Work begins on business case for Frankston line extension

The Labor Government has commenced the business case and is doing the planning work for a future extension of the Frankston line to Baxter.

Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan today joined Member for Carrum Sonya Kilkenny and Member for Frankston Paul Edbrooke to make the announcement at Patterson River where works are underway on the new Station Street road bridge as part of a $588 million project to remove four dangerous level crossings.

“Whilst we remove level crossings, build new stations and upgrade stabling and signalling – we’re also doing the work to establish the best option to extend the Frankston line to Baxter,” said the Minister for Public Transport.

The Labor Government has started work on the business case that will assess the costs and benefits of electrifying the line as well as additional enhancements including track duplication, level crossing removals, station upgrades, car parking and train stabling.

While the Federal Government has provided $3 million towards the business case, the Labor Government is spending over $2 billion on infrastructure works on the Frankston line that will enable a future extension.

As part of level crossing removals, the Government is replacing the current 6-train storage facility at Carrum with capacity to store 24 trains at Kananook.

Any future extension to Baxter cannot be undertaken without extra train stabling being provided at Kananook to accommodate the increased services.

The business case is expected to be finalised in early 2019.