Doncaster railway line

The Doncaster railway line was a long-proposed suburban railway in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that was anticipated to be built before December 2027, as a branch, along with the Hurstbridge line, of the planned future Clifton Hill Loop Line, as part of the 2013 PTV Network Development Plan.

The Doncaster line would have primarily served the suburbs of Bulleen, Balwyn North, Kew, Templestowe and Doncaster, running along the median strip of the Eastern Freeway for most of its length.

First proposed in 1890, detailed planning commenced in 1969, and by 1972 the route was decided upon. Despite rising costs, the state governments of the period continued to make assurances that the line would be built. Property acquisition for part of the route was completed in 1975, and construction of a cutting at the city end commenced in 1974, only to be filled in two years later. By 1982 plans to build the line were shelved by the state government, and by 1984 land for the line once it left the freeway was sold by the Cain Labor government. In 1991 an independent report investigated constructing the line, recommending against it due to the high cost. However several other reports released since the 1970s detail the essential requirement for heavy rail mass transit in the Doncaster corridor.

The Doncaster rail line plan is almost identical to the Joondalup line, completed in 1992, and the Mandurah line, completed in 2007, both in Perth, a city with less than half the population of Melbourne. The Mandurah line runs along the centre median of the Kwinana Freeway and through various tunnels. It is almost double the length of the proposed Doncaster line and cost 1.6 billion; trains are able to travel at up to 130 km/h.

In 2017-18, as part of the proposed North East Link road project, the median of the Eastern Freeway is set to be removed as part of an upgrade with the addition of a new busway alongside the freeway. This means a rail line to Doncaster along the Eastern Freeway is unlikely to go ahead in the future. However a train service through Doncaster has continued to be proposed as part of the northern section of the Suburban Rail Loop.

History

1890-1969: Early concepts

One of the earliest proposals for a railway to Doncaster was in 1890, and involved an extension of the Kew branch line in a tunnel under the High Street hill, then across the route of Outer Circle line to a terminus at Warrandyte, with a branch line running to Templestowe. In 1928 the Railways Standing Committee of the Victorian Parliament recommended a plan which also involved an extension of the Kew branch line, this time to terminate at Doncaster itself. That proposal was included in the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission's 1929 plan for Melbourne, together with the Glen Waverley railway line, which was subsequently constructed.

Concrete moves towards building the line were made in 1969, when ''The Age'' announced that the Victorian Railways had started detailed planning for a line which would run along the median of the Eastern Freeway and then on to Doncaster. The line featured in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan, but no timeline for construction was set, whereas the building of the freeway was to start in the following year.

1969-1972: Work begins

In December 1971 the Eastern Railway Construction Act 1971 was passed by the state parliament, setting the route as along the Eastern Freeway to Thompsons Road, then through Templestowe to Blackburn Road, Doncaster, involving the demolition of 30 houses. However, this route was not without opposition, as in 1972 '' The Herald'' reported that the outer section of the line would be investigated by the Parliamentary Public Works Committee. The City of Box Hill rejected a plan put forward by the City of Doncaster & Templestowe as it would cut into open space along Koonung Creek, and Doncaster residents objected to a route running through the Eastern Golf Course to Blackburn Road. In December 1972 the parliamentary report was delivered and recommended the original route to be constructed as opposed to the 6 alternatives, and criticised the government for allowing development on the proposed routes. The outer section of the line was estimated to be $23.5 million, the total cost of the line being reported as $41 million. A terminus-to-city travel time of 20–25 minutes was expected.

The route decided upon was reported in ''The Age'' on 23 February 1972, but no completion date was mentioned:
*Victoria Park station to Thompsons Road in the Eastern Freeway median strip.
*Sub mile-long surface section along the Koonung Creek valley.
*Surface level north east from the creek to the entrance of tunnel, located near the corner of Harold and Dale Streets, Bulleen.
* tunnel north-east under Manningham Road and High Street, Doncaster; to a point close to corner of Oak Crescent and Fyfe Drive, Doncaster.
* above ground running eastwards from the tunnel portal.
* above ground running east to Tuckers Road.
* above ground running to corner of Blackburn Road and King Street.

This plan is what the later included in the 1979 (Edition 12) ''Melway

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