At the moment there is a four week disruption to the Sunbury line in order to place the tracks underground at Main Road and Furlong Road, and open new railway stations at St Albans and Ginifer. I’m curious as to why such a length of time is required to complete this set of works, when other projects in Melbourne suggest it could have been achieved with less disruption.
Back in April 2016 the Western Bulldogs pulled out a rather clever banner for their game against North Melbourne – the rail theme is what caught my eye.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are currently being spent on Sunbury line at St Albans to grade separate Furlong Road and Main Road, with Ginifer and St Albans stations also being rebuilt as part of the work. A noble objective given the history of fatal accidents in the area, but thanks to the half-arsed way the project has been planned, the Level Crossing Removal Authority has missed the most important bit – removing every level crossing.
Recently in the news the idea of ‘departure side platforms’ was floated as a way to reduce traffic congestion at railway station level crossings. So what are they, and where have they been used in Melbourne before?
