- Published:
- Wednesday 10 January 2018
Construction crews are smashing it out of the park as they work to remove nine dangerous and congested crossings in Melbourne’s south east.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Acting Minister for Public Transport Philip Dalidakis visited Murrumbeena today to inspect progress on the landmark Caulfield to Dandenong project, where work has begun across the line to lay Australian steel train tracks.
For the next stages of works on the new elevated line to occur, buses will replace trains from 30 January to 14 February between Westall and Dandenong on the Cranbourne/Pakenham lines.
In another milestone for this project, an Australian-first straddle carrier has now installed more than 100 elevated concrete beams between Caulfield and Hughesdale.
Six million work hours have now been clocked up on this project with crews now on the home stretch with just over 70 more beams needing to be installed before the straddle carrier is dismantled.
As part of these works, beams will soon be installed over Grange Road in Carnegie, requiring the road to be closed to drivers and pedestrians between Monday 22 January and Monday 5 February.
As part of a major summer blitz now underway across Melbourne’s transport network, a period of intensive level crossing removal works began yesterday on the Cranbourne/Pakenham line.
Buses began replacing trains between Caulfield and Dandenong from Wednesday 10 January until the last service on 17 January.
Works will also start tomorrow and next Thursday 18 January respectively on the South Morang and Hurstbridge lines, with buses replacing trains on sections of the lines.
The Labor Government is not wasting a moment getting rid of dangerous and congested level crossings across Melbourne – 11 crossings are already gone, with all nine between Caulfield and Dandenong on track to be removed by the end of the year.
Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“We said we’d get rid of these dangerous relics of the past and we’re getting on with it – we’re working quickly to ensure the nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong are consigned to history where they belong.”
“My community lives the frustration of these boom gates every single day - I’ve had enough of them and can’t wait to see them gone for good.”
Quotes attributable to Acting Minister for Public Transport Philip Dalidakis
“We thank passengers for their patience while we get this work done – we’re ahead of schedule and the end result will be worth it.”
“This massive project is creating thousands of jobs here in Melbourne’s south east, and will allow us to run more trains, more often on the city’s busiest train line.”