Australia’s big rail push

Australia is spending the late 2020s pulling apart one of the oldest choke points in city transport: roads and trains trying to cross the same patch of ground. Victoria alone says 88 level crossings are already gone, with 110 scheduled to be removed by 2030, and six Melbourne rail lines are set to become level-crossing free. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au) That sounds like a local engineering job, but it changes how a city moves. Every time a boom gate stays down for a train, cars stack up, buses get delayed, and the rail line itself is harder to run at high frequency. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au) Melbourne has already moved to the next step: once you separate road and rail, you can push more trains through the core. The Metro Tunnel opened to passengers on November 30, 2025, and from February 1, 2026 the Sunbury, Cranbourne, and Pakenham lines began running through the new tunnel instead of the old City Loop. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au) That tunnel is not just a shortcut under downtown Melbourne. Victoria says the switch lets trains run closer together using new high-capacity signalling, adds five underground stations, and creates direct rail access to places like Parkville’s hospital district and St Kilda Road. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au) The rolling stock is changing with it. Victoria is buying 25 X’Trapolis 2.0 trains for the Craigieburn, Upfield, and Frankston lines, with room for about 1,225 passengers per train and features like wider doors, continuous walk-through carriages, hearing loops, ramps, and 20 wheelchair spaces. (vic.gov.au) The tram network is getting the same treatment at street level. Melbourne’s new G Class tram is being built to replace older high-floor Z and A class trams, and the state says the fleet is part of a plan to make more tram routes accessible instead of forcing wheelchair users and parents with prams to hunt for the few low-floor services. (vic.gov.au) Airports are the other big clue to where Australian transport policy is heading. In Sydney, the 23-kilometre Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line is being built with six new stations so the new Western Sydney International Airport opens tied into the wider rail network rather than stranded on roads and taxis. (sydneymetro.info) Melbourne is trying to catch up after years of argument. A February 25, 2026 project update says stage one of Melbourne Airport Rail is now focused on a more than 6-kilometre upgrade from West Footscray to Albion, with two new platforms at Sunshine Station and a target of enabling more than 1,000 daily train services through Sunshine when works are complete in 2030. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au) Then there is the project that has hovered over Melbourne planning for years: the Suburban Rail Loop. Victoria says construction on the eastern section from Cheltenham to Box Hill started in 2022, and the full concept links major train lines around the suburbs via Melbourne Airport so people do not have to funnel through the central business district for every cross-town trip. (suburbanrailloop.vic.gov.au) Put together, these are not isolated upgrades. Australia’s biggest cities are moving from a rail network built to bring workers into one downtown core toward one built to separate traffic from trains, run more frequent service, and connect outer suburbs and airports directly into the metro system. (bigbuild.vic.gov.au 1) (bigbuild.vic.gov.au 2) (sydneymetro.info) (suburbanrailloop.vic.gov.au)