Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: "Every second day I have to call Shiral and ask him to pick me up because I'm stuck somewhere, having to wait out in the cold," Lyn, who did not want her surname published, said. "I'm moving house ... and a lot of other people have rented out their place in Cranbourne and changed their jobs because every day you're late to work." Recently, Shiral took a pay cut to work in a new job that was closer to home. Like many Cranbourne-line commuters, Lyn and Shiral were given some hope when Premier Daniel Andrews promised to duplicate the single track before last year's state election.

But by 2022, the year the next Victorian election is due, just a fraction of the full cost of the train upgrade will have been spent, according to this year's budget. Budget papers show that the project's full cost is being accounted for, but just a small portion of the money has actually been budgeted over the next four years. The government promised to spend $750 million, but only $19 million was assigned until the 2022/23 financial year in the budget. More money could flow to the project in coming budgets, after planning gets under way. But Lyn fears that the small budget allocation is a sign that the rail fix will take longer than expected.

Construction is set to start in 2021 and finish two years later. "It's very little money," Lyn said. "There is no real guarantee ... passengers have to put up with constant disruptions and upgrades, the line is only getting worse." Money set aside for promised upgrades to the Hurstbridge line tells a similar story. Before the election, Labor promised to duplicate 4.5 kilometres of track on the Hurstbridge line to have trains running every six and a half minutes to Greensborough in Melbourne's north-east. The project to double the tracks between between Greensborough and Montmorency, and Diamond Creek and Wattle Glen was promised $530 million.

Construction is set to start next year, but only $21.5 million has been allocated over the forward estimates. It compares with projects like the level crossing removal program, for which the government is spending the bulk of the $6.6 billion needed to carry out the work over the next four years. A similar pattern can be seen in the Morrison government's federal budget. Before the election, the fast rail to Geelong was promised $2 billion, but only $50 million was allocated to it in the budget. Of the $5 billion promised for the airport rail, $325 million has been set aside in the budget, as well as $30 million for a business case.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Tony Morton said he was concerned that mega-projects like the $15.8 billion North East Link and the $6.6 billion promise to remove 25 level crossings were "sucking up all the money ... making it difficult to commit to anything else". No money has been set aside for the $8-$13 billion airport rail in the state budget over the next four years. "The government is putting off everything except for the North East Link and another tranche of level crossing separations," Mr Morton said. However, Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said the government's Mernda rail line extension was an example of how Labor has kept its election promises. In 2014, it promised to spend $600 million on the rail extension and a year later, the government assigned $9 million in the forward estimates for planning.

By 2018, the project was complete six months ahead of schedule, she said. "When we say we’re going to do something, we build it – that’s what we did with Mernda Rail, it’s what we did with 29 level crossing removals, and it’s what we’ll do with every project we’ve committed to."