Removing 50 dangerous and congested level crossings will transform the way people live, work and travel across metropolitan Melbourne and improve safety for drivers and pedestrians.

Building a better Melbourne

Construction works continue to remove 9 level crossings, build 5 new stations and create new open space on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project will not only relieve significant traffic congestion, but will allow more trains with increased capacity to run on Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor.

The 9 level crossings being removed before the end of 2018 are:

• Grange Road, Carnegie
• Clayton Road, Clayton
• Koornang Road, Carnegie
• Centre Road, Clayton
• Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena
• Corrigan Road, Noble Park
• Poath Road, Hughesdale
• Heatherton Road, Noble Park
• Chandler Road, Noble Park

This newsletter provides an overview of key construction milestones and a snapshot of project activities in your local community.

Open space – thank you for your feedback

The project will create 22.5 hectares of community open space for new parks, playgrounds, sporting facilities and a range of other uses. A Community Open Space Expert Panel was established to oversee plans for the new open space and to incorporate local knowledge and expertise into the designs.

The panel provided the project with a significant amount of feedback, ideas and recommendations.

In addition to expert advice we wanted to hear from you. In 2016 and 2017 we undertook an extensive consultation program, allowing everyone the opportunity to have a say in how these new open spaces will be used and what they should look like.

The feedback from the panel and the community has been summarised in two consultation reports.

See the elevated rail in construction

With the project in its peak construction period, there are a lot of opportunities for the public to view the elevated structure as it takes shape.

We’ve identified some of the best spots in Carnegie, Murrumbeena and Hughesdale to watch the straddle carrier, an Australian first.

Pick up a map showing recommended viewing spots from the Murrumbeena Information Hub, or check out the views from the elevated viewing area at the Noble Park Hub.

Noble Park Information Hub

Noble Park Station car park, Douglas Street

Open hours:

• Tuesday, 9am to 5pm
• Wednesday, 3pm to 7pm
• Every second Saturday (starting 24 June), 9am to 12pm

Murrumbeena Information Hub

444 Neerim Road, Murrumbeena

Open hours:

• Monday and Wednesday, 9am to 5pm
• Thursday, 9am to 12 noon and 3pm to 7pm
• Saturday, 9am to 1pm

Shop local

Our project workforce is encouraged to shop local. We encourage you to support local traders during the construction period. Make sure you check our these local favourites:

Moss and Maple, Murrumbeena

Jodi has a background in fine art and uses her creativity to create unique, beautiful floral arrangements at incredibly competitive prices.

Hudadak, Clayton

Stop by this traditional cosy Korean restaurant on Carinish Road for favourites such as sweet soy beef and warm noodle salads. Their Korean Fried Chicken is also sure to please.

Ciro's Cakes and Biscuits, Noble Park

Ciro supplies locals with tasty baked goods, including Italian delights such as cannoli and tiramisu. Prices start from $1 for sweets and $15 for cakes so be sure to visit.

If you’d like your business to feature in the next edition of this newsletter please send an email to contact@levelcrossings.vic.gov.au or call us on 1800 105 105.

Working towards a better line

In July buses replaced trains on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines for several days while level crossing removal workers carried out works to support the introduction of high capacity trains.

Between 6 July and 15 July workers installed:

• 49,000m of overhead wire
• 4000m of below-ground pipe
• 8000m of new signalling cable
• 600m of power cable and three new transformers
• 2 platform extensions at Berwick Station (4m extensions).

Major construction milestones

Straddle carrier begins operating

The 60m long carrier came into action for the first time in August at Murrumbeena, installing sections of elevated rail in an Australian engineering first.

Spotlight on Noble Park Precinct

Over the last few months, the Noble Park Precinct – between Corrigan and Chandler Roads – has seen significant progress with 100% of beams now installed in the area.

New station designs finalised

The detailed designs for Clayton and Hughesdale Stations were finalised in July and September. The relocation of Hughesdale Station will improve pedestrian access to public transport, local shops and the station itself.

Community feedback incorporated into the design resulted in a number of changes including:

• reduction in the height of both station canopies by 1.8m
• modern facilities, improved lighting and CCTV security at both stations
• a new dedicated bus link road at Clayton Station between Haughton and Carinish Roads
• the inclusion of escalators at both stations
• new larger station forecourts at both stations.

The project recognises the significance of Clayton Station's heritage listing.

Part of the station building - built in 1891 - will be relocated and transformed into a new public facility as part of the new station precinct.

There has been a lot of community interest on how many car parking spaces we should provide around stations. We have committed to delivering additional car parks at key locations along the corridor, with the opportunity for an estimated 500 new spaces. We've been able to do this without substantially impacting the linear parkland that the project will create.

Power enters new phase

The project is installing 19 state of the art substations to prepare the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines for High Capacity Metro Trains.

In 1966 Noble Park’s Eddie Blanchfield started work on Victoria’s rail network. For more than three decades Eddie’s job was to perform maintenance on rail substations – a behind-the-scenes role critical to keeping our network up and running.

In the 60 years he has lived near Noble Park Station the retired engineer has witnessed massive steps forward in transport technology – so is now looking on with interest as massive power and signal upgrades are rolled out to prepare for the new trains in 2019.

Installation of the first of the new substations in Dandenong started in August and will continue along the line through 2017 and 2018.

Cleaner, quieter and more efficient

The 2 x 30m tall gantry cranes based near Murrumbeena Station, as well as 9 smaller gantry cranes at the Pakenham pre-cast facility, are fuelled with a biodiesel mix that is expected to provide efficiency savings of around 100,000L of diesel over the life of the project.

To date this innovative technique has saved more than 11,000kg of carbon emissions.

Key construction milestones

October 2016

• Piling commenced

January 2017

• First pier installed between Carnegie and Hughesdale
• Gantry crane arrived in Melbourne

February to May 2017

• First pier installed at Clayton and Noble Park
• Cranes commence lifting beams and deck segments onto support piers at Clayton and Noble Park

June to September 2017

• Carrier system operational between Murrumbeena Station and Grange Road
• Piling complete at Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Clayton and Noble Park
• 50% of beams installed at Noble Park
• Preparatory work for track install underway at Noble Park

Late 2017

• All piers and beams installed at Noble Park
• Piling complete Hughesdale
• Carrier system operational between Murrumbeena Station and Poath Road

2018

• Open space landscaping complete
• New stations open at Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Hughesdale, Clayton and Noble Park
• Rail line operating on elevated structure
• Bicycle and pedestrian path complete
• All level crossings removed