Patrick Hatch

Electrification of the Melton line will not begin until the Sunshine Superhub is built, with upgrades to the booming Wyndham Vale corridor delayed even further.

Staff needed for the opening of the Metro Tunnel are not being replaced across the network, a union has warned.

The first new tram for over a decade will roll through the city’s inner-west later this year as part of a testing program. 

The Sunshine station decision has left commuters from the north-east without easy access to the Metro Tunnel and future airport rail link. 

Trains will run only every 20 minutes and in off-peak hours at first, and commuters must wait a further two months for a full timetable.

A quarter of Victoria’s state-run roads have been given the lowest possible safety rating in an assessment that reveals the scale of work needed to reduce serious and fatal crashes.

The impending removal of a key rail freight corridor at Sunshine has thrown into doubt a massive logistics hub that was predicted to take 125,000 trucks off roads in Melbourne’s west.

Metro Trains did not disclose the cause of the fault but said it had investigated and instituted “mitigations” to ensure the issue does not occur when the tunnel opens to passengers.

Northern and western suburbs locals will be asked to share the burden of increased aircraft noise.

A final program of testing and trials is under way before the Metro Tunnel opens to passengers.