Freight rail ‘a no-go’ for Dandy

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE PORT of Hastings Authority (POHA) has all but abolished plans to run an elaborate freight rail link through Greater Dandenong due to difficulties connecting it to Yarraman station.
POHA chief executive officer Ralph Kenyon this week told Star that the authority had discounted a suggested freight train route through the Dandenong and Noble Park area in favour of two other options also available for public comment until 14 March this year.
His comments followed concerns from Dandenong Residents and Ratepayers Association president Alan Hood that the Dandenong-related link, known formally as the Port Phillip option, would see 1.2km freight trains pummelling through Greater Dandenong’s residential areas at night time.
Mr Hood said residents were alarmed by the prospect of noise pollution from the heavy trains.
Mr Hood said residents were also frightened of losing their homes as the State Government and POHA sought land for a complex left turn from a north-south freight line onto the Dandenong line at Yarraman station.
But Mr Kenyon said the difficult link to Yarraman was the main reason the POHA was discounting that rail option.
He said POHA would only consider road options, with EastLink the primary focus.
“EastLink will become one of the corridors that provides access to the northern area of Melbourne,” Mr Kenyon said.
But despite the discounting, Mr Kenyon stopped short of forever writing off the Port Phillip rail options.
“It’s unlikely,” he said.
“The main advantage of (other options such as) the Westernport corridor is that it is a fairly direct route.
“It links into an existing railway facility at Lyndhurst and is connected to the main Dandenong line once it goes through Lyndhurst.
“So it is a relatively straightforward link into the Eastern suburbs.”
Mr Kenyon said a third and final Gippsland option was also a possibility, opening up freight links beyond metropolitan Victoria.
“We have to think about how we would link to Gippsland with possible trade in the future.
“That’s why the Gippsland option is also under consideration.”