An additional 50 train services are now running on the Cranbourne Line each week, another dangerous and congested level crossing has been removed, and a new railway station is open to passengers a year ahead of schedule.
Around 2000 crew clocked up around 170,000 hours working day and night since early January to complete the track duplication, Greens Road level crossing removal and new station.
Cranbourne Line fully duplicated
Thanks to 8km of track duplication now complete between Cranbourne and Dandenong, a new timetable starts today featuring trains every 10 minutes on average in the morning peak for passengers travelling from Cranbourne, Lynbrook and Merinda Park stations.
More than 22km of Australian steel, 20,000 tonnes of ballast and 16,000 concrete sleepers were used to duplicate the single line track between Cranbourne and Dandenong, which included 2 new rail bridges over Eumemmerring Creek and Abbotts Road, with the duplication paving the way for a future rail extension to Clyde.
Merinda Park Station complete
Merinda Park Station has been rebuilt to accommodate the duplicated track and is now a modern station featuring 2 platforms and better facilities for passengers, including lifts and ramps.
The new station will improve connectivity to local schools, parks and shops thanks to a new pedestrian underpass built under the tracks.
Greens Road level crossing gone for good
After the Greens Road boom gates were removed in January this year, the level crossing is officially gone for good with Cranbourne Line trains running over the new rail bridges.
The removal of the boom gates at Greens Roads by building elevated rail bridges over the road marks our 57th level crossing removal, with 85 level crossings in total to be removed by 2025.
The congested Dandenong South level crossing is in a busy industrial area, and its removal untangles this bottleneck and frees up traffic.
The works are part of the Victorian Government’s upgrade to the Cranbourne Line, including new high-capacity trains and the Metro Tunnel Project, which will allow for more trains, more often on Melbourne’s fast-growing south-east.
In total, 15 level crossings are being removed on the Cranbourne Line, with 13 already gone for good, and 2 more will make the line level crossing-free by 2025, changing the way people live, work and travel.
To view the new timetable, visit the Public Transport Victoria (PTV) website.