Another time where MPs can veer off the limited agenda set by their parties is in the reports they must submit if they go on parliament-funded overseas study trips. Not only do these accounts describe what they saw overseas but they also discuss lessons and applicability for here.
Shadow Public Transport Minister Matthew Guy MP travelled to South America in 2019, 2023, 2024 and again in 2025. A substantial part of all trips included inspecting and talking to locals involved with running its public transport. Mr Guy also reflected on the applicability of what he saw to our public transport network.
Because few will have read them below is my summary. It could be topical as current opinion polls have the Coalition ahead to win November's state election.
2023 trip (notes here)
* Potential to learn from Buenos Aires metro in respect to these:
- On board PSOs in large numbers
- Free wi-fi on board and charging stations at stations
- Use of station space for local art with this exploited for tourism
- Zero tolerance to graffiti and vandalism with vandals fined and forced to clean it up
Above were described as being 'not without merit'.
* Potential to learn from Argentinian railways with regards to
- rapid response to crime
- 200 security staff and police on one line alone
- visible command control centres
This was considered to be an advance on our PSO program and potentially implemented.
* Trains had the following features
- Position displays of the train location between stations
- Windows that could slightly open at the top
- Widespread use of third rail to supply power
Third rail was considered particularly beneficial to economically extend electric traction to areas beyond overhead power. It could also be retrofitted to existing rolling stock and be rolled out quickly. This point is relevant for recent debate over Melton and Wyndham Vale electrification.
* Main stations in Buenos Aires were covered with a large central roof.
Mr Guy regarded Southern Cross Station as a success and recommended that Flinders Street be covered with a large semi-circle roof.
* Having three rail gauges presented significant operational difficulties in Buenos Aires. Dual gauging was considered complex and not widely used.
Based on this research, Mr Guy described the decision to build the Suburban Rail Loop with standard gauge and different operational specifications as 'absolutely mad'. He wanted rolling stock and maintenance procedure to be the same across the whole rail network with the SRL interoperable with the existing Metro system.
* The National Railway museum was inspirational. Mr Guy said that Victoria had done less with rail heritage than other states. He saw potential in the use of Newport workshops for this purpose.
* Mr Guy compared the SUBE travel card favourably with Melbourne's Myki system. However I don't think he was sufficiently clear on how it was superior.
* Buenos Aires had an extensive and well used bus network. This included a terminal in the CBD.
Mr Guy supported a similar terminal for Melbourne but it wasn't clear whether this was for metropolitan or regional buses. He suggested at least initially terminating more buses at Southern Cross.
* Buneos Aires has a short distance University Train to connect the campus to the main rail network. It was too crowded for Mr Guy to ride.
Mr Guy strongly backed Geelong having a regional commuter rail system such as NSW operates in the Hunter Valley and Illawarra regions. He also mentioned Coalition policy for this.
2024 trip (notes here)
* Trip (which included Wayne Farnham MP) was focused on infrastructure (particularly rail). Mr Guy saw value in learning from cities that had growing rail networks but built them cheaper than we did.
* Potential to learn from the low construction costs of the rapidly expanding Santiago Metro
- Santiago is tunnelling 76km of new metro lines at a cost of $US 9b
- Metro construction cost is less than 1/10 that of Melbourne
- Contracts are broken up and tendered as small parts to get the best price
- Procurement is not controlled by the union movement (which Guy claimed was the case here)
- Contracts are more open with less secrecy than he associated with the Big Build
* Mr Guy toured the control centre for the Metro. Lines operated independently and were supervised separately, though staff were all in the same room.
* A briefing on Barrio Bellavista (an older inner city neighbourhood) was given. It had high tourist visitation. Mr Guy saw merit in doing similar preservation of a Melbourne inner northern or eastern neighbourhood.
* Sao Paulo metro carries 4.5 million passengers per day. A major project is to standardise rail gauges.
- Line 7 was digging about 30 metres of tunnel per day
Like in 2023 Mr Guy said that it was extraordinary that our SRL was being built on a different gauge to the rest of the suburban system. Also that our tunnelling rate was much slower at 30 metres per month.
* Mr Guy returned to Buenos Aires and met people running the Metro. Expansion had been halted but was being reconsidered again. Again he reaffirmed the ticketing as being easier to use than Myki. Credit card ticketing was on the agenda (since achieved here).
* Buenos Aires had an ebike system. This was considered easy to use. Heavy fines exist for dumping or abandoning bikes. Mr Guy supported these systems for Melbourne.
* The Tren de la Costa is a 15km long light rail serving the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. It runs between the heavy rail and the metro. it is slow (40km/h) but well used.
Mention was made about the potential for similar systems to serve parts of Melbourne including East Werribee, Rowville and Doncaster.
2025 trip (notes here)
* Travel this time included Paraguay. Key observations were:
- Its last trains ran over ten years ago so a visit to a museum was arranged. Their rail was set up by British people so it had similarities with systems in Commonwealth countries. Mr Guy said that if rail does close it was essential to preserve the rail corridor for future reopening.
- Street closures for community events were very successful in revitalising downtown for community events
- Bike tracks were being improved in Asuncion with these separate from main roads, thus not impeding road traffic or removing vehicle lanes. This was favourably contrasted with Melbourne.
- The airport is a mixed use precinct with concerts and events often held there.
Mr Guy said that the lessons for Melbourne remain around frequency and connectivity; with bus timetables designed to link to each other, similar to that of a metro rail network.
- Themes from previous trips, such as them doing ticketing, security and crime prevention better than us were reaffirmed.
- The Subte was built with very small trains which limited capacity. Mr Guy drew a parallel with the Suburban Rail Loop which had only four car trains with him seeing this as a false economy to make the SRL business case stack up.
- Maintenance standards were declining on both the metropolitan and regional rail networks. This meant more derailments.
- Crowding was a major issue in the north-western suburbs where diesel trains were required to do a suburban rail's job. There was a need for electrification due to its potential for higher capacity, with a parallel with Melton drawn.
- Multiple operators run trains in Buenos Aires. While acceptable for buses, many Mr Guy spoke to said that this fragmentation was a problem for rail including a lack of timetable efficiency. In his report he drew a parallel with the Suburban Rail Loop (if it is to be completed) that it be linked in with the existing rail and tram providers. While not stated this effectively means that he repudiates the network fragmentation that happened under the Kennett government's franchising (and potentially the Sydney decision to build an operationally separate driverless metro).
- Trenes Argentinos, the country's regional freight and passenger operator has severe problems with lack of infrastructure investment and derailment. Speeds are often reduced rather than tracks upgraded. Mr Guy drew parallels with Victoria where some lines have 65km/h limits (versus 115km/h in NSW).
- Shrinkage of the ebike network and a deterioration of service since previous visits.
Summary
Through these trip reports the shadow minister has articulated some ideas for transport in Victoria. This could include:
* Tougher South American-style security
* A rebuilt Flinders Street with a large arched roof
* A central bus interchange in Melbourne CBD
* Faster tunnelling at lower cost on major projects with greater transparency
* A Suburban Rail Loop that has bigger trains, is interoperable with the Metro network and is potentially run by the same operator
* Potential for Geelong to have its own rail system and light rail in some Melbourne suburbs
* Bicycle tracks should be off-road and not involve slowing of cars or taking space from them
Mr Guy's apparent support for bigger trains on the Suburban Rail Loop appear to indicate a view that it could carry more passengers than some if its detractors claim. And it seems to discount the possibility that automated driverless trains run close together at high frequencies can still mean a high capacity, even if they are small, like Rail Futures' light metro concept.
Have you been to South America and observed transport there? What's your thoughts on Mr Guy's ideas? Either way please let us know in the comments below.
4 comments:
Whilst some of those ideas are sound, ultimately they run contrary to the ideology of his own party. The emphasis on service provision and connectivity across modes would NEVER be funded by a Coalition government, to say nothing of maintenance of existing assets and, in some cases, upgrades to lines to ensure that they're fit for purpose.
The use of third rail electrification is both the most dangerous way of providing electric train services, and would introduce yet another incompatible fleet and layer of complexity to our system.
Furthermore, the Coalition's harebrained hybrid train scheme only proposes to deliver 12.5 six car trains on the Melton and Wyndham Vale corridors, for the same cost as full electrification of both lines.
Contrary to others opinions about the Liberal party not funding services I think it would be within their vibe and likely based on election promises in previous years.
Focus on the hybrid trains shows a view of putting in the service first before infrastructure. l think most likely the trains will be Xtrap 2.0s modified to carry batteries (production line is already going in Victoria and Alston offer a hybrid model). Hence these will be 6 car trains and the redeployment of the Vlocities to regional network would allow for a commuter rail system for Geelong (likely Werribee-Geelong-Colac) and longer trains for Long distance routes which they have promised to stop the overcrowding. Freeing up ~50 3-car sets allows almost a 50% increase in seats for the rest of the network.
The previous 2022 election had proposals for rail extensions to Baxter and maybe also Clyde and Wallan? There was also tram/light rail extensions to Doncaster and Knox City maybe also East Malvern/Chadstone? I definitely remember a fairly detailed policy of increasing bus services on almost 70 existing and new routes.
While in the 2010s the Liberals were keen on rebuilding Flinders Street Station to have a roof (iirc they held a design competition)
Politically they will want to show they are keeping their image of the party who will be tough on crime and keep victorians safe. They also want to show they are responsible with money hence it might be easier to announce a service uplift than infrastructure spending (look how clever we are by making PT better with a cheap service upgrade instead of a billion dollar boondoggle).
@Anon - yes the Liberals had a significant bus package. Basically BusVic's ideas plus the 800 boost. I wrote about that here: https://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2022/11/service-upgrades-promised-in-160m.html
The problem with service uplifts is although the money is relatively modest ($200m more pa for buses, provided it was well targeted and included network reform, would be transformational). But this is opex and that's the hardest sort of money to find, especially if they wish to cut taxes and pay back debt also.
But you could likely get trains to 20 min max waits and a lot of buses to every 20 min on weekends with some later finishes for well under $100m (maybe $50m?) pa. It's not glamorous but would make a significant difference.
Having spent some time in South America, it is interesting to see what they have come up with for their transport systems. São Paulo has made monorails work, probably the only place that has done so; they have several elevated monorail metro lines with more planned, and much cheaper than tunnelling, and don’t require heavy, expensive track infrastructure. South American cities have busways galore and some very long four-section buses. Colombia is pushing ahead with extensive bike path infrastructure. Several cities have gondola systems in operation for their mountainous suburbs, also chains of outdoor escalators that zigzag their way up the hillsides, as well as elevator funiculars. Rio is reinvesting in trams. The only large city that seemed to be a transport laggard is Lima, still stuck in traffic hell.
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