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Maternal health centres reopen FRANKSTON’S maternal and child health centres have reopened with COVID-19 prevention measures in place. Nurses are now transitioning back to in-person consultations, after the pandemic forced them to conduct their work over the telephone. New mother Hayley said the service had helped her and her eight-monthold daughter Ginny (pictured) during the lockdown. “The nurses went above and beyond to answer all my questions. I didn’t feel rushed and they’ve been incredibly supportive,” she said. To learn more about Frankston’s maternal and child health team or to book an appointment visit frankston. vic.gov.au/MCH Picture: Supplied
Business case casts doubt on rail extension Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au A BUSINESS case assessing the proposed electrification of the Frankston line to Baxter suggests that a different option could be taken instead. The business case was finally publicly released last week, more than a year after it was handed to the federal government. It assesses five options to improve local public transportation. One option assessed in the business case only provides improvements to
bus services. Two would see no electrification works undertaken and add passing loops to the Stony Point line, and the final two would see the track duplified and electrified to Langwarrin and Baxter respectively. The study identifies the “Stony Point Uplift” as the “indicative preferred option”, rather than the long-planned electrification and duplication to Baxter. The Stony Point Uplift would see passing loops added along the Stony Point line at Tyabb and Bittern - to allow trains travelling in opposite di-
rections to pass each other. The track would not be electrified, and the project would not include level crossing removals. The estimated cost of electrifying the Frankston line to Baxter was listed at between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion in the business case. The cost of completing the project to Langwarrin was estimated to cost between $900 million and $1.1 billion. The Baxter electrification project would see the construction of new stations at Frankston East, Langwarrin, and Baxter. Additional costs for the
project come from five level crossing removals, an additional rail bridge over Peninsula Link, stabling roads at Baxter, and residential property acquisition. The federal government has committed $225 million to the electrification project, and the state government has not made any commitment at all. This leaves the proposed project with a massive funding shortfall. State Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke was contacted by The Times for comment, but did not respond before deadline. The federal government’s contribu-
tion would cover the estimated cost of the Stony Point Uplift proposal if its funds were diverted towards it. The indicative preferred option is projected to cost between $190 million and $210 million. The case read that “none of the investment options have demonstrated a strong economic case for priority investment”, but identified the Stony Point Uplift as the preferred option as it “requires significantly less capital investment and has less impacts than the electrification options”. Continued Page 3
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