You can’t expect to build a multi-billion dollar rail project without having to chop down a few trees. But in the case of Melbourne Airport Rail they’ve needlessly chopped down a number of trees in Melbourne’s west just because they too narrow minded to adjust their plans.
Service relocations at Sunshine
The north-east side of Sunshine station used to be shaded by a number of tall trees.
But in January 2023 Melbourne Airport Rail posted a notice that they needed to be removed from the rail corridor to make way for the location of power and signalling cables.
So rev up the chainsaws, these trees are coming down.
Allowing new signalling and power conduits to be run beside the railway line.
But it turns out the tallest trees they removed didn’t even lie on the path taken by the cables.
The rail corridor being so narrow they decided to use above ground trunking to carry the power and signalling cable runs.
But it’s too late for the trees – they’re already gone.
And another at Albion
Albion station used to have tall trees between the railway line and the car park.
They even appeared in the artists impressions that Melbourne Airport Rail released in August 2022 in their application for a Heritage Victoria permit.
Melbourne Airport Rail artists impression
The trees apparently not causing any issues with the parallel 15 metres tall rail viaduct.
Melbourne Airport Rail artists impression
But in January 2023 the trees were fenced off.
And in came the chainsaws, reducing them to just a stump.
So why were they removed?
It seems the only possible reason is because they wanted to put the new underground services conduit in a straight line parallel to the railway line, and routing them around a tree would be too hard.
The only upside being a clear view of the John Darling flour mill.
At least until the view gets blocked for good by the cheap and nasty Melbourne Airport Rail viaduct passing over Ballarat Road.
‘Temporary’ car park at Tottenham station
In January 2023 the Melbourne Airport Rail announced that they would be building a “temporary” 300 space car park at Tottenham station to compensate for car park closures at Albion and Sunshine – “no net loss of car parking” strikes again.
But it was being delivered at more than just a financial cost – three trees were also due to be chopped down.
A big gum tree.
Google Street View
This little introduced tree.
Google Street View
And this straggly thing.
Google Street View
A fence went up around the site of the car park soon after.
And then the excavators rolled in.
The locals weren’t happy about the permanent loss of trees for a temporary car park.
But the car park machine goes brrrr.
Gravel being used to show this was just a “temporary” car park.
And by Mary 2023 it was ready for use.
For just a handful of cars each weekday.
So what will come first – the resumption of work on the Melbourne Airport Rail and eventual removal of the “temporary” car park, or cancellation of the project and the car park living forever.
Very well spotted – I was also shocked by the needless removal of those trees. The Tottenham gravel carpark is one of the biggest wastes of space I can imagine
It doesn’t help that the Metro Tunnel project had also used the area for their works at West Footscray.
And never remediated it.
Just you wait. By the time they restart MARL, the expanded car park at Totty will be used. So they’ll increase the size at Totty yet again to compensate for the car parking removal at Sunshine.
(The other fun trick is that the new replacement car parks are larger than the old ones because obese modern cars don’t fit well in old car parks. More land gone.)
The same thing has happened with ‘upgrades’ to railway stations car parks:
https://wongm.com/2016/01/level-crossings-removals-and-car-parking/
Existing car parks were built decades ago with spaces jammed in wherever they could, so when the same area gets redeveloped to current standards, the same number of spaces no longer fit.
It’s depressing really, isn’t it. IMO one of the objectives in all of these projects should be to ultimately increase the amount of tree cover and greening rather than reduce it. It’s not rocket science – it should just be a feature of all urban design and development. Sure, during construction work there are going to be losses, but the end product should be a marked improvement all round. As it is we are left with these barren Stalinesque structures that make train travel an unpleasant experience.
What they take with one hand, they give with the other!
https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/more-trees-ground-across-melbournes-west
Every project they do these days involves an excessive and needless removal of trees. So much so that in some circles the LXRP and others are called the ‘Tree Removal Project’
They like to pull the “we’ll plant more trees than we chop down” line – for example:
https://engage.vic.gov.au/project/lxrp-surrey-hills-and-mont-albert/survey/3438
But that’s really only enough to compensate for the trees that fail to thrive after being planted.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-02/dead-trees-at-moreland-station/100425132