The Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) has today welcomed the establishment of the Melbourne Metro Authority, the first step in the delivery of the Melbourne Metro Rail.

TTF Chief Executive Margy Osmond said “TTF has been a strong advocate for a new CBD underground rail line, which we believe is the most important transport priority for Melbourne.”

This project will future-proof the rail network in Melbourne by supporting future population and economic growth.

“We know that rail patronage is growing at unprecedented rates over the last decade and the City Loop is reaching capacity. Building a new CBD rail line will go a long way to address these critical issues, and it’s great to see the Andrews government starting the process through the establishment of the Authority.

“Now that the state election is behind us, we would urge the new government to keep an open-mind about the final alignment for the project to deliver to ensure that it delivers the best outcome for Melbourne and the future growth of the network.

“This is a once in a generation project and getting the final design right will be crucial.

“The community was subject to competing claims about the benefits of the Melbourne Metro versus the Melbourne Rail Link proposed by the former government.

“Ideally, this is a project that should have bipartisan support. We encourage the government to refer the project to Infrastructure Victoria, once it is established, to provide an independent view of whether changes to the original Melbourne Metro alignment should be considered by the government.

“This will be a game-changing project for Melbourne and, along with other projects that TTF has identified like an airport rail link and improvements to the tram network, could dramatically reduce the costs of congestion facing the Victorian economy.” Mrs Osmond added.