When Daniel Andrews announced his Level Crossing Removal Program in 2014, it came with a price tag of $5-6 billion to remove 50 crossings. It seemed like a lot. It was a lot. It turned out to be a fantasy figure that bore almost no relationship to what the project would actually cost.
As of 2024, Victoria's Level Crossing Removal Authority has spent over $14 billion and counting. That's more than double the original estimate. For context, that's enough to build two Melbourne Airport rail links, fund the entire Victorian health system for a year, or house every rough sleeper in the state several times over.
How Did We Get Here?
The answer is a combination of gold-plating, union enterprise agreements, scope creep, and a government addicted to ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Each crossing removal comes with new stations, new parks, new public art, new plazas — all wonderful, none of it in the original budget.
The construction workforce on these projects is covered by enterprise agreements that deliver wages and conditions well above industry standard — agreements negotiated by unions with very close ties to the Labor Party. The CFMEU's fingerprints are all over the cost structure of every single one of these projects.
The Maths Don't Add Up
Fifty crossings at $14 billion works out to an average of $280 million per crossing. Some have cost over $500 million. A crossing removal in comparable international cities costs a fraction of this. Victoria's projects are among the most expensive per-unit infrastructure builds anywhere in the developed world.
Infrastructure Australia — the federal government's own advisory body — has questioned the cost-benefit ratio of multiple projects. The Victorian government's response was to not submit several projects for federal review at all.
What Could $14 Billion Have Built Instead?
- Eight new hospitals
- Forty new schools
- The entirety of Stage 1 of the Melbourne Airport Rail
- Social housing for over 10,000 families
- Every single pothole in Victoria filled, twice
Instead, we got some very nice underpasses and a lot of new tram stops that look great in a ministerial photo op.
The Program Continues
Despite the cost blowouts, the program continues to expand. More crossings are being added. More billions are being committed. The state's debt — now over $165 billion — keeps climbing, and the level crossing program is one of the biggest contributors.
If you want to ask the question that every Victorian taxpayer should be asking, the #WheresTheMoney Hoodie says it all. Wear it to your next train station opening. We dare you.