Regional Rail Link

Progress on the Regional Rail Link project has been a theme in recent months, and this is the same – plenty of work at Footscray station, along with a clear view back to the Melbourne CBD.

With a major shutdown of the suburban lines coming up to install new bridges over the railway line between Footscray and Middle Footscray.

Excavators and dump trucks rolling in a few days later to widen the cutting.

And to demolish West Footscray station to make room for extra tracks.

The ‘West Footscray’ station signage being unceremoniously thrown into the bin of scrap metal, rather than sold off to collectors.

Trams

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant was still running around Melbourne.

The service last ran in October 2018, when Yarra Trams banned the fleet of the network citing safety concerns.

As were the maroon liveried City Circle Trams.

2013 also saw the launch of Melbourne Art Trams – a revival of the Transporting Art project which ran from 1978 to 1993.

The brand new E class trams were finally running around the network, but still on test.

As were the upgraded ‘W8’ class trams for use on the City Circle – I found this one at the route 82 terminus at Footscray.

Clueless drivers

It takes some skill, but some motorist managed to impale their car onto the tram stop safety zone prow at Newmarket station.

But this motorist went one better, taking out the entire tram stop.

At last one service disruption Yarra Trams could not be blamed for was this one on Maribyrnong Road, Ascot Vale – strong winds tore the roof off an apartment block, which then landed on the tramway overhead, stopping trams.

New tram tracks

For a few days route 19, 57 and 59 terminated at a temporary crossover north of La Trobe Street.

So that the tram tracks along Elizabeth Street could be dug up.

And new tracks laid.

Ready for the constructor of long awaited platform tram stops.

And then work stopped – two weeks later, the trams stops were still not ready for use.

With work on the fencing being dragged out.

With the tram stops still unfinished at the end of the month.

Buses

On my lunch break I found a Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus – a victim of competition from the Free Tram Zone, the City of Melbourne finally killed off the service in August 2017.

Transdev was also making their brand more visible in Melbourne, having taken over the operations of National Bus Company and Melbourne Bus Link the month before.

And the other bits

With the Spring Racing Carnival upon us, it’s time for more gambling advertising – this time it was bookmaker ‘Bet365’.

Out at Melbourne Airport the 1970s water tower was still in place outside the Terminal 4 construction site, but was soon gone, deconstructed piece by piece.

Also gone is Melbourne Bike Share – the service was wound up in November 2019.

On Ballarat Road in Footscray I found this still functioning neon sign at Douglas’s Service Station.

And something new for the time – my first sighting of a 1AA-1AA series registration plate, which had been launched in August 2013 along with the ‘Vic – Stay Alert Stay Alive’ slogan.

The new number sequence is estimated to be provide enough combinations to last for 50 years, but the slogan was dumped for ‘Victoria – The Education State’ in October 2015.

And a steam train

I made the trip out up north to Castlemaine on a Steamrail Victoria special.

The selling point being the side trip along the Victorian Goldfields Railway.

Where the train would stop in the middle of nowhere to let passengers exit.

Then line up in the forest.

To photograph the train passing us by.

Known as a ‘photo line’ it has been a traditional part of steam train excursions in Victoria since the 1960s, when esteemed tour organiser Eldon Hogan would bark directions to waiting photographers with his Hogaphone.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Regional Rail Link

We start the month like many others, with progress on the Regional Rail Link project through Melbourne’s west.

The old West Footscray station was still in place beneath ‘Mount Mistake‘.

But the new station to the west was well underway.

Being constructed clear of the existing tracks to avoid disruption to Sunbury line services.

Down the line at Sunshine similar thoughtful works were underway – the level crossing at Anderson Road had been relocated clear of the grade separation works.

So that the future rail bridge could be constructed clear of the tracks, and slid into place when complete.

Meanwhile on the greenfield section of the route, the new Tarneit station had everything in place except for tracks!

Ballan Road had a road bridge passing over an incomplete rail cutting.

Wyndham Vale had pedestrian bridge ready to cross a future four track, four platform station.

And Manor Junction had a massive flyover in place over the Geelong line tracks, but with nothing connecting at either end.

Other train bits

One evening I passed through Newmarket station and found it in the dark – a tree took out the mains power supply to the station.

So somewhat surprisingly, electricians were sent out to connect a generator to the switchboard.

After sitting empty for a decade, in 2013 work finally started on the office towers above the west end of Southern Cross Station.

699 Bourke Street at the north end was first to be completed in 2015, followed by 664 Collins Street at the south end in 2019.

I also paid a visit to Dandenong South, where I found something different sitting dumped beside the tracks.

Comeng carriages 305M, 1003T and 306M stored in the Membreys Transport yard, after being damaged in the November 2012 level crossing crash at Abbotts Road in Dandenong South.

Ding ding

Preparation for the introduction of the new E class trams was underway on route 96, with the inaccessible safety zones along Nicholson Street being extended so the rear doors of the longer trams would not overhang into traffic.

This interim fix remained in place until 2018, when they were finally replaced by accessible platform stops.

And the other bits

On Swanston Street in the CBD I found the Victoria Police bicycle squad on patrol.

But they didn’t seem to be making much of a difference to the dingbats driving down the bike lanes.

Out at Maribyrnong a brand new two-storey Bunnings Warehouse opened – the $45 million store being located around the corner from the old one at Highpoint, and at more than 17,000 square metres, was three times the size of the old one.

And around the corner at West Footscray another Bunnings Warehouse was being constructed – on the former Southern Can Company factory site, with the front office block retained, but the warehouse being being demolished to make way for a hardware store with basement car park.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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A trip to Sydney

I spent a few days up in Sydney, and went for a ride on their double deck trains.

Stumbled upon the wooden tread escalators at Wynyard station.

And went for a last ride on the Sydney Monorail.

The Sydney Monorail closed in June 2013, while the wooden escalators were finally retired in 2017.

Southern Cross Station is a joke

I’ve written before about the joke that is Southern Cross Station – Grand Prix merchandise stalls blocking the main entrance.

The hopeless tram stop at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, where cars have priority.

And V/Line trains not arriving on the platform until a minute before departure time.

A decade later – nothing has changed.

Regional Rail Link

Something far more positive was work ramping up on the Regional Rail Link project.

The rail yards beside North Melbourne station were a busy worksite, as the dedicated V/Line tracks towards Southern Cross Station took shape.

Work also underway beside the Heavenly Queen Temple for a third bridge over the Maribyrnong River at Footscray.

Outside Footscray another two tracks were being threaded through what was then an industrial wasteland.

And the Hopkins Street bridge was down to just two lanes, so that the bridge could be extended over the new tracks.

Footscray station was also getting dug up.

To make way for the new suburban platforms next to Irving Street.

The old West Footscray station was still in place for now.

But work on the new station had just started.

Tottenham station still had two tracks for now.

But at Sunshine work on the new station concourse had started.

Meanwhile on the greenfields section between Deer Park and Werribee, new bridges were taking shape to carry roads over the future railway.

The station building at Wyndham Vale was emerging.

Soon to take over from the token bus service.

The railway cutting through the Manor Lakes estate had also been started.

Tonnes upon tonnes of solid basalt rock needing to be removed.

While down the line at Manor Junction, heavy duty dump trucks were helping to building the grade separated junction with the existing route towards Geelong.

The first sections of Regional Rail Link opened from October 2013, with the complete route via Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations opened in June 2015.

And some other bits

I went on a trip to the Murray River at Tocumwal with Steamrail Victoria.

Special trains still make the journey up to the Murray from time to time, despite V/Line services only running as far north as Shepparton.

Remember Melbourne Bike Share? I found staff taking bikes back to the top of the Swanston Street hill. The service closed down in November 2019.

As for cycling to the inner north-west, Flemington Road was a joke then, and still is today.

And remember Safeway?

Rebranding as Woolworths commenced in 2008, with the final store changed over in 2017.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Taking a quick tour

Mount Mistake is a tangle of concrete bridges and slip lanes.

Google Earth 2020

Carrying six lanes of Geelong Road over the top of the railway.

Google Street View 2014

With a crazy 270 degree loop for westbound traffic from Gordon Street.

Google Street View 2019

Merging into 80 km/h traffic on the top of the bridge.

Google Street View 2019

A fork in the middle of the bridge for eastbound traffic to access Gordon Street.

Google Street View 2019

Leaving a tangle of ramps below.

Google Street View 2019

And a seedy under croft.

Google Street View 2018

So how did it come to be?

The early years

Like most of the western suburbs, ‘Mount Mistake’ was once open plains.

SLV BIB ID 685472

The first road towards Geelong started at Footscray, following today’s Buckley Street to the present line of Geelong Road. It was joined in 1859 by the initial section of the Melbourne-Bendigo railway, the two meeting at a set of level crossing gates.

PROV image VPRS 12800 P7 C/0297

The neighbouring railway station opened in 1888 as Footscray West, before being renamed West Footscray in 1912.

Victorian Railways diagram, West Footscray 1922

And the growth in suburban traffic saw the railway electrified as far as St Albans in 1921.

SLV photo H28682/25

But a bigger change was to come, with the construction of the South Kensington to West Footscray freight line. Two new tracks were built beneath Footscray, allowing goods trains to bypass busy passenger traffic on their way to the new railway yard at Tottenham.

But with four tracks running through a level crossing the gates would spend more time closed than open, so the decision was made to grade separate the corridor.

Enter ‘Mount Mistake’

Grade separating the Geelong Road level crossing was a classic “skyrail vs trench” debate.

GEELONG ROAD CROSSING
Subway Preferred to Bridge

Footscray City Council has decided to again wait on the Minister for Railways and urge the construction of a subway at tho Geelong Road crossing, instead of the proposed overhead bridge at an estimated cost of £27,000.

Estimating the cost of constructing a subway at £50,000, the Railways Department informed the council that this cost would be too great. In addition, stone would be encountered in the excavation work necessary for constructing a subway.

Melbourne’s western suburbs getting the same treatment they do today.

BRIDGE OR SUBWAY?
GEELONG ROAD PROBLEM.

Considerable diplomacy was displayed by the Assistant Minister’ of Railways (Mr. Mackrell) yesterday in dealing with a deputation from the Footscray council, which requested that a subway should be substituted for the proposed overhead bridge on the Geelong Road over the new goods railway line. Mr. Mackrell intimated plainly that he had no hope of the request being granted, but stated that he would inspect the area before reaching a decision.

Cr. A. Hansen said a subway was being built at Essendon, where there was not one-tenth of the traffic as at Footscray.

Cr. O’Toole: Why has Essendon got a subway?

Cr. Hansen: It is not the Cinderella of the districts.

In conclusion, the Minister promised to visit Essendon and Footscray and inspect the areas, and also consider the substitution of a brick wall for an embankment if the bridge were constructed.

But it came to naught.

FOOTSCRAY BRIDGE
Minister’s Decision — No Subway

Protests against the construction of an overhead road bridge at the crossing of the West Footscray railway and Geelong Road are still being made by residents of Footscray, but it is considered unlikely that any alteration will be made in in the plans now being carried out.

The Minister of Railways said yesterday that he was not inclined to agree to the request for an examination by independent engineers. The subway proposal south by Footscray council had been rejected by the Railways Standing Committee, Parliament, and two former Ministers of Railways before the present Government had assumed office.

Railway engineers were against the subway, and after a personal inspection he had also approved of the overhead bridge. On further representations being made he had appointed a committee of two engineers, who, although Government employees, had every freedom to report as they wished, and the committee had endorsed all the previous opinions. He considered in the ‘circumstances that the combined opinion of all the experts should be final.

So the original plans stood – the railway was sunk into a cutting beneath Nicholson Street and Albert Street, and Geelong Road was raised onto an embankment to cross the tracks.

Work started on the Geelong Road bridge in 1927.

SLV photo H2001.308/2924

Tall brick retaining walls taking shape on the approaches.

VPRS 12800/ P7 unit 23, item C 0436

Forming a massive mountain of dirt.

SLV photo H2001.308/2928

The residents of Footscray dubbing it ‘Mount Mistake’.

“MOUNT MISTAKE”
Three Ministers Join in Protest
COLLEAGUE TO INQUIRE

Fifty citizens, representative of the municipal councils of Footscray, Williamstown, and adjoining districts, and of several associations, district and national, this morning urged the Minister for Railways (Mr Tunnelcliffe) to remove the preparations for the overhead crossing at Geelong Road, West Footscray, and to substitute a subway.

Three members of the Cabinet – Messrs Prendergast, Williams and Disney – joined the protest to the Minister.

The embankment was referred to by the various speakers as “Mount Mistake”, “an awful eyesore”, “a rabbit warren”, “a quagmire” and a “monument to the incapacity of the departmental engineers.”

Tho Minister, while defending the engineers, promised to go thoroughly into the question of alteration, and to place the matter shortly before Cabinet. He said that the question of additional cost should not be paramount.

“INJUSTICE TO DISTRICT”

Mr Prendergast, M.L.A., who introduced the deputation, said that the embankment was the most extraordinary thing he had ever seen. It amounted to an injustice to the district, and would, if persisted in, inevitably have to be removed in the near future. The overhead bridge would be dangerous to traffic and unsightly, and the embankment would depreciate the value of real property. The revenue of the football club would be affected by the embankment providing a free stand. He could not understand that a Government department would cause such a disfigurement to a thickly populated district.

Cr. O’Toole (Mayor of Footscray) handed in a petition signed by 4744 residents, in six days. The embankment was known in Footscray as “Mount Mistake.” (Laughter.) It was one of the greatest atrocities ever perpetrated. Not only was the embankment a tragedy from the aesthetic point of view, but it was also dangerous to traffic. A subway would be welcomed by Footscray council, which was prepared to pay the cost of removing the material. Footscray council was spending money in the beautification of the Geelong Road, one of the great arteries.

“A MATTER OF AESTHETICS”

The Minister said he believed that the engineers of the department had honestly tried to overcome a difficulty in the most economic manner. The grade of the proposed subway (1 in 20) would he equal to the grade of tho overhead bridge. The department had eliminated four level crossings in the Footscray district, and had saved the municipality about £50,000.

He agreed that the work on the Geelong road was of outstanding importance. The question at issue seemed to be one of spending £26,000 to provide a more aesthetic structure. He was not sure that a subway would be the more aesthetic. The whole matter would be reviewed by him at an early date.

But it was completed as intended by 1928.

VPRS 12800/ P3 unit 13, item ADV 0138

The approaches were landscaped.

Herald Sun photo

And there the bridge remained for the next few decades.

1945 Department of Lands and Survey photo map

The main beneficiaries – footy fans who could stand on the footpath and watch Doggies games for free.

Photo by Urgeback at English Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons

The rise of the car

Trees once lined Geelong Road, forming Footscray’s Avenue of Honour. But in the 1960s they were chopped down to make way for a dual carriageway.

The dual carriageways were extended west throughout the 1960s from Ballarat Road towards Brooklyn, except for one gap – ‘Mount Mistake’. Enter the Country Road Board.

Country Roads Board annual report 1971

Who reported in their 1971 annual report.

The replacement of the old four-lane road over rail bridge at West Footscray commenced in June 1970. A new six-lane bridge and major improvements to several highway intersections either side of the railway line will improve the flow of through traffic and assist cross movements by local traffic when completed in 1973.

The $2,000,000 project includes a new bridge 90 metres (305 feet) long by 23 metres (77 feet) wide, providing six lanes for traffic. A pedestrian overpass and several other structures on the approaches to the rail overpass will cater for cross traffic.

By 1972 costs had blown out – possibly due to the extra underpass taking Cross Street under Geelong Road?

The construction of a new six-lane bridge to replace the old four-lane road over rail bridge at West Footscray continued during the year.

The whole project will cost approximately $3,400,000. Half the new width was completed and opened to traffic, providing four lanes for highway traffic.

When Weston Langford visited in February 1973, the old bridge was gone, ready for the second half of the new bridge to be built.

Weston Langford photo

But the cost of the project had increased yet again – up to $3,800,000.

So the Country Roads Board must have been happy to report the completion of the bridge in 1974.

Country Roads Board annual report 1974

But the bridge did stand the test of time – thirty years later it was just as ugly as it was when built.

Google Earth 2005

Enter Regional Rail Link

In 2008 the Regional Rail Link project was unveiled, to build a pair of new tracks from Southern Cross to Sunshine, taking the total number of tracks through West Footscray to six.

But Footscray was a pinch point, with two more tracks needed to be squeezed beneath the Geelong Road bridge.

To make space, the ‘Rising Sun’ footbridge was demolished.

It once connected Buckley Street to the middle of ‘Mount Mistake’.

Google Street View 2009

But the closure sent pedestrians on a long detour.

Buckley Street was moved behind a concrete crash barrier.

And West Footscray station was moved to a new site to the west.

The old station being demolished.

To make extra space beneath Geelong Road.

With the new tracks opened in 2014.

But despite all the changes, one part of ‘Mount Mistake’ still exists – the brick wall that formed the north abutment.

Footnote: concrete traffic barriers

In the 1970s increasing vehicle speeds saw the need for stronger barriers on road bridges, and the new Geelong Road bridge at West Footscray was one of three sites they were trialled by the Country Roads Board.

Country Roads Board annual report 1972

The barriers were of the California Division of Highways ‘Type 20’ design:

Approximately 1500 metres (5,000 lin. ft.) of barrier is to be constructed on the West Footscray project. The barrier is to be continuous over approach embankments and structures. A steel-pipe railing supported by cast-steel posts is to be mounted on top of the concrete barrier

The standard precast unit is 1.5 metres (5 ft.) long and weighs 500 kg (1,100 lb.) allowing easy handling and installation on curved alignments (at West Footscray, units are used around a 27 metre (90 ft.) radius curve).

By June 15th 1972, all of the 263 units required for the first stage of the West Footscray bridge had been delivered to the site, and 750 units for later stages remained to be manufactured.

Footnote: signal boxes

The first signal frame at West Footscray was commissioned in 1886 to control access to the sidings, with a full signal box opening at Geelong Road in 1889. This was followed in 1992 by a new signal box at the Melbourne end of the down platform, featuring a 41 lever VR ‘A’ Pattern Cam and Tappet frame.

PROV image VPRS 12800 P7 C/0297

As part of the construction of the road overpass, in 1927 a temporary level crossing was provided at Geelong Road, controlled by a 23 lever signal box.

This timber signal box had been relocated from Footscray ‘C’ at Albert Street, following the removal of that level crossing in 1926.

SLV photo H2001.308/2928

In 1928 the overpass was in use and the temporary level crossing and signal box removed.

The 1922 West Footscray signal box controlling trains on both the passenger and goods lines.

VPRS 12903/P1, item Box 670/18

Following the construction of the wider Geelong Road bridge in the 1970s, the hipped roof of the signal box was removed, replaced by shallow pitched flat roof.

But by the 1990s the role of the signal box went into decline. The first change was the removal of the West Footscray goods yard by 1991, followed in 1996 by the removal of the connection between Tottenham Yard and the suburban tracks.

In 2000 the signal box was permanently ‘switched out’ after control of Tottenham Yard was transferred to West Tower, until finally decommissioned on 3 October 2013, after which it was immediately demolished to make way for Regional Rail Link.

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In the city

Trams on Swanston Street still stopped in the middle of the road, leaving anyone with limited mobility out in the cold.

The current platform stops were completed between May 2011 and July 2012.

At Richmond station, additional next train displayed were installed at the city end, each hiding beneath their own private section of roof.

Passengers had to wait until 2015 to gain their own shelters, installed at a cost of $7.28 million.

And at Southern Cross Station work on the new platform 15 and 16 was still crawling along.

They eventually opened in December 2013.

While over at the entrance to the country platforms, Myki readers had been installed.

Myki eventually replaced paper V/Line tickets in February 2014.

As part of the rollout the ‘Myki Discovery Centre‘ at Southern Cross was refitted as a customer service centre.

But it is worth remembering that Metcard wasn’t perfect – the gates needed regular clearing to ensure they read magnetic stripe tickets reliably.

Out in nowhere land

Out the back of Docklands, I explored the disused railway sidings that once served the port.

Including an abandoned passenger carriage.

Wegmann carriage OWA91 was originally built for the Commonwealth Railways in 1952, passing through a number of owners before arriving in Melbourne in 2006. There it remained until September 2017, when it was destroyed by fire in arson attack.

But beside the Maribyrnong River at Footscray something new was taking shape – the Heavenly Queen Temple.

The main hall opened to the public in 2015, with further halls still under construction today.

Changed scenes in Footscray

At Footscray station, the new footbridge was finally completed.

Nearby I found an old Darrell Lea sign hand painted on the shops over the railway line at Nicholson Street.

And at West Footscray station I found a V/Line train headed for the city, crawling along behind a stopping all stations suburban train.

None of which exist today, Regional Rail Link having completely transformed the area.

To make room for the extra V/Line tracks, the footbridge at Footscray station was partially demolished in 2013, the shops on the Nicholson Street bridge were removed, and a massive new station at West Footscray was built on a new site.

Thankfully for Deer Park the $5 million upgrade to the station platform and car park didn’t go to waste.

New timetables introduced following the completion of Regional Rail Link saw the station get three to four trains an hour, instead of the train every two hours it used to see.

And the police state

In the streets of Footscray I found a Victoria Police CCTV van.

It entered service in 2008, until an officer tried to drive it under a low bridge, destroying the cameras on the roof!

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Built it up

Construction work on the Laverton Rail Upgrade project on the Werribee line has been a recent theme – we see that work on the third platform was almost done.

Along with the new footbridge.

Another project was the construction of a new station on the Craigieburn line at Coolaroo.

Served by a similarly large footbridge.

Nothing ever changes on the Albury line

Another project of the period was the North East Rail Revitalisation Project, which was converting the deteriorating Seymour-Albury railway broad gauge track to standard gauge, providing two parallel tracks at a cost of $500 million.

While this work was underway, V/Line services had replaced by buses since 2008.

A new platform was also constructed on the standard gauge track at Broadmeadows.

And V/Line was also busy upgrading trains for the return of trains to Albury.

It was intended for V/Line trains to return in late 2010 but poor track quality delayed it until June 2011.

Unfortunately nothing has changed in the decade since – 2012 saw a promise to ‘fix’ the track, but reliability of V/Line services to Albury has stayed in the toilet , despite the addition of a third and even fourth train set to run the service.

May 2018 saw the launch of the $235 million North East Line Upgrade project – will this finally solve it?

But plenty of change towards Sunshine

Ten years ago the view along the line between the CBD and Sunshine was very different.

Freight sidings filled the area between North Melbourne and Moonee Ponds Creek.

South Kensington station used to have trees on the platform.

Suburban and V/Line trains needed to share four tracks to Footscray.

And two tracks through West Footscray.

There was plenty of grass beside Sunshine Road.

And a rickety timber footbridge across the tracks at Sunshine.

All are now gone, to make way for the new Regional Rail Link tracks that separated suburban and V/Line services from 2015.

Blink and you’ll miss it

January 2010 saw the first Southern Spirit rail cruise run through Melbourne, on a journey from Adelaide to Brisbane.

Barely squeezing into the platform at Southern Cross Station.

The last Southern Spirit rail cruise ran in May 2012, with the concept was relaunched in 2019 as the Great Southern.

Things that are gone

I swung past Essendon station.

Where traffic queued up at the Buckley Street level crossing – removed in 2018.

City Circle Trams used to be maroon.

Since 2012 they have been replaced by the W8 class tram rebuilds, with the final one withdrawn in 2018.

And buses in Geelong used to be green.

The Benders livery replaced the blue Geelong Transit System brand from the 1980s, but has since given way to Public Transport Victoria orange.

At Lara station I captured a 1950s-era A class locomotive hauling a V/Line train towards Geelong.

In 2013 they were withdrawn, only to be returned to service in 2014, then finally withdrawn in 2018.

Another V/Line antique was the compartment carriages used on a once daily return trip to Geelong.

The set remained in service until August 2010, when the delivery of additional VLocity trains enabled it to be retired.

And finally, I captured The Overland headed out of Geelong bound for Adelaide.

Government funding for the service expired in 2015 was was renewed for three years, followed by a one year renewal in 2018, which has yet to be renewed at the time that I write this.

And the start of a plague

In 2009 VicRoads commenced the trial of ‘High Productivity Freight Vehicles‘ at the Port of Melbourne.

These B-double trucks with quad axle trailers were up to 30 metres long and 77.5 tonnes in weight, transporting four TEU of containers compared to the three TEUs moved by standard B-doubles.

In the years since trucks have now taken over the streets of Melbourne’s inner west, while the Port Rail Shuttle project that was supposed to move containers onto rail has gone nowhere.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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New infrastructure

Work on the new platform at Laverton was well underway, with tracks laid but not connected.

At Footscray station the new footbridge was starting to look real.

But the rickety old timber bridge was still in place.

While at North Melbourne the new concourse had finally opened, with both Metcard and myki ticket readers provided.

Allowing the old northern exit to be closed off.

With Connex staff on hand to direct any confused passengers.

The extension of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre had also wrapped up.

The new Seafarers Bridge was open to pedestrians.

And the wharf sheds at the Duke’s and Orr’s dry dock were being restored for use as a bar.

Changes around Geelong

I visited the Barrabool Hills, where the Geelong Ring Road climbs away from the Barwon River.

Back then it was empty paddocks.

But now it’s full of houses, occupied by people who commute to Melbourne.

I also went past the Ford casting plant at North Shore, where engine blocks for Ford cars were produced.

The plant closed in 2016 following Ford’s withdrawal from Australian manufacturing, and is currently being demolished.

And scenes that are gone

Remember when trams stopped at each intersection along Swanston Street, and you needed to climb up from road level?

Design work for platform stops at City Square, Bourke Street and the State Library commenced in 2010, with the new stops completed in 2012.

Southern Cross Station used to be a lot emptier.

As was the Docklands skyline to the west.

The station is now filled with shops, while I’ve lost track of all the buildings built in Docklands.

Over at ‘E’ Gate I found a much more industrial scene, where loaded steel wagons were being shunted.

Followed by a steel train bound for Hastings.

But now the entire area is an empty paddock: the yard closed in 2015 to make room for the ‘E’ Gate development, but will instead be covered with flyovers for the West Gate ‘Tunnel’ project.

I also headed out to West Footscray station.

This entire scene is now gone following the Regional Rail Link project, with the current West Footscray station opened in 2013.

The view in the other direction is also gone.

Every single house on the north side of Buckley Street was compulsorily acquired to make room for the additional tracks, and the footbridge I was standing on demolished and not replaced.

And around the corner was the Rising Sun Hotel.

Back then it was abandoned, but it has since been reborn – the pub was converted to apartments in 2012, with the mural peeking out from behind.

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The inner suburbs of Fitzroy and Brunswick are shooting fish in a barrel – houses there have been unaffordable for average families for decades now.

We then see the northern expansion of gentrification – Northcote, Thornbury, Preston and most recently Reservoir – plus the very distinct ‘Pascoe Vale South’.

Melbourne’s west isn’t left out either – Yarraville gentrified decades ago, with those priced out and setting for West Footscray also able to pick up an Able and Game card.

And who is left out

Note the complete lack of suburbs from Melbourne’s east and south – the former is full of old money, the latter with fake tan and yoga pants.

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The story starts in July 12, 2010 when it was announced that 26 homes and 84 businesses on Buckley Street would be compulsorily acquired by the State Government to make way for the Regional Rail Link project.

The back story

I wrote about the acquisition back in October 2011:

By my count a total of 24 houses are to be acquired on Buckley Street, as well as the Footscray Senior Citizens Centre. Of these, only a few properties around Victoria Street are actually in the path of the new tracks, with the rest of the route running through what are currently backyards and garden sheds.

The original project timeline stated the transfer of properties was to commence in July 2011, with the completion of land purchases occurring by August 31, and demolition work following in the fourth quarter of 2011 leading into early 2012.

But it wasn’t just private properties that were acquired to make room for the new railway – the Footscray Senior Citizens’ Centre was also in the way, and had to go.

It took up a substantial site on the corner of Windsor and Buckley Streets.

Also acquired was David Matthews Park, located next door to the Senior Citizens’ Centre.

The park wasn’t much.

But it provided as small pocket of greenery among the narrow streets of Seddon and West Footscray.

As late as December 2011 the park was still open to the public, despite the neighbouring buildings being long gone.

But as the Regional Rail Link project commenced, the entire park was fenced off.

Work on the project was completed in 2014, with the surplus land along the north side of Buckley Street being replanted with grass, but fenced off from public access.

Including the site of the former David Matthews Park, marked by a trio of tall gum trees.

Community agitation begins

A little bit closer to the city was another plot of land, located at 94-104 Buckley Street. Once warehouses, the site was also acquired to make room for the Regional Rail Link project.

During the project, the site was used as a works compound.

Once work was completed, the land then sat empty, leading local residents to start a campaign for it to be handed over to the community as parkland.

Push for park on surplus RRL land
October 28, 2015
Benjamin Millar
Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay – Star Weekly

Buckley Street resident Daniell Flood is fighting for the land at 96-100 Buckley Street, compulsorily acquired in 2011 for the $3.65 billion Regional Rail Link, to be turned into community open space.

About 80 homes and businesses along and near Buckley Street, including the Footscray Senior Citizens Centre, were bulldozed to make way for the project.

Surplus land not used when the rail link was completed will be sold to developers unless bought by a state government agency or Maribyrnong council.

“There is no open space in the area yet there are going to be around 800 new apartments built around the site,” Mr Flood said.

“It’s probably the last piece of government- owned land around here.”

The Regional Rail Link Authority has deemed 96-100 Buckley Street to be surplus, along with a 200-metre long strip stretching west from Middle Footscray station at 130-176 Buckley Street.

RRLA spokesman Paul Frawley said the land had been offered for sale to other government agencies and Maribyrnong council as per state government guidelines.

“Any land not purchased by another government body will be listed for public sale in the new year,” he said.

Star Weekly reported in March that residents want 130-176 Buckley Street to be gifted to the community as a park.

Footscray MP Marsha Thomson said she was willing to discuss the future of the sites with Maribyrnong council. “If council is interested in the land then I’m interested in working with them to get the property,” she said.

“The thing that is of interest to all of us is the amount of green space available in Footscray, particularly in regards to some of the apartments approved under [former state planning minister] Matthew Guy.”

Maribyrnong mayor Nam Quach said the council would be interested in discussing the future of the land parcels. “[But] it’s important people realise council doesn’t own the land and there are many aspects to look at, such as safety and location,” he said.

As you can see on this diagram shared on the ‘Buckley St Park’ Facebook page, the number of apartments in Footscray is skyrocketing.

But the campaign for a new park came to nothing – in March 2016 the State Government refused to hand the land over for free, and the Maribyrnong City Council decided against paying $5.5 million to acquire it.

The result – the land was put on the open market.

Purchased by a developer in December 2016 for just under $5 million, they will build a $60 million tower housing more than 100 apartments on the site.

And the final twist of the knife

April 2017 saw the strip of land at 130-186 Buckley Street put up for sale – former home of the the Footscray Senior Citizens’ Centre and David Matthews Park.

Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it – State Government demolishes a park and community facility to make way for a much needed railway expansion project, and instead of giving it back to the community once they are done, they flog it off to property developers to build apartments, putting even more stain on existing infrastructure.

And what about Middle Footscray station?

Back in December 2011 the Melbourne Metro Business Case listed one of the benefits made possible by the Regional Rail Link project:

RRL tracks to be slewed at Middle Footscray station; Land acquisition on south-west corner of Victoria Street.

Accommodate 17 metre platform extension down end to allow for 230 metre platform; opportunity with RRL property acquisition to provide DDA compliant access solution.

Access to Middle Footscray station is currently via this steep ramp to Victoria Street.

With the land along Buckley Street now sold off, I wonder if provision of a DDA compliant access point to the station will ever happen.

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