The City of Melbourne has welcomed recommendations to improve the link between Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs, part of the Brumby Government’s strategy to ease Melbourne’s road congestion.

In the recently released report commissioned by the Victorian Government, author Sir Rod Eddington recommends an $18-billion dollar plan to upgrade Melbourne’s transport links.

“Over the next 25 years – with at least 1 million more people living in the city – the demand for travel in Melbourne will grow by more than 30 per cent. There will be more and more people travelling to work by train, more people using trams and buses, and many more people driving around the city for work, business, social or recreational reasons,” Sir Eddington said in the report.

“With strong growth and development taking place in Melbourne’s inner city, and the western and south-eastern suburbs, these areas will experience the greatest growth in travel.”

Lord Mayor John So said initial analysis of the report since showed it was generally consistent with the City of Melbourne’s submission to the Eddington Inquiry and Council’s own Transport Strategy.

He also said a rail link from Footscray would benefit city businesses by providing better access for people in the western suburbs.

“We are delighted to see a new railway station would be created at Parkville under the recommendations announced today (April 4).

"This is a growing area for Melbourne – with a large university student population, a growing biotechnology sector and the redevelopment of the Royal Children’s Hospital,” the Lord Mayor said.

The City of Melbourne’s submission also called for an East-West road freight tunnel to provide more efficient access to Melbourne’s port for goods and services.

He said the City of Melbourne would continue to liaise with the State Government over the coming months to discuss the impact of the recommendations on the municipality.

“Sustainable transport options, including public transport remain an integral part of the City of Melbourne’s Transport Strategy 2006-2020: ‘Moving People and Freight’. As a result, we would be keen to see the public transport elements of the initiatives announced today addressed as a priority.”

For full details on the recommendations, see the Department of Infrastructure’s East-West Link Needs Assessment final report  .