The removal of Ringwood’s last level crossing marks the beginning of a winter work blitz for the Lilydale rail line in Victoria.
Just hours after a crowd of more than 50 locals gathered to farewell the final train to depart Ringwood East Station, crews moved in to dismantle the boom gates at Dublin Road, Ringwood East, which have created delays for thousands of motorists every day.
Dublin Road will reopen to traffic in mid-June boom gate free, ahead of trains returning to the line in early July.
The boom gates were installed at this location 40 years ago in June 1984, when the Lilydale Line was duplicated between Ringwood and Croydon.
The works are part of a winter construction blitz to make the Lilydale Line Melbourne’s first rail line to be level crossing free, with crews working 24/7 until early July to remove the dangerous and congested Dublin Road level crossing and build the new Ringwood East Station.
After dismantling the gates, crews then made short work of the old Ringwood East Station, taking just two days to demolish the central platform and station building.
Works are now continuing to build the 650m rail trench and new accessible Ringwood East Station, which will feature two entrances, lifts and stairs, CCTV and improved lighting, and a 460-space car park.
Over the coming weeks, crews will lift in the final station building, and lay 8,000t of ballast, 2,500 sleepers and 1.9km of rail track.
To enable these works to be safely carried out, buses are replacing trains on sections of the Lilydale and Belgrave lines until early July, and Dublin Road is closed at the level crossing until mid-June.
With 24/7 works also underway to remove the dangerous and congested level crossing at nearby Coolstore Road, Croydon, the Lilydale Line will be boom gate free by early July, a year ahead of schedule.
Featured image: A crew of workers dismantling a boom gate. Image: Victorian Government.
