Melbourne’s eagerly anticipated new metro station has been deemed entirely safe for its scheduled opening this Sunday. However, the firefighters’ union is urging a delay, citing concerns over a potentially hazardous radio malfunction.
Premier Jacinta Allan has dismissed these concerns, suggesting that the union’s claims are part of a broader scare tactic linked to an ongoing pay dispute rather than a legitimate safety issue.
At a recent event at Parkville Station, Premier Allan confirmed, “The countdown is absolutely on,” as the city prepares to unveil the ambitious project.
With an investment of $13.5 billion, the metro project is set to begin welcoming passengers in just a few days, although there are doubts about whether the complete retail setup will be finalized by then.
Despite these preparations, the firefighters’ union has raised significant alarm over communication reliability within the tunnel system.
Peter Marshall, representing the United Firefighters Union, expressed grave concerns, stating, “These radios don’t work. The Fire Rescue Victoria radios do not work. They need to be reprogrammed.”
That’s something he says would take months.
“If there is an incident down in the tunnel, you will not be rescued,” he said.
That’s nonsense according to the premier.
“The claims that have been made by the union today are wrong and they’ve also been clearly rejected by the rail safety regulator, who is the expert on this matter,” Allan said.
Metro Trains chief executive Raymond O’Flaherty said they have “state of the art” fire systems.
“Fire Rescue Victoria have carried out a lot of tests of the systems,” he said.
“Everything is safe and we’re absolutely ready to go.”
It’s not enough to silence the union.
“What we’re seeing here is political expediency over public safety,” Marshall said.
The premier hit back, suggesting a pay fight is being put ahead of public confidence.
“These claims are being made perhaps more for industrial purposes than anything else,” Allen said.
Passengers can try out the new trains from Sunday.
