By Jamie Salter
Major construction has officially begun on the removal of three level crossings and the construction of two new stations at Pakenham and Pakenham East, to be completed in 2024.
The level crossings at McGregor Road, Main Street and Racecourse Road are being removed by building an elevated rail bridge over the roads in the hopes that it will ease congestion and improve safety.
About 63,000 vehicles use the crossings each week, with 90,000 passengers using the Pakenham and Cranbourne Lines every day.
Pakenham Station will have 900 car parking bays and the Pakenham East Station will include 300 car parking spaces, with a ramp down to the underpass and two lifts to access the station.
The Level Crossing Removal Project held an online community meeting on Tuesday 26 July to provide an update on how the project was progressing.
Bass MP Jordan Crugnale attended the Zoom meeting and said she was looking forward to getting insight from members of the public.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone on site and at the community forums and events that are going to be happening,” Ms Crugnale said.
“Major works start tomorrow (Wednesday 27 July) – this is really quite massive for our area.“
LXRP deputy director Ian Ransley said the Pakenham Line was one of the busiest lines in Melbourne.
“The exciting thing were delivering for this project is a new premium Pakenham station located approximately in the same position of the current Pakenham station,” Mr Ransley said.
“We’re building a new station at East Pakenham to that growing area and these stations will be open in 2024 and will be a lot easier to walk up and access.
“It’s an elevated structure from McGregor Road all the way through to Racecourse Road, creating some amazing open space for the community to enjoy.”
Residents were informed of 24-hour works starting from Wednesday 27 July until Monday 8 August for piling, installing overhead cables and signals and drainage.
Project manager Marc Douez said up until now, completed works may not have been visible.
“We’ve been predominately doing below ground works such as a combined service route, which are the main brains that feed the rail lines, the signalling and what turns the trains around. We’ve been relocating that infrastructure and its ready to be transitioned,” Mr Douez said.
“We’ve also been working on the overhead lines and vegetation clearing.
“We’re now coming into a period of 24 hour works and we need that because when we shut down the rail corridor we need to try and do as much work in that time frame as possible to minimise disruptions.”
Racecourse Road will be closed between Henry Street and Bald Hill Road on Sunday 31 July from 7am to 6pm and Main Street and Bald Hill Road will be closed between Webster Way and Station Street on Wednesday 3 August from 7am to 6pm.
Busses will replace trains on sections of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Lines from Wednesday 27 July to last service on Sunday 7 August.
