The northeast rail corridor of Victoria serves, or could potentially serve, the rapidly growing suburbs to the north of Melbourne (from Broadmeadows to Wallan), the regional centres through Seymour, Wangaratta and on to Wodonga, the regional centres from Seymour to Shepparton, and potentially beyond into the NSW Riverina, Albury-Wodonga, and the regional centres into NSW through to Wagga Wagga.
The completion of high-speed rail in this corridor would put Shepparton within 45 minutes of Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga within 90 minutes, and even Wagga Wagga within 2 hours of Melbourne.
The upgrade to rail services in the NE corridor, both in terms of travel times and frequency, would provide high quality access to Melbourne for those making periodic trips for employment or other specialised needs. It is not assumed that cities like Shepparton, Wodonga or Wagga Wagga would become daily commuter or bedroom communities of Melbourne. Nevertheless, the significant enhancement of rail services would allow many people currently forced to drive to use rail services, reducing pressure on the Hume Highway and on the road network.
This would act to reduce growth pressures on Melbourne, whilst promoting a more equitable distribution of Victoria’s population and with it, access to jobs, services and affordable housing. This will provide Victorians with a wider range of lifestyle choices. For example, cities like Shepparton and Albury-Wodonga can become much more significant regional hubs with high-quality health, education and other high-level services currently only available in the capital cities.
This corridor currently has a population of 600,000, which could potentially nearly double by 2050 if faster and eventually high-speed rail services were provided. Our estimates indicate the population of this corridor could grow by almost half a million people by 2050. These estimates are considered moderate but achievable based on conservative assumptions:
Based on these projections, the following rail services will be needed by 2050:
Hourly expresses between Sydney and Melbourne, stopping at Albury-Wodonga and outer Melbourne
Once every two-hours expresses from Canberra to Melbourne, stopping at Wagga Wagga, Albury, Shepparton, Hume and outer Melbourne
Hourly fast regional services between Wagga Wagga and Melbourne, stopping at Albury-Wodonga, Shepparton, Mitchell, Hume and outer Melbourne
Hourly fast regional services from Albury-Wodonga stopping at Benalla, Wangaratta, Mitchell, Hume and other stops
Half-hourly fast regional services from Shepparton to Melbourne stopping at Hume and other stops
Multiple additional shorter commuter services from Mitchell and Hume into Melbourne.
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