The Victorian Auditor-General's Office provides independent assurance to Parliament and the Victorian community on the financial integrity and performance of the state.

Under the Audit Act 1994, we are required to prepare and table an annual plan before 30 June each year that describes our proposed work program for the coming financial year.

To provide assurance to the Parliament of Victoria and the Victorian community, the Victorian Auditor-General's Office conducts performance audits and financial audits.

Ordered to be published

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PRINTER May 2018

PP No 393, Session 2014–18

To determine whether a project is realising its expected benefits the following need to be examined:

We have consulted with DEDJTR, DPC, DTF, PTV, VicTrack, and V/Line, and we considered their views when reaching our audit conclusions. As required by section 16(3) of the Audit Act 1994, we gave a draft copy of this report, or relevant extracts, to those agencies and asked for their submissions and comments.

Responsibility for the accuracy, fairness and balance of those comments rests solely with the agency head.

Responses were received as follows:

The RRL project was expected to provide a number of transport, economic, community, and environmental benefits including:

In the Victorian public sector, a business case is used to describe the anticipated benefits that a major capital project is expected to deliver and how the agency responsible for the project will measure them.

A sound business case or equivalent documentation should clearly identify:

Originally budgeted at $4.32 billion, with an expected final cost of $3.65 billion, the RRL project was, at the time of approval and delivery, one of the largest and most expensive rail projects ever to be built in Victoria.

The RRL was designed to improve the capacity and reliability of rail services by:

The Regional Rail Link (RRL) project was, at the time of its approval and delivery, one of the largest and most expensive rail projects ever built in Victoria, with an estimated final cost of $3.65 billion.

Since its official opening in mid-2015, the RRL has transformed public transport journeys in key growth corridors to the west of Melbourne.