There can only be two logical reasons for a tram line as proposed. One is to create a transport hub at Chadstone Shopping Centre and the second is to create a direct link between the Caulfield and Clayton campuses of Monash University. Chadstone Shopping Centre is the biggest in the southern hemisphere. The fact that it does not already have a train station is somewhat bemusing and only speaks to our lack of proper transport planning. Congestion around the area is often at gridlock in peak periods, hampered by the fact that two of the biggest arterial roads in the south-east go straight past it; Dandenong Road heading east-west and Warrigal Road heading north-south. There is no doubt that the centre requires public transport, but is a tram route the best long-term option for relieving congestion and creating a viable public transport hub for the south-east? Is a tram route the best long-term option for relieving congestion? Monash University is the biggest in the southern hemisphere and has ambitious plans to double its size over the next few decades. The Monash Employment Cluster, in which the university sits, is the biggest employer in Melbourne outside the Central Business District. Travel to the main Clayton campus of the university, and more broadly to workplaces within the employment cluster, is essential for the long-term viability of the region and indeed the city. Arterial roads in the area including Wellington, Blackburn, Springvale and Dandenong are gridlocked during peak periods and our population is growing at a rapid rate. There is also no doubt that the area requires public transport, but again, is a tram route the best long-term option? Monash Uni has ambitious plans for growth. Credit:John Gollings

There is a better option. The costs will be substantially higher than either heavy rail from Huntingdale to Rowville, or a tram route from Caulfield to Rowville, but if we are serious about addressing our long-term transport needs, isn’t it better that we spend the money upfront, get the right solution, and then move on to other areas of the city? If history has taught us anything, it’s that proper planning of public transport will deliver in spades in years to come. Think about this for a minute; trains first ran to Frankston and Lilydale in 1882, to Dandenong in 1887 and to Ferntree Gully in 1889. These were times when our population was less than half a million people and when the outer suburbs of Melbourne consisted of Footscray, Preston, Heidelberg, Hawthorn and Brighton. Why Chadstone does not already have a train station is somewhat bemusing. The City Loop was first proposed around 1929. By the time construction finally commenced in 1971, it was considered controversial and in the eyes of many was a colossal waste of money. Where would Melbourne be today without those train lines built 140 years ago, or without the City Loop? The best long-term transport solution for the region is to extend the Alamein line underground, creating an interchange hub at East Malvern station and a train station at Chadstone Shopping Centre before linking up to the Dandenong line between Oakleigh and Huntingdale stations. From there, the line would head out to Ferntree Gully station via Monash University and Rowville.

This would also require track duplication between Ashburton and Alamein stations. There are a number of reasons why this would be the more suitable solution. It would effectively recreate the old outer-circle line between Alamein and the Dandenong line, closed in 1895, creating a cross city train connection linking up the Belgrave, Lilydale, Glen Waverley, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Rowville lines. It would also provide passengers from any of those lines a direct train connection to Chadstone Shopping Centre and access to both campuses of Monash University; something which the tram option would not. In fact, there would be no access to Chadstone or either university campus from anywhere north of the Monash freeway under the tram proposal, except by existing bus routes. Loading There would also be a possibility of running alternate trains city bound, one via the Alamein route with the next via the Caulfield route, providing a single direct train link between the Caulfield and Clayton campuses of Monash University. Even if trains were to only run along the new route, and not alternate via Caulfield, this solution would be substantially faster for students and staff wanting to move between campuses of Monash University. A train between Caulfield and Huntingdale takes eight minutes according to current timetables, and a train from Huntingdale to Monash Clayton would take three minutes at the most. This would be a much quicker trip than a tram from Caulfield, especially with the “turn up and go” service that is being promised along the Dandenong rail corridor.