Final designs for Morwell and Traralgon stations have been released, revealing what the new station precincts will look like once complete.

Community feedback helped shape the final designs with dozens of community groups and station users providing feedback, through a user-centered design process, resulting in 196 design recommendations.

The key themes we heard from the community feedback included:

• celebrating local heritage
• improving user journey and experience
• improving safety, amenity and accessibility
• better connecting intermodal activity.

This feedback played a key role in finalising our designs.

The upgraded Traralgon Station will feature a new protected pedestrian overpass serviced by stairs and four lifts, to be accessible for all.

The upgrade has been designed to respect and retain the station precinct’s heritage values, with the project not impacting on the main station building, and the new design reflecting the heritage elements of the station precinct with a bright, light interior to maintain views across the site.

A new landscaped forecourt will provide a pedestrian-friendly entrance on the northern side, with additional seating to provide comfort.

The upgraded Morwell Station will feature a new platform with a generous canopy over the entrance and an enclosed waiting room with seating, to prioritise pedestrian comfort and access to the station.

The new landscaped forecourt plaza will feature a number of new garden areas, seating, lighting and bike hoops.

The piling works for the new pedestrian overpass at Traralgon Station have been completed and the old platform has been demolished to make way for construction of the new platform.

At Morwell Station, the pedestrian underpass has been upgraded to have a wider walkway and the final concrete pour for the walls has been completed.

We would like to thank passengers, residents, and the wider community for your patience while these important works are taking place.

Morwell Station final design

The upgrades at Morwell Station include accessibility and amenity improvements for better passenger journeys, such as new stairs linking the underpass to the new platform entry, and an upgraded underpass ramp to not only connect the platforms but also the northern and southern sides of the town.

An expansive architecturally designed canopy, positioned to be accessible from the intersection between the underpass ramp and Commercial Road, will announce the southern station entry and help define the public space in the precinct.

The improved design of the public realm and entrance to Morwell Station’s new platform will form an extension of Legacy Place, providing new public landscaped space, while respectfully incorporating existing feature palm trees.

Staggering the platforms and creating additional accessible paths will improve pedestrian connections across the station precinct. The bus interchange, car parks and walkways, and the eastern location of the new platform, will reactivate and revitalise the street frontage along Commercial Road.

The new platform will feature a generous canopy over the entrance, an enclosed waiting room with seating, and seating along the length of the platform.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles have been applied when designing the upgrades to Morwell Station, ensuring public areas are safe, comfortable and inclusive by significantly improving sight lines, making waiting areas clearly visible and providing lighting to platforms and public areas to promote safety and security.

Traralgon Station final design

Honouring the valuable heritage elements of the Traralgon Station precinct, such as the historic former station building on the southern platform, has been at the forefront of our design process.

We have listened to community feedback about the importance of ensuring that the former station building, used in recent times by the Traralgon and District Art Society, would not be impacted by our works.

The angled design of the new accessible pedestrian overpass ensures the heritage-listed former station building will remain to anchor the precinct.

The overpass has been designed to minimise its bulk and scale as much as possible while still meeting modern design standards and requirements, which includes the use of transparent materials. It is important that the overpass has modern facilities including ramps and lifts, to ensure all station users can access both platforms.

We are using a range of measures to ensure the new facilities integrate smoothly with the broader precinct, including using perforated screens in varying shades of heritage green, to make a positive visual impact in the space, while allowing people using the overpass to safely view their surroundings.

The overpass is serviced by stairs, which are weather protected by glazing, and lifts to be accessible for all, and will have a bright, light interior.

These design features lighten the visual impact of the structure, complemented by the addition of public space in the new forecourt area.

The new landscaped forecourt entrance to the station from the north will also feature a creative design on the forecourt floor by a local artist.

We’ve also been able to relocate the bus interchange to better align with the Traralgon Station Precinct Masterplan, enabling us to include more seating, shelter, and shade from trees.

Supporting local, social and Aboriginal employment

We are proud to have engaged a range of local, social and Aboriginal businesses.

The Gippsland Line Upgrade is a program partner of GROW Gippsland, which has assisted the project to maximise local, social and Aboriginal procurement and employment opportunities.

Among key businesses supporting the project is Latrobe Valley Enterprises (LVE) – a social enterprise offering meaningful employment for people with disabilities – which has provided sign-making, waste management, grounds maintenance and handyperson services.

Students to build nesting boxes for local wildlife

Students from Latrobe Valley Flexible Learning Option are helping the Gippsland Line Upgrade minimise its environmental footprint.

Participants will build flat-packed nesting boxes supplied by Latrobe University’s Environment Science team to help protect and preserve native fauna including Eastern rosellas, microbats and possums.

Representatives from the lead project contractor, VicConnect Alliance, and Regional Rail Revival paid a visit to the Morwell-based school recently to task the students with their responsibilities.

The students will be invited to watch the installation of the nesting boxes along the Gippsland Line at Morwell and Traralgon.

Broadening Horizons Program excursion

The Gippsland Line Upgrade is proud to support Latrobe Valley Authority’s Broadening Horizons program, connecting students to industry and allowing them to participate in real-world learning opportunities to develop problem-solving skills for the future.

At the start of June, students from Traralgon Secondary College visited the Traralgon Station construction site to support their Broadening Horizons project and get advice from the team about their design challenge.