Mr Dobbs said the PTV ‘‘fervently’’ believed in the need for the nine-kilometre rail tunnel from South Kensington to South Yarra via Parkville and the Domain, estimated to cost $5 billion. An artist's impression of the proposed CBD South Station, which would be build beneath Flinders Street. Credit:Jamie Brown ‘‘We really can do little in terms of building on the system and getting into new areas in the city, without significantly improving the capacity through the core of the system,’’ Mr Dobbs said. ‘‘Melbourne Metro tunnel is the basis of improving that core capacity,’’ he said. Mr Dobbs said the rail tunnel would allow the system to grow to meet the expected patronage of 1.1 billion boardings a year by 2031.

He said without the tunnel project and a new computerised signalling system, the rail system would be crowded for 95 per cent of passengers at peak times. He said the network’s signalling system was introduced 100 years ago and was holding back service capacity. A new computer-based, semi-automated system to be introduced over the next 15 years would increase the number of trains through the city centre from about 20 per hour to 30 trains or more. He said the same system was used in 100 cities around the world. He described the Network Development Plan: Metropolitan Rail as a ‘‘suburb-by-suburb, line-by-line’’ business plan to extend the rail network. To fund the 20-year plan, governments would have to spend more than $1 billion a year to fund the increased capacity, which Mr Dobbs said might cost $30 billion but said the figure was rubbery.

Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the network plan was written by an independent authority and was not a politician’s wish list. ‘‘This plan is not just for the government of the day,’’ Mr Mulder said. ‘‘It is bottom-up and demand-driven,’’ he said. The wait will be 15 years for rail lines to Rowville and from Melbourne Airport. Doncaster residents will have to wait for another tunnel to be built between Clifton Hill and Southern Cross before their railway line is built. Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton criticised the elevating of the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel project, saying replacing Melbourne’s antiquated signalling system would do more to improve capacity.

‘‘The plan is fine but the sequence is wrong,’’ Dr Morton said. ‘‘By putting Melbourne Metro – the most expensive project by far – ahead of everything else, they are jeopardising everything else,’’ he said. ‘‘This is a way of putting Doncaster and Rowville on the never-never." He said the new signalling system, to be trialled on the Sandringham line, should be fast-tracked to other rail corridors. He said new, longer trains would improve capacity, particularly in the south-eastern suburban lines.

Mr Dobbs said the plan would be reviewed annually. Plans for buses, trams and regional services are all expected later this year. Mr Dobbs said other proposals may be used to fix other problems on the rail system. He mentioned South Morang railway station’s overcrowding and linked bus services. THE PLAN Stage 1: The next five years

Regional Rail Link

Seven new trains

Hurstbridge line upgrade

Eltham stabling

33 new high capacity trains, able to carry up to 1100 passengers

40 new V/Locity carriages

Williams Landing Station

Grovedale Station

Southland Station

High capacity signalling trial on Sandringham line. Some projects already started Stage 2: Within 10 years Melbourne Metro rail tunnel project

Melton rail line duplication

Dandenong rail corridor upgrade

33 high capacity trains, order and deliver a further 70 trains

High capacity signalling on the Sandringham, South Morang and Hurstbridge lines, and between Sunbury and South Yarra. Stage 3: Within 15 years

Melbourne Airport rail line

Rowville rail line

South Morang services diverted to rail tunnel between Clifton Hill and Southern Cross

Doncaster rail line

Melton line electrification

More high-capacity trains

Extend high-capacity signalling

Second Dandenong rail corridor upgrade Stage 4: Within 20 years More high-capacity trains

City Loop reconfigured for seven separate lines through the Melbourne CBD

Quadruple the line capacity between Burnley and Camberwell

Altona Junction to Seaholme duplication

Geelong and Wallan electrified lines

Extend South Morang to Mernda

Mooroolbark to Lilydale duplicated lines

Extend Werribee to Wyndham Vale

Extend South Morang line from Southern Cross to Fisherman’s Bend with a tunnel