold," he told AAP.
"If you look in the very, very long term, this project will change the shape of Melbourne. It will address a problem that we've got today that we're far too focused on the city."
University of Melbourne senior lecturer in transport planning, John Stone, also said it was "fantastic" to see the government try and fix public transport for suburbs, but testing on different options was needed.
"The questions are, is this the best way to do that? There are many other ways you could try and do a project like this," Dr Stone told AAP.
He said it should go to the independent Infrastructure Victoria for assessment because there are questions about how many people would use it.
"One option would be underground heavy rail like the Melbourne Metro - that's 10-carriage trains, large platforms, deep stations," Dr Stone said.
"Suburban services like this aren't going to have the same peak loads that a train coming into central Melbourne would have so higher frequency, smaller vehicles could actually work quite well."
Mr Andrews said the project will take time and significant expenditure but the cost of not building it would be more congestion and a growing city "that just won't function".
Opposition Treasurer Michael O'Brien said Infrastructure Victoria had been "cut out of the loop" and there was no detail on cost or how it would be funded.
"With some estimates suggesting it will cost between $50 billion to $100 billion and a completion date beyond the year 2050, this looks more like a plan for the next election rather than a plan for the next generation," he said.
Infrastructure Victoria said it would be interested to assess the project in more detail, considering its benefits and the state's long-term needs.
Australian Associated Press
