William Scott
Major works are underway to remove four dangerous level crossings in Melbourne’s west – reducing congestion and boosting road safety – as part of work on the new Melton Station precinct.
Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Gabrielle Williams, announced that excavation has started on the new Melton Station which will deliver four accessible platforms to cater for Ballarat train services and dedicated services that begin and end at Melton – while also paving the way for the electrification of the Melton Line.
This follows a five-day construction blitz that saw crews carrying out signalling works and relocating underground utilities.
More than 14,000t of soil is set to be excavated in preparation for the station to open to passengers by the end of 2026.
At Ferris Road in Melton, crews have relocated a pedestrian path and carried out track and signalling works while at Hopkins Road in Truganina, a piling rig has started drilling 48 holes up to 9m deep as part of the foundations for the new road bridge.
When the project is complete, new rail bridges will take trains over Coburns and Exford roads and new road bridges will carry vehicles over the rail line at Ferris Road and Hopkins Road – with the four level crossings to be gone for good and the new Melton Station to open in 2026, two years ahead of schedule.
The project makes way for the $650 million Melton Line Upgrade, which will boost passenger capacity by 50 per cent by allowing nine-car VLocity trains to run on the line by 2028. A new stabling yard will also be built at Cobblebank to house the new trains and early site investigations will soon get underway.
The state government is building 23 new VLocity trains in Dandenong to increase capacity in Melton – with six trains already operating on the network.
