The Scoresby Road level crossing in Bayswater is gone – the seventh removed by the Andrews Labor Government.
In less than two years, the Labor Government has removed as many crossings as were removed in the 10 years prior to it coming to office.
Scoresby Road re-opened yesterday after being closed for nearly three weeks. The closure was part of a two-month construction blitz that will also remove the Mountain Highway crossing and rebuild Bayswater Station.
Buses are currently replacing trains between Belgrave and Ringwood while 63,000 cubic metres of soil and rock – equal to 25 Olympic-size swimming pools – is excavated to lower the rail line under the road.
Mountain Highway has now closed and is due to reopen without boom gates on 23 December, meaning eight level crossings will be history by Christmas.
Once the construction blitz at Bayswater is complete, work will ramp up on the removal of the Blackburn and Heatherdale Road level crossings further down the line.
From 27 December 2016 to 29 January 2017, buses will replace trains between Box Hill and Ringwood while construction crews lower the rail line, upgrade Blackburn Station and build a new Heatherdale Station.
The Labor Government is not wasting a moment removing 50 of Victoria’s most dangerous and congested level crossings.
Seven are now gone, work is underway at a further 14, and four more level crossing removals will start next year. By the end of 2018, 37 level crossing removals will be either finished or underway.
For more information about the Bayswater project, visit . For up-to-date travel information and to plan your journey, visit and .
Quotes attributable to Minster for Public Transport Jacinta Allan
“We’re putting people first, getting rid of these dangerous and congested chokepoints that clog our streets, hold back our train system and put lives at risk.”
“Before we came to Government, only seven level crossings had been removed in the previous decade. We’ve removed that many in less than two years, and work is underway at more than a dozen other crossings.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Eastern Metropolitan Shaun Leane
“This massive project is creating hundreds of jobs and making Bayswater a better place to live, work and visit.”
“We’ve removed the Scoresby Road level crossing, the Mountain Highway crossing will be gone by Christmas and by the end of summer, 10 of Victoria’s worst level crossings will be gone forever.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020