The story starts

Opposition transport spokesman and part time gunzel Matthew Guy kicked off the topic with a video posted to Instagram, detailing how the newly built platforms at Deer Park station were 10 metres short of a nine car VLocity train.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matthew Guy (@matthewguymp)

Liberal Party HQ also sending a media drop over to the Herald Sun, who published it on Sunday 18 August.

As well as a comment from the opposition transport spokesman who tipped the newspaper off to the topic.

To add to the confusion and frustration, a Freedom of In-formation request by the opposition seeking documents on the nine-car train plan was refused due to the fact it was an “unfunded future project”. The nine-carriage trains, which come in sets of three carriages, are 225m long, and Sunshine station was recently upgraded from 190m to 225m to allow them to stop there. But Deer Park station, re-built during the $234m Mt Derrimut level crossing removal, is only 215m.

Look at who else got a mention.

The oversight was spotted on rail documents by self-described “train nut” Marcus Wong, who described it on his transport blog as a “comedy of errors”.

The blog post in question being my piece “First day at the new Deer Park station” from May 2023.

Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight also drew the short platform in cartoon form for Tuesday 20 August edition.

On the ground at Deer Park

The new platforms at Deer Park are longer than a 6-car VLocity train, with plenty of empty platform beyond the back of the train.

But it turns out they aren’t actually long enough for the 9-car trains currently used on services to Wyndham Vale to stop at.

The new platforms are only 215 metres long – half a carriage (10 metres) too short!

So why can’t they be longer?

The western end of Deer Park station is located hard up against a brand new townhouse development.

The townhouses almost touching the retaining wall that supports the tracks.

So there is no room for the platforms to be any longer at that end.

But what about the city end?

Here the platforms end right where the reinforced earth embankment that the station is built atop also end.

The tracks transitioning to the precast concrete u-trough viaduct.

So why didn’t they make the viaduct a little bit shorter, so that the platform could be made a little big longer?

Personally I don’t know – possibly if they made the viaduct one span shorter, the bus interchange wouldn’t be long enough for the “one stop per bus route, no matter how infrequently it runs” rule PTV follows.

Or the longer station would have taken up space for car parking down at ground level, and “no net loss of car parking” is the one rule that level crossing removals always follow.

Footnote: the other Deer Park platform problem

The new platform at Deer Park was also built to a new platform height standard, which isn’t compatible with V/Line’s Sprinter trains.

OPERATING RESTRICTION – DEER PARK STATION
SPRINTER RAILCARS

Upon advice from V/Line Network Engineering, Sprinter Railcars will NOT be permitted to stop at Deer Park Station at KP 17.943.

Any Sprinter Railcars travelling towards/from Wyndham Vale and Geelong or Melton and Bacchus Marsh will be required to run express through Deer Park Station.

The Operating Restriction will apply until further advised due to clearance issues between the Sprinter Railcar and the new Platform when the doors are in the Open position.

You can read about that saga here.

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Today we look at the Middleborough Road Project of 2007, which isolated the Lilydale and Belgrave lines for six weeks while a new rail cutting was excavated under Middleborough Road at Box Hill.

Trying to catch a bus at Box Hill

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of trying to catch a bus at Box Hill station, you know how convoluted the route is – first a set of escalators to exit the platform.

Then futz around with the ticket gates.

Dodge clueless shoppers inside Box Hill Central shopping centre.

Then take a vertigo inducing trip up another set of escalators into the middle of the shopping centre atrium.

And you’re finally there.

So what did the Middleborough Road Project do?

Then-rail operator Connex still called in the buses.

Up to 48 buses will run in peak periods between Box Hill and Blackburn.

The trip between Blackburn and Box Hill should take no longer than 17 minutes, including time to board and disembark, and walk between the bus and the train.

During peak periods and throughout the day on weekdays, a continuous shuttle bus service will operate between Box Hill and Blackburn. Buses will depart as soon as they are full and return as soon as the passengers on board have disembarked.

After 9pm on weekdays and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, buses will operate to a set timetable. This will correspond to the temporary timetables for train services.

But built two temporary bus interchanges for them to operate from.

Blackburn

Buses will depart a temporary bus interchange just to the north of the station. Up to eight buses can stop in this interchange which will be built over an existing small car park and on the station side of Railway Road.

An extra DDA compliant crossing point is being built to the west of the station to accommodate passenger movement to and from the buses. This walkway will cross from the end of platforms 1 and 2, north to temporary bus interchange. It will not extend southwards to South Parade.

In addition, a number of gateways will be made in the fence separating platform 3 (which is the northern-most platform) and the adjacent temporary bus interchange in the car park.

Box Hill

A temporary bus interchange will be built next to the station, under Box Hill Central. The railway tracks, which are not in use during the shutdown, will be covered and the interchange built over them.

The interchange will have capacity for up to eight buses at a time to load/unload.

A pedestrian bridge, with stairs, will link platforms 2/3, with the bus interchange.

And how it worked

The interchange at Box Hill was the most impressive, with concrete being laid right over the top of the railway tracks, but in a way that trains could still run.

Weston Langford photo

So after the railway was shut down, buses could drive right in along the tracks.

Weston Langford photo

Stopping at a temporary bus interchange built on the tracks beneath the shopping centre.

Chris Gordon photo

Passengers being able to connect to trains on platforms 2 and 3 using a temporary footbridge over the bus roadway.

Chris Gordon photo

Buses then headed for Blackburn along the railway tracks.

Weston Langford photo

Exiting onto Whitehorse Road via a ramp at Linsley Street.

Weston Langford photo

And today?

2023 saw buses replace trains between Camberwell and Box Hill for level crossing removal works at Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert and Union Road, Surrey Hills – so how much effort was put into the replacement buses for that project?

At Camberwell station passengers had a short walk from the platforms to a shelter on Cookson Street to wait for buses.

With traffic controllers guiding buses out onto Burke Road.

But at the Box Hill end passengers got nothing – having to fight their way out of the station and along the Market Street mall to Whitehorse Road, where the buses would stop outside the shops.

In all an incredible contrast to the world of 2007 – we now grade separate dozens of level crossings each year without blinking, but put almost zero effort into making life easy for the passengers having their travel disrupted.

Further reading

• Vicsig page on the Middleborough Road Project
• Connex page on the Middleborough Road Project
• Forgotten lessons from rail replacement buses by me, and
• A look at the longest railway line closures in Melbourne, also by me.

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Working within a constrained railway corridor, there as no space to build a new station clear of the existing tracks.

So instead the entire railway line was shut down for three months, so the old track and stations could be demolished, and a new rail cutting and station built in it’s place.

To speed up the process, much of the station complex was prefabricated – divided up into truck sized modules, which were delivered as required from an offsite storage yard at Elgar Park in Mont Albert North.

But on the morning of 3 April 2023, things didn’t go to plan.

LXRP Update: Mont Albert Road is currently closed to traffic between Elgar Road and View Street. A detour is temporarily in place while a 6.4 metre wide new station building continues to be delivered to site and is needing to temporarily stay parked on Mont Albert Road. Access to driveways will be maintained during this period.

They tried to deliver a prefabricated section, but it couldn’t fit under some low trees – so they abandoned it on Mont Albert Road for the day.

Photo by Extranious A on Twitter

Photo by Extranious A on Twitter

Photo by Extranious A on Twitter

Getting some coverage on the Channel 7 TV news.

A massive portable building is blocking busy Mont Albert Road. https://t.co/5zYfOfGqUb #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/fJIadE5v4U

— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) April 3, 2023

As well as on 3AW Melbourne radio.

Level Crossing Removal Authority contractors wanted to hack their way through the trees of Mont Albert Road.

Believing they were allowed to do whatever they liked.

Current advice (3 April 2pm) Is, that despite their best efforts to negotiate an alternative solution (perhaps even just a different route) City of Whitehorse arborists have been advised by the LXRP they are able to do whatever it wants to in order to progress the project.

This will likely mean more than 40 trees on Mont Albert Road between Elgar and Hamilton Street will be ‘trimmed’ to accommodate the 5.3 metre high toilet block down a road which vehicles over 4.6m are not permitted.

But the City of Whitehorse told them to bugger off.

An update on the building stuck on a truck in Mont Albert Road. Council Officers have advised me tonight that Council does NOT support the trees in Mont Albert Road being pruned. The LXRA have been advised the truck must be backed out along Mont Albert Road and the building returned to Elgar Park. They must then find an alternative method of diverting the building to site.

The result – LXRA backing away with their tail between their legs.

LXRP update: Between 9pm Mon 3 April and 5am Tues 4 April, the station building currently located on Mont Albert Rd will be transported back along Mont Albert Road, Elgar Road and to Surrey Park. Traffic management will be in place to assist while the building is moved.

The modular toilet block being parked in the LXRA’s compound at Surrey Park.

Still sitting on the truck, awaiting their next move.

That time came 10 days later.

An oversized delivery comprising 1 of the new Union Station buildings will be delivered to site overnight between Thursday 13 April and Friday 14 April via Union Road, Windsor Crescent and Leopold Crescent.

This route ensures no permanent loss of trees.

To enable the building to be delivered, on street car parking will be temporarily removed on Leopold Crescent – and continue to be unavailable on Windsor Crescent – from 9am, Thursday 13 April to 9am, Friday 14 April.

Up to 20 trees along Windsor and Leopold Crescents will be pruned to protect these trees from damage. The pruning will be overseen by qualified arborists.

One tree in the roundabout – at the intersection of Windsor and Leopold Crescents – will be temporarily removed and then reinstated once the building has been delivered.

No driveways will be blocked, however residents may have to wait for a small amount of time while the heavy vehicle passes during its overnight journey.

Access to your property and driveway will be maintained, with assistance from traffic control staff.

On-street parking will be closed on both sides of Leopold Crescent and Windsor Crescent. Vehicles will need to be parked overnight within your property or in an adjoining street. Any vehicle parked on these 2 streets after 9am, Thursday 13 April may be towed out of the way.

Alternative off-street parking will be available in the project’s Hamilton Street car park.

And getting in the news again – in The Australian of all newspapers!

State agency musters cops against locals

Rachel Baxendale
Victorian political reporter

Victoria’s Level Crossing Removal Authority has resorted to calling police to deal with residents who were found to have committed no crime, in the latest escalation in a series of disputes with locals affected by a large project in Melbourne’s east.

The incident on Thursday evening came as the Andrews government agency continues to refuse to reveal whether the communications manager for the Mont Albert and Surrey Hills level crossing removal still has a job, two months after footage was aired of him heavying local business owners over their ­concerns about the impact of the construction.

Mont Albert resident Greg Langford said Thursday evening’s clash – relating to the lopping of tree branches to allow for the transport of a large, prefabricated building through narrow residential streets – was the latest example of the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) failing to genuinely consult locals and attempting to bully them into submission.

“The LXRP did one of their scant written communications, which really told us nothing,” Mr Langford said.

“A number of residents tried to contact the LXRP and were rebuffed, so we got in touch with (Whitehorse) Council, who sent one of their arborists down.”

Mr Langford said the council arborist had walked through the planned route with him and local progress association president Greg Buchanan on Thursday morning, detailing “every single tree branch” that was to be removed, ahead of the planned lopping of the trees and trans­portation of the building on Thursday night.

“Council were terrific in sharing the information, and the LXRP just stonewalled us,” Mr Langford said.

When it became clear to residents that numerous trees and branches in the heritage-listed oak, elm and plane tree-lined street were to be removed unnecessarily, more than 20 locals gathered on the nature strip on Windsor Crescent, refusing to move unless the LXRP consulted them on which branches to remove.

Mr Langford said residents were told by project communications manager David Fitzgerald – who appears to have replaced former Labor staffer Lance Wilson in the role after the footage of Wilson made headlines – “If you don’t move, I am calling the police and having you arrested.”

“Rather than engaging constructively with us, they called the police, but we knew exactly where the LXRP exclusion zone began and finished and we knew they had no jurisdiction over the nature strip … and ultimately the police decided that we were committing no offences,” Mr Langford said.

“Ultimately what happened was they were forced to trim the trees one by one in front of the big load, otherwise we were going to delay them and it would disrupt their works further.
“Our intent was to minimise the damage and we succeeded in saving 80 to 90 per cent of the branches they had originally proposed to lop.

“The moral of the story is that we support the level crossing removal, but we’re tired of being bullied by the LXRP and their lack of engagement. It just goes to show that when you force them to the table and they’ve got a deadline to meet, you can actually achieve some constructive, positive outcomes.”

An LXRP spokeswoman said: “Our project team transported one of the buildings for the new Union Station to the eastern concourse overnight. Doing this safely while minimising impacts to vegetation was our main priority.

“We expect all our interactions with community members to be respectful, with our staff treating others, and being treated, with respect.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed police had attended a dispute in Mont Albert on Thursday.

“Officers were called to reports of a dispute between residents on Windsor Crescent and workers on a railway upgrade project about 9pm,” the spokeswoman said. “Police had presence in the area to allow the work to take place safely and no crime was committed.”

But eventually, the prefabricated module was delivered to the Mont Albert end of the new Union station.

Facing Lorne Parade.

And still bearing the battle scars from it’s failed journey along the tree lined Mont Albert Road.

Footnote: what’s up with The Australian?

For some reason the level crossing removal project at Mont Albert has been a cause célèbre for Victorian political reporter Rachel Baxendale at The Australian, with no less than 10 pieces published between February and May 2023.

13 Feb 2023: More secrecy claims over Andrews’ crossing project

Members of a second Melbourne community have accused the Level Crossing Removal Authority of secrecy, ‘sham’ consultation and a lack of due process.

15 Feb 2023: Manager caught in threats to business

A senior Victorian Level Crossing Removal Project executive and former Labor staffer has been caught on camera threatening the livelihood of small business owners.

16 Feb 2023: Secrecy on threatening rail boss

Victoria’s Level Crossing Removal Authority has refused to say whether one of its executives will be disciplined after being caught on camera bullying small-business owners.

16 Feb 2023: Project staffer caught ‘bullying’ investigated

The Victorian government says it is investigating after a senior Victorian Level Crossing Removal Project executive was caught bullying small business owners in Melbourne’s east.

21 Feb 2023: Barricaded from home by works

Residents in Melbourne’s east are unable to access properties for the next three months, despite receiving written assurances to the contrary from the Level Crossing Removal Authority.

22 Feb 2023: Level crossing secrecy slammed

A 90-year-old woman has accused the Andrews government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority of extreme secrecy and intimidatory behaviour.

28 Feb 2023: ‘No place for violence’: Andrews on alleged headbutt

Emergency services were called to the scene after a level crossing removal contractor allegedly headbutted the man in Melbourne.

28 Feb 2023: Prangs dent faith in level crossing work

Residents near an Andrews government level crossing removal project have ­accused authorities of ducking ­responsibility after their cars were damaged by construction trucks.

14 Apr 2023: State agency calls cops on the locals

Residents say their peaceful protest succeeded in saving 80 to 90 per cent of the tree branches the Andrews government’s level crossing removal agency had planned to lop.

22 May 2023: Level crossing ‘bully’ still has job

After months of refusing to comment on its investigation into the stakeholder relations manager’s conduct, Jacinta Allan has confirmed the former Labor staffer has kept his job.

You’ve gotta love Rupert’s Murdoch’s ‘flagship’ newspaper sending their Victorian political reporter out to cover local neighbourhood disputes in an feeble attempt to dig up a bad news story about Dan Andrews.

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Taking a look around

The new station has two side platforms, flanking a pair of tracks.

The station itself is located on a reinforced earth embankment.

With a pedestrian underpass running through the middle.

Shelter for passengers follows the current woeful standards – a little over 60% on the citybound platform.

And stuff all on the outbound platform 2.

The approach at the city end is a now standard U-trough viaduct.

Made up of two parallel single track viaducts.

But the crossing of Mt Derrimut Road itself is a pair of single track steel spans.

Each track has a walkway on either side.

An emergency detraining walkway along the inner flange, and a maintenance walkway along the outer edge.

The walls of the U-trough combined with noise walls hide trains from down below.

And the unfinished bits

The decision was made to open the new station at Deer Park immediately after work had been completed to connect the new elevated track into the existing rail corridor, so that station building was nowhere near complete.

Passengers required to follow a convoluted route through the construction site to access trains.

The permanent ramp is currently the only way to access platform 1.

The lift incomplete, as with the rest of the station buildings.

And the set of stairs had random bits of paving removed – a victim of poor installation?

While passengers accessing platform 2 had a long walk through the construction site.

Facing multiple blind corners.

Passing under the tracks.

And then up a flight of temporary steps built of scaffolding.

Until they finally emerge on platform 2.

There is a lift shaft in place at platform 2, but it was nowhere near completed.

The reason – it was located on the alignment used by trains serving the old ground level station.

Hence couldn’t be constructed until the old station was closed.

The ‘Accessible shuttle’

With no lift or ramp allowing access to platform 2, V/Line was forced to provide an accessible shuttle to allow passengers from Deer Park to access train services.

Dysons were providing low floor buses to run the service.

With a wheelchair accessible maxi taxi also on standby.

But these shuttles has been implemented in one of the most bizarre ways possible – by backtracking halfway across the western suburbs!

If travelling on a Geelong Line train, passengers are advised to get off at Tarneit, then travel back to Deer Park on either the next train or an accessible shuttle bus.

If travelling on a Ballarat Line train, passengers are advised to get off at Caroline Springs, then travel back to Deer Park on either the next train or an accessible shuttle bus.

The weekday 4:17pm, 4:39pm, 4:58pm, 5:18pm, 5:38pm and 5:58pm Southern Cross to Ballarat trains do not stop at Caroline Springs so passengers should exit the train at Rockbank then travel back to Deer Park on an accessible shuttle bus.

The weekday 6:18pm Southern Cross to Ballarat train does not stop at either Caroline Springs or Rockbank. The next stop after Deer Park is Melton. Passengers on this service should exit the train at Melton, then travel back to Deer Park on an accessible shuttle bus.

A far more logical solution would have been to have passengers leave the train at Sunshine station, and travel via Forrest Street and Tilburn Road to Deer Park – a 6 kilometre, 10 minute drive, compared to the twice as long trip to Tarneit.

The only possible reason I can find for V/Line’s bizarre choice of alternate transport – ticketing laws are actually written in such a way that exiting at V/Line train at Sunshine is illegal.

With Authorised Officers even staking out Sunshine platform 4 to catch passengers trying to do just that.

No lighting

For some reason permanent lighting had yet to be installed across much of the station.

Temporary lighting having been installed across the platform and ramp at platform 1.

But for some reason the less finished platform 2 had permanent light fixtures installed.

The new station also had security staff keeping watch over both platforms at night, so possibly the installation of CCTV systems had also been cut in the rush to get the station opened.

No Myki equipment

Myki equipment was another victim of the hurried construction timeline.

‘Free travel from Deer Park station until 7 May 2023’ flyers being handed out by staff to intending passengers, permitting them to travel from the station while there was nowhere to touch on or topup Myki cards.

The Bunnings Warehouse special

For some reason the new Deer Park station is covered with these cheap looking steel bench seats.

I found them on the ramp to platform 1.

Midway along the convoluted walkway through the construction zone.

I also found a big pile of them sitting in the middle of the old station site.

Turns out they are Marquee brand ‘Steel Park Benches’ that are sold by Bunnings Warehouse!

Surely sourcing some proper bench seats should have been part of the project plan?

One highlight – bike parking

Surprisingly the new Parkiteer cage at Deer Park was open for use – just without a locking door to secure bikes inside.

But unfortunately it’s hidden down a walkway that weaves through the construction site.

So I also found bikes locked up the first piece of fence the owner could find.

And finally – platform screwups

The new platforms at Deer Park are longer than a 6-car VLocity train, with plenty of empty platform beyond the back of the train.

But it turns out they aren’t actually long enough for the 9-car trains currently used on services to Wyndham Vale to stop at.

The new platforms are only 215 metres long – half a carriage (10 metres) too short!

What makes this omission even worse is that V/Line just completed a week long shutdown of the Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo lines to extend the 190 metre platforms at Sunshine to 225 metres long.

And adding to the comedy of errors – some V/Line trains aren’t allowed to stop at the new station!

Upon advice of V/Line Network Engineering, Sprinter railcars will NOT be permitted to stop at Deer Park station. Any Sprinter railcars will be required to run express through Deer Park station.

The operating restriction will apply until further advised due to clearance issues between the Sprinter railcar and the new platform when the doors are in the open position.

The reason – Sprinter railcars have outward plug doors that are lower than the floor level of the train, increasing the risk of getting stuck on a higher than normal platform.

What a comedy of errors!

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In the beginning

For many decades, precast concrete ‘Super T’ girders have been the goto design for new road and rail bridges.

With concrete poured into a steel mould, and steel reinforcing bar inserted, each beam is made offsite.

Trucked to the bridge site.

And lifted into place by crane.

Enter ‘Skyrail’

In 2016 it was announced that all nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong would be eliminated by the construction of an elevated railway line. However there was one problem – the rail corridor between Caulfield and Oakleigh was too narrow for conventional bridge building techniques.

The solution – a dedicated casting plant was established at Pakenham.

It all starts with a cage of steel reinforcing mesh.

Concrete is then poured, giving a short segment of bridge.

They are then trucked one by one to the assembly site at Murrumbeena station.

Where they are assembled into completed beams.

And lifted the top of the completed bridge.

Where they are collected by a straddle carrier.

To deliver them to their final home at the end of the bridge.

Between May 2017 and April 2018 a total of 174 bridge spans were delivered – each ranging from 280 to 420 tonnes, with the straddle carrier travelling more than 260km back and forth along the rail line.

Some breathless boasting

The use of the straddle carrier and gantry crane solution was seen as innovative.

The new skills, processes and protocols associated with this national first have entailed an extensive amount of behind the scenes activity, including a comprehensive training programme.

Simon explains: “We’ve trained approximately 300 workers to operate the carrier, gantry cranes and support beams, as well as cast and tension the spans that make up the rail deck. It’s not insignificant from an industry perspective as we will retain this knowledge in Australia along with a whole range of highly transferrable skills.”

But the rail viaducts at the Noble Park end of the project used conventional super T beams.

As did the viaduct at Clayton.

With the straddle carrier and gantry crane meeting an inglorious end dumped in a yard at Sandown Park racecourse.

The reason?

And the new hotness – U-Trough beams

By 2019 a new, much simpler design of rail viaduct had taken over – the U-Trough.

With cleaner lines, the design also reduced the total height of the final viaduct, by containing the rail track inside the bridge structure itself.

The first example was the Mernda line extension, and quickly followed by the level crossing removal at Skye Road on the Frankston line.

With the beams manufactured at the NVC Precast yard in Kilmore.

Google Maps

The plant having a 115 lineal metre radiant heat cured bed fitted with external vibrators, two 1800 tonne slow release stressing jacks, and two 80 tonne x 40 metre span portal gantry cranes covering a working area of 8000m2.

NVC Precast photo

As with all precast concrete, the rebar is the first step.

NVC Precast photo

With the resulting beams being stacked in the yard.

NVC Precast photo

Until they leave the site by road.

NVC Precast photo

Cranes are used to lift the beams from the truck, and into place to make a bridge.

Work able to be completed with minimal disruption to rail services.

Even on narrow sections of rail corridor, like that between Bell and Preston stations.

Some early projects used preassembled U-trough beams.

NVC Precast photo

Delivered via convoluted routes.

But other projects have seen them delivered in two halves, to reduce the total weight of the load.

The beams then tied together on site.

With concrete poured in place.

The list of LXRA projects that have used U-trough bridges is long and growing, including:

• Mernda Rail Extension
• Skye Road, Frankston
• Seaford Road and Carrum
• Abbots Road and Greens Road, Dandenong South
• Werribee Street, Werribee
• Toorak Road
• Reservoir
• Hallam
• Lilydale and Mooroolbark
• Coburg and Moreland
• Preston and Bell
• Deer Park

(And probably a few more that I’ve missed!)

Footnote: more on U-troughs

In September 2019 Roads & Infrastructure published a piece on U-troughs.

The Level Crossing Removal Project will see 75 level crossings throughout Melbourne removed by 2025 in order to increase safety, reduce travel times and better connect communities across the city.

So far 29 level crossings have been removed and completed across Melbourne, including one at Skye Road in Frankston.

For the first time in Australia, the Level Crossing Removal Authority, principle contractor, designers, engineers and NVC Precast worked together to deliver the elevated rail using prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams.

The design of the Skye Level Crossing Removal used 24 prefabricated concrete U-Trough beams, that were over 6 metre wide, 30 metres in length and weighing an impressive 280 tonnes to construct the rail bridge using Rapid On-Line Construction techniques. This reduced the rail occupation period and sped up the overall construction of the project for the benefit of the community.

NVC Precast were chosen to manufacture the U-Trough beams based on their experience in precast and the L-Beams used for elevated rail for level crossing removal.

NVC Precast were able to manufacture and store the beams at their precasting facility in Kilmore Victoria, coordinating delivery to arrive just in time to be erected on site.

The U-Trough beams were produced by stitching two precast concrete L-beams together which were between 25 and 31 metres long with masses up to 120 tonnes each, creating a single unit that weighted up to 280 tonnes.
The L-Beams were positioned to be stitched out in the yard.

The project involved extensive planning to create the forms and casting beds for the manufacture of the beams, the plant to transport them to site, and to create the infrastructure for the stitching and loading at the precast yard.

NVC Precast Construction Manager oversaw the casting of the L-Beams and the process for the stitching of the U Troughs which took four weeks to complete in April 2018.

NVC Precast manufacture up to four L-beams at a time casting 140 to 160 m3 to produce 12 L-Beams per week. To create a single segment U-Trough Beam, 50% of the L-Beams were rotated 180˚, matched positioned on pedestals for the joining stitch to be cast. The rotation and match positioning was achieved using GPS guided SPMT and 80 tonnes Portal Gantry Cranes for the final touches.

The U-Trough beams were stored at NVC Precast’s Kilmore site before transporting to site and final installation into the elevated rail viaduct.

NVC Precast had to ensure that the load out facility it constructed allowed for 2 No. 12 axle Platform trailers to be accurately positioned under the 280-tonne segments for loading and chaining down.

Mr. Bell says the recent redevelopment of the NVC Precast site has created plenty of storage area for both storage and ancillary works such as painting, attaching handrails, barrier rails and temporary walkways.
The U-Trough beams were positioned by stitching two precast concrete L-beams together.

“This allows us to work closely with our clients to provide both precast concrete elements and solutions to some of the common construction problems, such as working at heights,” Mr. Bell says.

“As you are working beside a live rail line, rail upgrade requires closing the rail line every time you want to install the beams, which causes major disruption to rail traffic. With the L beams joined as U troughs off site, you take all the construction activity related to splicing off site and do it when the rail is still open. Then you can close the rail for significantly shorter periods just to install the complete U trough beams.”

Mr. Bell says the U-trough is a very efficient design as the trains operate within the walls of the beams which provides a much lower profile and is more aesthetically pleasing elevated structure.

“The offsite fabrication of the U Trough beams for the Skye project was a great initiative by the main contractor and provided many benefits to the overall onsite construction process, through the benefits of both off site precast techniques allowing rapid installation, great quality control, a reduction in the overall construction footprint, and eliminated a lot of safety issues.”

And structural engineer Daniel Pang published a paper in 2021 on the use of U-trough viaducts on the Toorak Road Level Crossing Removal Project, and how they differed from the standardized design developed by the LXRA’s U-Trough Joint Design Group.

The Toorak Road Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) removed and replaced the existing level crossing with two U-Trough elevated rail viaducts. The design drew on what had been developed for previous LXRP designs but introduced refinements and accommodated the project specific features.

The primary objective with the development of the standard U-Trough was to accommodate the online construction requirements of the overall LXRP program of works throughout metropolitan Melbourne for which speed of construction along existing rail corridors is critical.

The alliances teams participating in the LXRP works had decided to adopt a U-Trough solution as opposed to previously developed and tested local market solutions such as Super T beams and box section. This decision was been based upon the fact that the U-Trough solution had gained acceptance from stakeholders and was regarded as satisfying the design, construction, operational and maintenance objectives of rail infrastructure.

The U-Trough solution provides many advantages over other systems such as Super-T and concrete box girder sections. This solution enables minimisation of the height difference from the soffit level to the top of track and hence provides a lower vertical grade separation height and minimises the required earthworks. In the event of derailment, the train will be contained within the structure, which provides a significant safety benefit.

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Tracking the rail replacement buses

PTV rolled out a new, more readable style of poster summarising upcoming rail replacement buses across the Melbourne suburban network back in May 2022, giving passengers an overview of which lines were going to be closed for weeks on end, just for a weekend, or just for evening works.

Throughout August and September 2022 the Mernda line was closed for an extended period, while the lines to Upfield, Lilydale, Belgave and Alamein were closed for a weekend.

In late September the Craigieburn and Sandringham lines joined the weekend closure club.

October it was the Williamstown, Werribee and Sunbury lines.

But come November – trains running everywhere, except for a single night on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines.

But come Sunday 27 November, buses were replacing trains on six separate lines.

And they’re back – during December 2022 nine lines were replaced by buses, including two extended line closures.

So why the lack of replacement buses?

Turns out there was one major event in November – the 2022 State election, held on Saturday 27 November.

So did someone high up in the government tell transport operators November was off limits for project works, because they wanted trains to keep running? I don’t know, but I can’t think of a better explanation.

And they’re still more

Since the election we’ve had tram replacement buses on St Kilda Road due to Metro Tunnel works and buses on the Upfield and Craigieburn lines due to Dynon Road works for the West Gate Tunnel project.

And coming up – closure of the underground stations on the City Loop from 2 January through to 15 January 2023; replacement buses on the Cranbourne, Pakenham, Frankston, Stony Point and Sandringham Lines for three weeks from 4 January 2023 for Metro Tunnel works; and the Lilydale and Belgrave lines from 23 February to end of May for the removal of the level crossing at Union and Mont Albert Roads.

However the ability for operators to supply buses and drivers might be in trouble – the most recent round of occupations have been described as “the worst ever” with run times not allowing traffic conditions, with buses running 15+ minutes late compared to the driver’s schedules, and multiple concurrent projects have seen the available fleet of buses spread thin, causing even further crowding.

The only respite – the rumoured hiring of buses and drivers from South Australia and New South Wales to shore up the rail replacement fleet.

Footnote: New South Wales tries the same thing

March 2023 saw a state election up in New South Wales, and they’ve done the same thing as Victoria.

Hundreds of rail workers have been temporarily redeployed from their main jobs because the state’s transport agency has had an order in place for almost three weeks preventing a raft of maintenance and project work on signalling and operational systems across the rail network.

Two weeks before Saturday’s state election, the transport agency made the order halting “any non-essential work on signalling, operational technology and control systems” until further notice.

Transport for NSW’s internal memo to maintenance workers – obtained by the Herald – said the suspension was aimed at reducing the “risk of system failures” and to “minimise train service disruptions”. The agency refers to the suspension as a “brown out”.

At the election the New South Wales government changed so I suppose the incoming team had a reason to start asking questions – but with no change in the top in Victoria, everyone kept their lips shut.

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Digging deeper

First stop – the 2019/20 State Budget papers:

New trains for Sunbury

The Sunbury line will be transformed as part of the largest rail corridor upgrade in Victoria’s history. A range of platform, stabling and traction power upgrades will be undertaken on the Sunbury line to support the end-to-end operation of High Capacity Metro Trains on the Sunbury to Cranbourne-Pakenham rail corridor.

This investment complements other recent investments by the State on this corridor including the Metro Tunnel project, the removal of several level crossings, and power, signalling and other infrastructure upgrades on the Cranbourne-Pakenham line.

The Metro Tunnel page on “upgrades to the rail network” has a map showing the scope of the work.

As well as explaining the upgrades themselves.

High Capacity Signalling

As part of the Metro Tunnel Project, High Capacity Signalling (HCS) will be installed from Watergardens to Dandenong.

High Capacity Signalling will enable Victoria’s new fleet of High Capacity Metro Trains to run on the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sunbury lines and through the Metro Tunnel.

Sophisticated HCS equipment will be installed in both the rail corridor and within the driver’s cabin of each train, allowing trains to safely run closer together.

Track side communication equipment will also be installed along the length of the corridor.

Dedicated control centres will be built in Dandenong and Sunshine to support the new technology and will be fully staffed by experts who will monitor trains on the new Metro Tunnel line.

Train stabling

Stabling facilities are used to maintain and store trains when they are not in service. The existing Calder Park stabling facility is proposed to be expanded to store and maintain the new High Capacity Metro Trains. Changes may also be required to existing train stabling at Watergardens and Sunbury to accommodate the new trains.

Platform modifications

New High Capacity Metro Trains are being delivered by the Victorian Government to meet the future needs of Melbourne. The new trains will have more carriages, carry more passengers and be longer than trains used today.

Some existing stations on the Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham lines may require platform extensions and ancillary works to support the longer trains.

Works at West Footscray station, including an extra platform, will also be undertaken to enable some Sunbury-bound services to turn around at this station.

This will enable trains to terminate and commence from West Footscray station which in turn, will create more services towards the city on this line.

Power upgrades

Electricity upgrades are proposed to power the new trains and systems that are part of the Metro Tunnel. This may include upgrading a number of existing substations and potentially building new power facilities along the rail corridor.

They also provide a basic map showing where the works are required.

But what will the upgrades like look like?

No need to wonder – identical works are underway on the other side of the city as part of the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line Upgrade (CPLU) project.

A new signal control centre has been built at Dandenong station.

With plenty of new electrical conduits installed along the tracks.

And signal equipment rooms.

New cables are being run.

Connecting to new line side signals.

New overhead stanchions have been installed along the corridor.

Supporting brand new overhead wires.

Additional copper traction power feeder cables have been added in parallel with the normal pair of catenary and contact wires, to supply the power hungry High Capacity Metro Trains.

Along with new traction power substations, which convert the 22kV AC mains power to the 1500V DC used by trains.

And finally – platform extensions.

Some are short and basic.

Others include ramps and shelters for wheelchair passengers.

But the extension at the down end of Springvale platform 1 takes the cake – it’s only 1.5 metres long!

The rebuilt Springvale station opened in 2014 – did someone miss the “new platforms must be 160 metres long” memo?

So what about the cost?

The 2019/20 State Budget papers break downs the funding allocated to the Sunbury line upgrade, due to be delivered over the next four years.

$2.1 billion is a lot of money, so let’s compare it to some other recent contracts.

The Metro Tunnel has two separate works packages currently delivering similar work, at a cost of $1 billion each:

Rail Systems

The Rail Systems Alliance (RSA) will include the design, supply, installation, testing, integration and commissioning activities in relation to train and power control systems, operational control systems, conventional and high capacity signalling.

Rail Systems works will be undertaken by a consortium comprising CPB Contractors and Bombardier Transportation.

Rail Infrastructure

The Rail Infrastructure Alliance (RIA) will include works at the eastern and western tunnel entrances (portals) including cut and cover tunnelling, decline structures and the reconfiguration and realignment of existing lines to connect the new Metro Tunnel rail tracks to the existing surface network.

RIA will also deliver a new platform at West Footscray and associated suburban rail upgrades that will maximise the benefits of the Metro Tunnel.

A consortium comprising John Holland, CPB Contractors and AECOM will deliver these works, in partnership with Rail Projects Victoria and Metro Trains Melbourne.

We also know how much the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line Upgrade is due to cost, thanks to the 2018/19 Victorian Budget:

The new Sunbury to Cranbourne-Pakenham corridor will be transformed as part of the largest rail corridor upgrade in Victoria’s history.

The project includes a range of signalling, power and infrastructure upgrades along and Cranbourne-Pakenham corridor, as well as initial readiness works and further design and development work on the Sunbury line. These upgrades will increase capacity, improve system resilience and accommodate the new High Capacity Metro Trains on the Sunbury to Cranbourne-Pakenham corridor.

It also includes planning and development activities for a future Cranbourne line duplication and associated works at the Dandenong and Caulfield rail junctions.

The funds for the Cranbourne-Pakenham part of the upgrades is as follows:

Hmm – $539 million? That’s a quarter of the Sunbury line works bill!

More buried figures

Turns out the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line Upgrade isn’t the only project currently underway to get the corridor ready for the new High Capacity Metro Trains – the Level Crossing Removal Authority is also responsible for delivering upgrades, as part of the “CD9” Caulfield to Dandenong (CTD) Level Crossing Removal Project.

The April 2018 media release for the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line Upgrade touched on this:

The Victorian Budget 2018/19 will provide $572 million to deliver further upgrades to Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor – delivering power upgrades, and modern signalling from the city to Cranbourne and Pakenham.

The existing project to remove the level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong has included the delivery of upgraded power, new track, longer platforms and modernised signalling.

This new project will expand these upgrades along the entire corridor to ensure new, high-capacity trains can reliably run all the way from Cranbourne and Pakenham to Sunbury – linked through the CBD by the Metro Tunnel.

While the Level Crossing Removal Project business case dated May 2017 spelled out the interdependencies between the projects.

The LXRP plays a critical role in enabling the full benefits of major rail projects such as the Cranbourne Pakenham Line Upgrade (CPLU) and the Metro Tunnel to be achieved. This business case also includes a combined appraisal of these three critically interdependent transport projects.

Many of the level crossing removals are critical components of the Victorian Government’s program of major rail network upgrades. In particular, the removal of nine level crossings on the Caulfield-Dandenong corridor and three level crossings on the Sunbury corridor, allow for the rail service increases planned under both the Cranbourne Pakenham Line Upgrade (CPLU) and the Metro Tunnel.

But it is the Auditor General who gets to the bottom of the money trail, in the December 2017 “Managing the Level Crossing Removal Program” report, where three areas of scope creep are raised.

Poor network integrity

Poor network integrity has already contributed to cost increases for some rail projects, such as those along the Cranbourne Pakenham rail corridor that include the HCMT, CTD and the MTP.

In March 2017, PTV predicted that the long lead times of projects in the CPLU program would necessitate parallel development and delivery to meet key delivery dates. However, detailed consideration of the appropriate network requirements, and their subsequent application to the projects currently in delivery, highlighted some scope gaps and interface management issues that need to be resolved.

Futureproofing

The business case was set up on the assumption of like-for-like replacement of existing infrastructure, but this was not realistic. For example, as the program progresses, works at level crossing removal sites along the Frankston and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines—such as required traction power upgrades and High Capacity Metropolitan Train (HCMT) requirements—are being identified. These requirements were known at the time of the business case development.

The business case provides for the construction of futureproofing works for 13 of the 16 crossings identified as requiring such works. These works include:
– increasing station platform length
– widening the rail corridor
– building wider road bridges.

LXRA will make provisions for the remaining three crossings — for example, by setting aside the required land — but will not construct the works as part of the current program.

Power upgrades

MTM and PTV have an agreed electrical network standard requiring a minimum 1 300 volts under normal conditions and 1 150 volts for first-order traction power failure conditions. The standard allows for changes to the service plan including the integration of HCMT rolling stock and proposed service level changes. The majority of the traction power network does not comply with the new standard.

The LXRP business case is based on maintaining existing network capacity. LXRP provides for the removal and replacement of overhead systems and associated infrastructure only where the removal requires new track. New substations for future traction power requirements were specifically excluded from the business case cost estimates, as the LXRP is not a network upgrade project.

And gives a dollar figure for two of the three areas:

An indicative cost estimate for addressing poor network integrity issues was $381.3 million — $158.6 million for additional work required in 2017–18 and a provision to cover associated risks of $222.7 million. The business case estimates the cost of futureproofing works at all 16 sites to be $148 million.

Giving a total of $529 million.

The final sums

So it looks like the “$539 million” for the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line Upgrade got a lot of work done for free by the Level Crossing Removal Authority! Track, signalling, stations and overhead built from scratch thanks to the level crossing removals between Caulfield and Dandenong, and longer platforms, upgraded overhead and additional substations thrown in after the fact – and all completed at the same time to avoid additional spending on rail replacement buses.

However there is 35km of track between South Kensington to Sunbury – far less than the 11km of track between Flinders Street and Caulfield, 14 km between Dandenong and Cranbourne, and 27km between Dandenong and Pakenham to be done under the “$539 million” budget on the eastern side of Melbourne. Perhaps there is more cost shifting onto other projects going on?

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Minimising the length of the line closures

The longer the section of railway closed, the more buses are needed and the longer the delay to passengers.

In a perfect world trains would terminate on one side of the work site then resume on the other side, but that’s isn’t possible – trains can only turn back where crossovers have been provided between the tracks.

But that’s hasn’t been a problem for other projects, such as Regional Rail Link in 2011 – they installed a crossover at the Sunbury end of Albion station.

This allowed citybound trains to terminate as close as possible to the work site, removing the need for replacement buses to needlessly parallel the Sunbury line to the next available crossover – St Albans station, 6 kilometres away.

The same strategy was used at Blackburn station in 2006/07 for the removal of the Middleborough Road level crossing at Box Hill, and at Mitcham station in 2009/10 for the removal of the Springvale Road level crossing at Nunawading – allowing buses to shuttle between the shortest possible section of closed railway.

Would the provision of crossovers somewhere between Caulfield and South Yarra speed up the replacement bus journey for this shutdown? I’d call it a “maybe”.

Bus interchanges

You need a lot of buses to carry the passengers carried by a single train, so you need a big bus interchange to handle them all.

Regional Rail Link built a dedicated bus interchange at Albion for their project, taking over half of the car park.

Along with a new access road to prevent conflicting vehicle movements.

The other end of the bus shuttle was Flemington Racecourse station, which also received a “temporary” bus interchange.

Provided with plenty of space for arriving buses.

Steps directly to the platform.

A coffee stall.

And a sausage sizzle.

Could the bus interchanges at the Arts Centre, Federation Square and Caulfield do with some work? Probably not – they’re probably the best for passenger shelter Melbourne has ever seen!

Is it sensible to have big tents for bus queues? Of course. It's going to be super busy on weekdays during peak. They'd get rightly caned if there were long bus delays leaving people queuing in the rain. #bustitution #MetroTrains pic.twitter.com/aEdiosdrSC

— Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) April 5, 2019

Making the bus to train changeover faster

Station like Albion were never designed for an entire trainload of passengers to exit at once, while another train of passenger try to come the other way.

So the Regional Rail Link project built a temporary footbridge linking the bus interchange to the station platform.

A much simpler version was used at Blackburn in 2006/07 during the removal of the Middleborough Road level crossing, and again in 2016 during the removal of the Blackburn Road level crossing.

Could something better be done at Caulfield? Most definitely!

A bit more footage of this morning's #TrainPain.
1. Caulfield trying to exit the train to get to the buses. pic.twitter.com/79Bz1zkCrF

— Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) April 8, 2019

Capacity on connecting trains

When one railway line is taken out passengers will often switch to other lines headed in the same direction, resulting in overcrowding to those services.

In the case of Regional Rail Link this problem was avoided by running trains to Flemington Racecourse, connecting with the replacement buses.

At City Loop stations passengers were directed to these extra trains.

Despite somewhat confusing messaging on the platforms.

Could anything better be done today? Unfortunately for the east side of Melbourne, probably not.

We've already reached optimum capacity during the morning peak hours due to the tight schedule. We're working on additional services during the afternoon peak hours. Thanks.

— Metro Trains (@metrotrains) April 9, 2019

Dodging traffic with bus lanes

During the current CBD to Caulfield rail shutdown, bus lanes have not been provided, with predictable results.

Just to complete the set, here's the approach to the temporary bus terminus at Fed Sq this morning. Batman Avenue still clogged.
This isn't working. Temp bus lanes urgently needed, and the whole thing should be reviewed for the next shut down.
More: https://t.co/mWQGDMP9BT pic.twitter.com/6h5AVcfNbZ

— Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) April 11, 2019

But things don’t have to be this way – in 2011 Regional Rail Link had the benefit of temporary bus lanes along Ballarat Road between Albion and Flemington Racecourse.

With motorists being warned that rail replacement buses would be taking over the roads.

I wonder how many hours have been wasted thanks to these forgotten lessons from the past?

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Five roads meet at the level crossing:

• High Street
• Edwardes Street
• Broadway
• Cheddar Road
• Spring Street

Forming a tangle of roads at the level crossing.

Way back in the 1980s the Railway Construction and Property Board looked into fixing the mess, and how the government could profit from grade separation.

The Engineering Division has continued to perform a wide range of tasks during 1981-82, including the examination of feasible options for incorporating commercial development, over railway tracks to be lowered, as a consequence of a proposed grade separation of the railway and High Street at Reservoir.

As did the Road Construction Authority, but they decided to kick the can down the road.

Options for improvements to Reservoir Rail Level Crossing and associated intersections were released in a Discussion Paper in October 1985.

The improvement schemes would reduce the current high traffic congestion levels, unsatisfactory accident record and traffic/pedestrian conflict. The investigation concluded that in the shorter term improvements to traffic movement and safety could be made by low cost at-grade intersection improvements.

Provision of grade separation by lowering the rail lines could follow later.

With VicRoads delivering a $12 million package of intersection upgrades instead.

After two years construction, the Reservoir level crossing project has been completed at a cost of $ 12m. Many improvements have been made to the intersections of Broadway with High Street, Spring Street with Edwards Street and High Street with Cheddar Road and Spring Street.

Linking has been improved between the various public transport modes, with increased commuter car parking for public transport users. The intersection modifications to the four intersections has improved safety for pedestrians and vehicles. For some traffic movements there has been a reduction in delays, particularly during peak periods.

Which were officially opened by Minister for Transport Peter Spyker on 27 April 1992.

It’s only taken 30 years, but work has finally started on grade separating the intersection – with the new viaduct and elevated Reservoir station is due for completion in 2020.

But the interesting part is to look at the long list of other road upgrade projects mentioned in the same 1986 Road Construction Authority annual report – what happened to them?

Western Bypass Investigation

This study to examine the form and precise location of a new road connection between the southern terminal of Tullamarine Freeway and Footscray Road commenced in late 1984.

The ‘Western Bypass’ was rolled into the CityLink project of the 1990s and extended south to the West Gate Freeway, opening in 2000.

Originally built with three lanes in each direction, in 2008 an extra lane opened.

Eastern Corridor – Doncaster to Ringwood

In its early stages the Metropolitan Roads Access Study (METRAS) identified traffic congestion, together with the associated environmental and safety effects both on arterial and local roads, as a major issue in the Eastern Corridor.

One possible traffic management option to relieve these problems was seen to be the development of an arterial road along the Eastern Road Reservation. This road could extend from the Eastern Freeway Terminal at Doncaster Road to the Maroondah Highway at Mt Dandenong Road, Ringwood.

The Eastern Freeway extension was opened to Springvale Road in 1997.

Then extended to Ringwood in 2008 as part of the EastLink.

Pascoe Vale Road Relief Study (PVRRS)

In September 1985, the Minister for Transport announced his support for the Pascoe Vale Road Relief Study recommendation that a 7.8 km section of the R5 outer ring route be constructed between Sharps Road, Tullamarine and Mahoneys Road, Fawkner.

Opened in 1992 as the first section of the Western Ring Road.

Then an extra lane added in 2009.

Calder Highway – Diggers Rest to Gisborne

Investigations into the future development of the Calder Highway between Diggers Rest and Gisborne were completed in early 1986. This work included a review of initial proposals in the light of submissions received from affected property owners, concerned Shire councils and various government agencies. A summary of the review, together with an outline of the Adopted Proposal for the duplication of the highway with provision for long term development to freeway standards, was released in May 1986.

The Diggers Rest bypass was opened in 1993, duplication to Kyneton completed in 2003, and to Bendigo by 2009.

Princes Highway West – Dennington to lllowa

A summary of investigations into the future development of this section of the Princes Highway was released to affected property owners, Council and various government agencies in October 1985. This section of the highway has low geometric standards and a higher than average accident rate, and the pavement will require major rehabilitation in a few years time if it is to be retained for State highway traffic.

The proposed realignment, which makes use of a portion of the closed Dennington to Port Fairy railway line would improve overtaking opportunities and increase safety by reducing the frustration of drivers and the conflict between through traffic and access to abutting land.

Completed in the 1990s.

That’s five out of five road projects completed, with three of them having received further expansion since they were initially completed.

Sources

• Road Construction Authority 1986 annual report

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Flooding out the sandbelt

In 2016 the level crossings on the Frankston line at North Road, McKinnon Road and Centre Road were removed, with the railway being placed into a trench between each road, with three new stations constructed at Ormond, McKinnon and Bentleigh.

Massive drainage pits were constructed on the uphill side of the rail cutting, to ensure that stormwater would not enter the trench, and stop trains.

But given enough rain a massive concrete lined cutting across a natural watercourse will turn into a dam – as local residents found out in December 2016 – the first big storm after completion of the level crossing removal project.

LXRA investigates flood of allegations from angry homeowners
Sam Bidey
Moorabbin Glen Eira Leader
January 17, 2017

An investigation is under way to determine whether a new drainage system installed by the Level Crossing Removal Authority caused the severe flooding of dozens of homes.

Residents along Glen Orme Ave, McKinnon, are still out of their houses as the clean-up continues following the December 29 storm.

Irate homeowner Aislinn Martin believes new drainage running through Glen Orme Ave, which was constructed during works to remove the McKinnon level crossing, caused thousands of litres of water to sweep through her house.

The LXRA installed the drainage to protect the rail trench from flooding, but Ms Martin said that just resulted in her street being walloped with a torrential amount of excess water during the storm.

One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said the flooding occurred because the water was intended to flow into the Elster Creek drain, but, with that already overflowing, it gushed out of the new overflow grates along Glen Orme Ave.

Following the December 29 storm, the LXRA sent letters to residents to advise that all newly installed drainage would be checked and the authority would notify them on the outcome of the investigation.

“We have worked closely with Melbourne Water and council to protect the rail line and ensure our work does not cause any additional flooding,” LXRA project director Adam Maguire said. “We will continue to help clean up with our road sweepers.”

Local member and Liberal MP Georgie Crozier raised the issue in Parliament on 21 March 2017.

My adjournment matter this evening is for the minister responsible for the removal of level crossings, Minister Allan. I have raised on a number of occasions issues in relation to the level crossing removals at North Road in Ormond and McKinnon Road and Centre Road in Bentleigh. This matter relates to the level crossing removal in Ormond and involves the works undertaken for drainage. We have had another weather event today. I believe there are a number of areas in metropolitan Melbourne that have been flooded, and I do hope that there is no ongoing damage from the rains today.

On 29 December significant flooding occurred in Melbourne and across the state from which there was significant damage in the Ormond area and also in the neighbouring area of McKinnon, where significant amounts of water were coming out of the drains that were put in place to cope with the extensive drainage from those level crossing sites.

Nevertheless, my issue concerns, as I said, the North Road area. Many residents have written to me and expressed their concerns about what has actually happened in terms of the pipes and various construction dealing with these drainage issues, with the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA), Melbourne Water and the local council. All of these residents have been told that significant work was done, that everything was okay and that the LXRA had undertaken some investigation and found that the system was operating as it was designed to. However, there are still some concerns held by various residents who have not had many of their queries answered to their satisfaction.

One of the areas of concern relates to all of the piping and the drainage that was laid during the construction phase and what other areas may be affected by this.

The action I am seeking from the minister is that the investigation and the report by the LXRA on these works be made public so that the affected residents can understand fully what consultation with Melbourne Water and the Glen Eira City Council was undertaken and what works actually took place to cater for future flooding, because we will get future rain events which will be greater than the last one. If the minister could provide that to the public, that would be most helpful.

With the Level Crossing Removal Authority publishing their report into the flooding in September 2017.

Throughout 2017 Melbourne Water and the Level Crossing Removal Authority have undertaken a joint review of flooding that occurred as a result of intense rainfall on 29 December 2016 and how the drainage system installed as part of the North McKinnon Centre Level Crossing Removal Project operated during the storm event.

Which found:

The drainage works needed to enable the level crossing removal at Ormond and McKinnon were very complex to design. The passage of the rail corridor through the floodplain and the established character of the area limited drainage design options.

Significant planning and care was taken to ensure the drainage design for the North McKinnon Centre Level Crossing Removal Project did not make flooding worse.

Our review has highlighted that:

• All affected properties are within the envelope of flooding predicted by our modelling both pre and post construction of the drainage.
• As a result of the construction works, many properties will in fact have experienced lower flood levels through the December event than would have been experienced pre-construction. These properties are primarily upstream of the railway works.
• A small number of properties downstream of the railway line were adversely affected as the storm event occurred during construction prior to the works being completed. These property owners have
been contacted directly and are located in Elm Grove and Glen Orme Avenue.

As part of the Project, significant drainage infrastructure was installed and existing assets altered. The drainage infrastructure and alterations have been designed to replicate the pre-existing (prior to project) flood conditions in the area.

The drainage infrastructure and alterations have been designed to replicate the pre-existing (prior to the project) flood conditions in the area. As part of normal flood mitigation activities, Melbourne Water has initiated a project to evaluate localised mitigation opportunities.

Cold comfort for local residents, but a quick glance at the Glen Eira Planning Scheme shows that the entire area is subject to a Special Building Overlay, so flooding is a fact of life for this area.

And over to Blackburn

Blackburn Road in Blackburn is another rail under road grade separation, with the level crossing removed in 2017.

The pedestrian subway at Blackburn station used to flood as soon as a single drop of rain fell.

So the drainage was upgraded to prevent it, including this massive stormwater detention structure on the south side of Blackburn station.

But it had a flow on effect to residents of South Parade, located south of the station.

Rail drain’s flow-on effect
Blackburn station underpass fixed but houses now flooded
Whitehorse Leader
Paddy Naughtin
December 18, 2017

The State Government’s much vaunted improvements to the notorious Blackburn station underpass failed to handle the latest deluge, leading to flooding of neighbouring properties.

Properties in South Parade flooded on December 7 after the new drainage system at the station reached capacity and overflowed on to the street. The water was too much for the street’s gutters and flowed over into people’s yards.

Susan Rundle said the “horrendous” flooding was the worst she’d seen in a decade. “We measured the water being 70cm deep in our backyard — you can see the line on my husband’s workshop where the water got to,” Ms Rundle said.

“The drainage system was upgraded during the level-crossing removal works to ensure the station underpass didn’t flood, but its seems to have just made things worse for other areas in the neighbourhood.”

State Government spokeswoman Hayley McNaughton said the drainage upgrade had been built to standards.

“As part of works to remove the dangerous and congested level crossing on Blackburn Rd the project also upgraded the drainage to mitigate flooding,” Ms McNaughton said.

Local member and Liberal MP Robert Clark took up the case a few days after the floods.

Residents flooded by bungled rail project
9 December 2017

This was South Parade in Blackburn on Thursday evening, as residents were inundated with overflow from the Blackburn rail project’s new drainage system.

Backyards have been flooded, garages filled with water and driveways washed away, causing thousands of dollars of damage to residents’ homes.

After turning the South Parade shopping strip into a concrete jungle in the name of fixing the drainage, instead the project has turned a quiet residential street into a floodplain.

Raising the issue in Parliament a few days later.

I raise with the Minister for Public Transport the flooding that has occurred in South Parade, Blackburn, as a result of the Blackburn rail project, and I ask the minister to find out exactly what has gone wrong and to have urgent remedial works undertaken so this flooding does not happen again.

Last Thursday evening numerous homes along South Parade were inundated with overflow from the rail project’s new drainage system.

After turning the South Parade shopping strip into a concrete jungle in the name of fixing the drainage, the government’s handling of the rail project has turned a quiet residential street into a flood plain.

Photos taken by residents show water gushing out through the grill around the top of the drainage pit next to the station and strewing gravel and other debris across the road before pouring downhill into residents’ homes.

Last Thursday’s flooding was the third and most damaging of the flood events that have started to occur since the rail project works have been undertaken. Long-term residents say that prior to the rail project works there had been no major flooding in South Parade since a drain was installed in the 1960s.

Then raising it again a year later, following more flash flooding.

South Parade residents flooded again by Labor’s crossing bungle
8 November 2018

This is South Parade, Blackburn, on Tuesday – flooded yet again by water overflowing from the “upgraded” drainage system installed as part of Labor’s bungling of the Blackburn level crossing removal.

The LXRA and the government have known about this problem since similar major flooding almost a year ago, but have done nothing to fix it, leaving residents to suffer every time there’s a heavy downpour.

It’s clear that the flooding is coming straight out of the new drainage system – instead of flooding the station’s pedestrian underpass, as used to happen, it’s now flooding residents’ homes all along South Parade.

This first happened in December last year. I raised it in Parliament, residents raised it with the LXRA, it was front page of the local paper, LXRA and the government promised to look into it and then… nothing. It needs to be fixed.

A check of the SES Flood Guide for Laburnum shows that the entire area was already at risk of flooding, thanks to a creek placed underground when the area was first turned into houses.

But that doesn’t mean much to residents if the flooding is now worse than before the level crossing removal works.

And a Pakenham line footnote

Upgrade works at the Clyde Road level crossing in Berwick also resulted in local businesses being flooded out.

Flooded by the rails
Rowan Forster
Pakenham Gazette
2 November 2018

The Level Crossing Removal Authority has been flooded with complaints from aggrieved business owners in Berwick amid allegations properties are becoming inundated by stormwater due to botched upgrades.

Landlords of Enterprise Avenue have reached boiling point – fearful labourers and construction workers could be rendered jobless if the issue persists.

The Gazette understands the problem arose when the State Government began construction at the Clyde Road crossing more than 12 months ago.

As the railway line has been elevated, water no longer flows into the natural drainage system and instead gushes towards the rear of the Berwick properties.

Despite pressuring bureaucrats for more than a year, Barry Pitcher has not received any answers.

It might sound simple, but keeping things dry isn’t easy!

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