TED Baillieu has put his hands out to Canberra for $640 million to bankroll transport projects, much of it for planning work.
No money has been set aside to build the big-ticket projects, including the east-west road tunnel and a new underground railway.

And there is no firm timetable on when these projects would be undertaken.

The Premier has revived the controversial 18km road link from the Eastern Freeway to CityLink to the Western Ring Road.

Mr Baillieu said: "We've always said we don't have a problem with tolls."

But the Public Transport Users Association has criticised the Baillieu Government for prioritising the road link ahead of public transport upgrades.

President Daniel Bowen said it would only serve to further clog the roads with traffic.

"The last thing Melbourne needs is yet another multi-million dollar freeway through the suburbs," he said.

"Every major road that has been built in Melbourne and elsewhere has eventually just been filled up with traffic. You're effectively spending a lot of money just to get more traffic on the roads."

Mr Bowen said upgrading public transport around Melbourne's suburbs so that people could complete non-CBD point-to-point trips by public transport would make cross-city travel easier and remove the need for people to drive.

"They are following through on many of their promises on public transport which is good to see but what we haven't seen is a big picture public transport vision for Melbourne and Victoria and that's what lacking," he said.

The road, billed as an alternative to the West Gate Freeway, was suggested by infrastructure expert Sir Rod Eddington in 2008 but later shelved by the Brumby government.

Last week, Sir Rod said the private sector would be very interested in the project as a toll road.

The entire project, costing billions of dollars, could take up to 12 years to build.

Another of Sir Rod's multi-billion-dollar ideas, an underground railway from Footscray to Caulfield, will now go only to South Yarra.

Mr Baillieu's infrastructure blueprint has been submitted to the Federal Government's advisory body, Infrastructure Australia, which decides how Canberra splits up its cash.

Of the 13 projects listed in the submission, 10 are for planning and pre-construction works, worth $376 million.

The remainder of the money includes work on tram upgrades along High St, Northcote, freight network improvement and electronic freeway control on the Monash.

Mr Baillieu conceded there was not enough money to pay for the works.

"We recognise there's a funding hole," Mr Baillieu told the Herald Sun.

"This is about getting some planning money so we can bring projects ready to proceed when funding becomes available."

A heavy involvement of the private sector is likely, and this could include the imposition of tolls on the east-west road.

"I'm not in a position to say yay or nay to that. I wouldn't rule anything out at this stage," Mr Baillieu said.

The Government has adopted two Metro ideas, including nine-car trains on the Dandenong line and modern signalling on the Sandringham line.

Other ideas mooted by the Government in the submission include work on the new port at Hastings, level crossing removal and an Avalon train line.

A SENIOR cop has questioned the strength of new dog attack laws after a sickening attack on a baby today.

The comment comes as resident revealed they had warned local authorities about a roaming dangerous dog about an hour before it viciously mauled a baby.

A heroic passer-by battled to save the one-year-old from the jaws of the ferocious bull terrier cross with his bare hands.

A father of a 15-month old himself, the man leapt from his car to tackle the dog after seeing the animal mauling the boy in his pram.

Authorities have confirmed the dog is a bull terrier cross, amid claims by locals they had alerted the Melton Shire to the roaming dog just before the attack, and that the same dog had previously been recaptured on the loose.

Earlier reports suggested the dog may have been a pit bull cross.

AN AVALON Airport rail link takes high ranking among Victoria's infrastructure priorities as Premier Ted Baillieu seeks $30 million federal backing for a second development stage.

A submission to Infrastructure Australia promises the link would be a catalyst to significant development and economic growth as Victoria's second airport grows wings with increasing domestic and international schedules.

The State Government's 2011 priority list for Infrastructure Australia seeks $640 million support for a review of projects, including a reviewed east-west link connecting Melbourne's CityLink and Eastern Freeway, a new city rail tunnel loop and revival of passenger rail services between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

The State Government has committed $2 million to examining the long-term feasibility of returning the services between the major regional cities.

It allocated $1.5 million in its 2011-12 budget for feasibilty groundwork on the Avalon link.

Infrastructure Australia is an independent statutory body which advises government.

PUBLIC transport fares are set to soar next year, with plans to slug commuters an extra 8.6 per cent - the biggest rise in eight years.

The increase will mean a daily Zone 1 fare will rise by 60c to $7.60, almost $150 a year extra.

A 2-hour Zone 1 myki money fare will increase from $3.02 to $3.28;

A 2-hour Zone 1 Metcard will increase from $3.80 to $4;

A 2-hour Zone 1+2 myki will increase from $5.10 to $5.54 and the Metcard price would go up from $6 to $6.50.

Commuters will fork out more than $32 million extra during 2012, and so far heraldsun.com.au readers have reacted angrily to the hike, with more than 91 per cent of nearly 4000 polled saying the rises can't be justified.

It will be the first time since 2004 fares have risen above the rate of inflation.

Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder claims he "anguished" over whether to approve the hikes, ultimately deciding to capitalise on Metro and V/Line's recent service improvements.

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