Works across Victoria are improving safety and travel times for rail passengers and motorists as level crossings are removed and replaced with elevated station platforms and bridges.
A construction blitz has seen the removal of boom gates at Keon Parade as part of a project which will see an elevated rail bridge take trains on the Mernda Line over the busy road and the level crossing gone for good.
The Mernda line is expected to recommence services level crossing free on Monday 20 May.
The brand-new Keon Park Station will open to passengers in late June, providing better access and improved connections to local neighbourhoods, buses, shops and cafés.
The project will improve safety and reduce congestion for more than 18,000 vehicles travelling through this level crossing each weekday, where the boom gates were down for more than 41 minutes during the morning peak.
In Croydon, a modern new transport hub is well underway, with the arrival and installation of the first lift shaft.
A total of four lifts will connect passengers to the elevated station platforms when the new Croydon Station opens in July.
To minimise disruptions, the lift shafts – each weighing 38t and measuring 15m tall and 4.5m wide – have been built off site over the past 3 months.
In the coming weeks, works will start to finish building the rail bridge and new road connections to replace the congested Coolstore Road roundabout and continue work on the new Croydon Station and transport hub.
When completed later in 2024, the state of the art Croydon Transport Hub will feature a 687m long rail bridge, new premium Croydon Station, 14-bay bus interchange with shelters and seating and new road connections under the bridge to create more options to cross the rail line and untangle the traffic bottleneck in this area.
Featured image: Boom gates being removed at Keon parade. Image credit: Victorian Government.
How do they prioritise the level crossing removals? There are 3 in a row on the Glen Waverley line and with the Glen Waverley SRL underway, why aren’t they are priority? The Glen Waverley line timetable has barely changed in 30 years because they can’t schedule more trains due to the level crossings and the impact of extra trains on the traffic in those areas. So, how do they propose to shift the thousands of people they want to move into high rise in Glen Waverley when the SRL is running? Trains are overcrowded at peak times mow and people still need to get to the city. Guven the ey-watering amount money being spent on the SRL surely some ofthe cash should go towards making existing infrastructure fit-for-purpose? No amount of wishing will force big businesses to move to Glen Waverley just to use the vision of an inept State Government.