A single track, a long wait, and a promise that finally moves

There is a particular frustration that lives at a railway crossing in the morning peak, when the boom gates descend and a hundred cars idle while a train passes, then another, then another. In Melbourne’s north, along the Upfield line, that frustration has been a daily companion for years. The line is single-track for a four-kilometer stretch between Gowrie and Upfield stations, creating bottlenecks that make commuters wait fifteen to twenty minutes during peak periods while other lines offer services every ten minutes or less . Promises have been made before. What matters now is whether the timetable has finally turned.

On Monday, Premier Ben Carroll will announce $80 million over two years to kickstart planning for duplicating the Upfield line, a project Labor estimates will increase capacity by 50 percent and reduce wait times for suburbs including Broadmeadows, Dallas, Campbellfield, and Fawkner . The funding will cover site investigations, project design, and planning and environmental approvals. The government has not committed to a completion date, saying that will become clear after the initial work finishes in 2028 .

There is a trade-off embedded in the announcement. Eight level crossing removals along the Upfield line will be delayed to coincide with the track duplication, a decision Treasurer Colin Brooks described as “commonsense and timing” that will save the state budget $686 million . The crossings were originally promised for completion by 2027, then pushed to 2030, and now are expected in 2033 . For residents who have waited through multiple revisions of the timeline, the word “commonsense” may land differently than it does in Spring Street.

The delay is not without precedent. In Melbourne’s south-east, residents near Highett Road and Wickham Road learned earlier this year that promised removals would be pushed from 2029 to mid-2032, a decision the government said would “realise construction efficiencies” and align with Suburban Rail Loop works . Doug Klein, president of the Highett Progress Association, said locals were caught off guard. “We’ve been told again and again [it would be] 2029,” he said. “It came as a bit of a shock” . The pattern is familiar: safety and livability deferred in the name of fiscal prudence, with the promise that the wait will ultimately be worth it.

For the Upfield line, the case for duplication has been building for years. Infrastructure Victoria called for it last year, and Merri-bek Council has long campaigned for the upgrade . Parliamentary Budget Office costings commissioned by the Greens in 2025 estimated the duplication at about $245 million, with a further $54.5 million for a turn-back facility at Gowrie that would allow trains to switch tracks and substantially reduce waiting times . Those figures suggest the project is not out of reach—what has been missing is the political will to prioritize it over other pressures.

The broader context matters. The Victorian government is committed to removing 110 level crossings by 2032, and 92 have already been completed . In the west, the Ferris Road bridge opened in July, with Melton set to become boom-gate free and longer nine-car VLocity trains boosting capacity by 50 percent on peak services . Progress is real, but it is unevenly distributed, and communities in the north have watched other areas move ahead while their own crossings remain and their trains run less frequently. The question is not whether the government can build, but whether it will choose to build here, now.

Labor has pledged $80 million to begin planning a duplication of Melbourne’s Upfield line, aiming to increase capacity by 50 percent and reduce wait times. Eight level crossing removals along the line will be delayed until 2033 to align with the track works, saving $686 million. The government has not set a completion date for the duplication.

AI Image Disclaimer: All images associated with this article are AI-generated and are for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: The Age, Parliament of Victoria, Victorian Government, Infrastructure Victoria, Sydney Morning Herald