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.

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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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This new level crossing is located on ‘Intermodal Way‘ – a new public road connecting Dock Link Road and Mullaly Close, replacing Coode Road between Dock Link Road and Phillipps Road.

And the railway track crossing Intermodal Way leads into the new Coode Road Rail Terminal.

The new terminal is part of the ‘Port Rail Transformation Project‘ which will enable port shuttle trains to run to Altona, Somerton and Lyndhurst.

With new rail infrastructure including:

• A new Coode Road rail terminal interfacing with the Swanson Dock East International Container Terminal. The rail terminal will include two new rail sidings each that can handle 600 metre long trains.
• A new road to facilitate the uninterrupted movement of containers. The new road will provide a continued East/West connection within the Swanson Dock Precinct without trucks needing to exit to Footscray Road replacing the section of Coode Road which will be closed for the construction of the above rail terminal.
• Modifications to the Swanson precinct common user sidings to accommodate 600 metre long trains.
• A new track linking the Swanson and Appleton lead tracks to allow additional flexibility for trains to move within the port precinct.

Funding for the project was made available way back in the 2014-15 State Budget as the ‘Metropolitan Intermodal System’, but work on the two track dual gauge intermodal terminal didn’t start until 2021.

Works on the new rail terminal are still ongoing, with flashing lights and boom barriers yet to be installed at the new level crossing.

So will port shuttle trains be running soon? The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office has been tracking the delays.

The shuttle network is not proceeding according to its original timetable. Service start dates across the 3 sites are delayed by 17.6 months on average, although construction at Altona is nearly complete.

The shuttle network program has not achieved the original contract milestones and the department has amended and extended contract dates for Altona 6 times and Somerton 14 times.

The department’s recent advice to government confirms that the shuttle network is unlikely to deliver the expected volume of metropolitan container freight by rail unless the government approves further interventions and investments.

And is worried about the viability of services.

• Pricing, access and operating arrangements at the new on-dock rail terminal at the port are uncertain because the future operator has not yet published its rates.
• Trucks are estimated to have a significant competitive advantage over rail per metropolitan container, based on current pricing and port-precinct operating models.
• The new on-dock terminal, in its initial operating phase, will not operate on weekends and only during the daylight hours of 6 am to 6 pm. This is unlikely to align with available rail paths to the port, especially from Dandenong South, as well as the shuttle network operators’ operational needs.
• No freight train paths for Somerton or Dandenong South can be allocated until a rail operator is appointed for these sites. This will need to happen closer to when they are ready to start services.

Fingers crossed the new services are more successful than previous port shuttle train attempts.

Footnote: Melbourne’s previous newest level crossing?

Back in 2017 I looked at when did Melbourne stop building new level crossings – and the previous newest crossing was around the corner at Dock Link Road, opened in the 1990s as part of an upgrade to the Melbourne Freight Terminal.

But in April 2023 the Level Crossing Removal Authority added an even newer pedestrian level crossing – outside Diamond Creek College on the Hurstbridge line, as part of the Hurstbridge Line Duplication project.

Footnote: dual gauge track and common rail transfers

Sidings at the Port of Melbourne are laid with three-rail ‘dual gauge’ track so that both broad and standard gauge trains can access the freight terminals.

But the new triangle connection between the Appleton Dock and Swanston Dock sidings introduces a new problem – the ‘common’ rail shared between the broad and standard trains needs to switch sides.

So the solution is a complicated device called a ‘common rail transfer’ switch, which moves the wheels of standard gauge trains from one side of the track to the other.

Australia’s mess of rail gauges is the gift that keeps on giving!

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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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North Williamstown Station – too high

A new low-level railway station at North Williamstown formed part of the Ferguson Street level crossing removal project, but on opening in December 2021 seating at the new station was anything but stupidly high.

Passengers left dangling their feet up in the air.

Who designs this crap – the seats at the new North Williamstown station are sky high

Every seat at the new station being stupidly high above the ground.

At least their was a lot of them!

Perhaps this bloke was the architect, wanting to extract revenge on a world that forced him to pull his legs up everywhere?

Luckily Australian Standards 1428.2-1992 “Design for access and mobility, Part 2: Enhanced and additional requirements – Buildings and facilities” details how high a seat should be off the ground.

The seats at North Williamstown look quite non-compliant, and luckily the Level Crossing Removal Authority agreed.

Hi Marcus – thanks for getting in touch. We passed this feedback on to the project team who've confirmed as part of our landscaping and finishing works on the new North Williamstown Station and surrounding precinct, the height of the station seats will be lowered.

— Level Crossing Removal Project (@levelcrossings) January 11, 2022

But two months after opening, fixing the seats was still on their todo list.

Hi, thanks for getting in touch. The lowering of the station seating will commence this week.

— Level Crossing Removal Project (@levelcrossings) February 1, 2022

The seats finally being replaced with normal height ones by March 2022.

Deer Park Station – the Bunnings special

In April 2023 a new elevated station at Deer Park opened as part of the Mt Derrimut Road level crossing removal project, but it wasn’t quite quite done – Myki ticketing equipment and accessible access skipped in the rush to get the station open.

Ordering seating for waiting passengers also got missed in the process, so the Level Crossing Removal Authority had to race down to Bunnings and pick up a pile of “Black Steel Park Benches” by Marquee to place along the platforms.

As a rest area along the DDA-compliant ramp.

Marquee brand ‘Steel Park Benches’ from Bunnings installed on the ramp to platform 1

And along the rabbit warren of paths through the construction site for platform access.

They also had a half-dozen left over seats by the time they were finished.

Which would explain why I can no longer find this specific ‘Steel Park Bench’ on the Bunnings Website.

Union Station- the leafy eastern doesn’t miss out!

In May 2023 the new low-level Union Station opened in Melbourne’s east, replacing Surrey Hills and Mont Albert station as part of the removal of the Union Road and Mont Albert Road level crossings, after an intensive three month shutdown of the railway.

But that still wasn’t enough time to order some proper bench seats for the new station environs.

Bench. Stairs. Sign pic.twitter.com/qgtFZxyAaO

— Hotel 7 // Lavender (@literar63) May 21, 2023

They made a quick trip down to Bunnings, and picked up some “Marquee 1.2m Black Steel And Cast Iron Mimosa Ornate Benches” for $135 each.

I suppose they look a bit fancier than the ones Deer Park was given.

Footnote – Australian Standards

You can’t actually read Australian Standards without paying through the nose for them, despite a whole swag of legislation requiring compliance with them – so have fun trying to get access to Australian Standards 1428.2-1992 “Design for access and mobility, Part 2: Enhanced and additional requirements – Buildings and facilities”. Instead, here’s a quick summary on what it says on street furniture.

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The early years

The first multi-deck car park at a Melbourne railway station opened in 1984 as part of the rebuild of Box Hill into a transport interchange and shopping centre. On the lowest level of the shopping centre car park, there is an area dedicated to all day parking by public transport users.

But it took two decades for the next one to be built – in inner suburban Elsternwick on the Sandringham line. There a 156-space, five-level car park was built in 2003 beside the railway station, as part of a $10 million residential and commercial development on 4000 sq metres of publicly owned land.

And it took another decade for the third multi-deck car park to be built – a $10.8 million four storey structure at Syndal on the Glen Waverley line, which added 250 car spaces to bring the total at the station to 590.

And it’s on

With the launch of the Level Crossing Removal Project in 2015, there has been one iron clad commitment followed in every single project they have completed across Melbourne – “no net loss of car parking”.

Initially this requirement was met by expanding at grade car parks at nearby railway stations or on land freed up by the relocation of railway tracks, but as the project moved into more densely populated areas, this was not possible.

And so Cheltenham station gained a four storey 220-space car park in 2020.

And Mooroolbark station gained a four storey 900-space behemoth in 2022.

And doubling down

In the lead up to the 2019 federal election the Morrison Government launched their ‘Urban Congestion Fund’ – intended to fund car parks at railway stations, it was widely criticised as a way to buy votes in marginal seats.

Australian National Audit Office diagram

But the Andrew’s Government in Victoria had already been playing that game, following the launch of the $150 million ‘Car Parks for Commuters Fund’ in 2018. Multi-deck car parks being built as part of this program include –

Frankston: 500-space multi-deck car park, jointly funded by the Victorian Government and the Australian Government, and delivered by the Level Crossing Removal Project.

Greensborough: 100-space car park and bus interchange, jointly funded by the Victorian Government and the Australian Government, and delivered by the Level Crossing Removal Project.

Sunbury: 300-space car park, funded by the Victorian Government, Australian Government Urban Congestion Fund, and the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution (GAIC) Fund.

Watsonia: 60-space car park as part of the North East Link project.

Belgrave: 640-space car park funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by VicTrack.

Footnote: meanwhile in Sydney

Up in Sydney they’ve building multi-deck car parks at railway stations for decades – one example is the $29 million expansion of the Revesby station car park, which added three storeys to the existing car park, providing 385 additional car spaces.

Further reading

It’s surprisingly hard to find how many car parks actually exist at Melbourne railway stations, but back in 2016 Public Transport Victoria published a dataset, which Philip Mallis has plotted in map form here.

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect also has a Design principles: Multi-deck commuter car parks document, to describes how they can “can support and contribute to a well-connected, enjoyable, safe and vibrant public realm”.

Daniel Bowen has also written about Melbourne’s station parking problem, and the poor state of alternatives to driving to the station.

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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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Off to Sydney

We start this month at Melbourne Airport, where the terminal was in disarray on July 18. But staff shortages weren’t to blame this time – but a power outage.

Leaving the split-flap display board in the international terminal stuck mid-message on ‘Ouckau8hko Jcahao’.

Out airside Virgin Australia was midway through it’s rebranding from Virgin Blue.

And Tiger Airways was still flying.

An hour later, my flight was on the final approach to Sydney Airport.

Down on the tarmac, I snapped a since-retired Qantas 747-400ER taking off.

Then made my way to the airport station to catch a train.

I did the cliche stuff like checking out the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

As well as checking out stuff like the decommissioned toll gates.

Headed to the top of the Sydney Tower to photograph the trains down below.

Down to the tangle of tracks that are the Flying Junctions outside Central.

I stumbled upon the “Pre Production Trial Vehicle” for Sydney’s new fleet of Waratah trains.

And stared in wonder at the realtime train data provided to platform staff at Central Station.

Riding the Sydney Monorail

The real reason for my trip was to ride the Sydney Monorail before it’s upcoming closure.

I went past all of the hackspots.

Wandering around Darling Harbour.

Down to the monorail depot hidden away in the back blocks.

Along the way I found forgotten signage from the TNT Harbourlink era.

And a complicated looking joint in the monorail beam across Pyrmont Bridge.

Used to allow the monorail beam to pivot out of the way of tall ships.

Ding ding

In 2012 the Sydney Light Rail was still using the fleet of 1990s Variotrams.

But I also made my way out to the Sydney Tramway Museum to ride their museum fleet.

And I found a Melbourne W class sitting in their display shed.

And back to Melbourne

My welcome back to Melbourne – going for a cruise down the Yarra River towards the West Gate Bridge.

And back up under the Bolte Bridge.

Far less entertaining was getting kicked off my train home thanks to a door fault.

The entire train load of passengers turfed off at Newmarket station.

Left hoping that we’d be able to catch the next train to come along.

The rollout of Myki was still crawling along, with new ticket gates installed at the south end of Parliament station.

But at least the new Swanston Street platform stops were finally finished!

Leading to the closure of the tram stop at Swanston and Lonsdale Streets.

Some passengers oblivious to the ‘tram stop closed’ signs.

Some things that have changed

Before Regional Rail Link opened in 2015 V/Line and Metro trains shared the tracks through Footscray.

It seems hard to believe today, but until 2016 Flagstaff station was closed all day Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays.

And until 2015 free copies of the mX newspaper were being handed out to evening commuters.

And some that are odd

On a visit to the Port of Melbourne, I found six X’Trapolis carriages sitting on the wharf, fresh off the boat at Appleton Dock.

We also had the strange situation of a ‘Sydenham’ train line that terminated at Watergardens station – a designation that ended following the extension of electric train to Sunbury.

Box Hill is an odd station – still using ancient CRT screens for the next train displays.

A McDonald’s counter facing into the paid area of the station.

And a complete trackless platform – unused since the 1980s.

I also found a trackless platform at Southern Cross – completed as part of the Regional Rail Link project, but yet to have track installed.

But the most harebrained thing I found was some antennas fitted to a Comeng train.

The antennas were part of a $5.5 million three-year project, testing whether wireless communication between trains and road vehicles would reduce the number of level crossing collisions.

Looking back, spending millions to install radio transmitters on each and every train, along with dedicated receivers in each and every road vehicle, just to give idiot motorists another warning to ignore, sounds like a stupid idea – especially since we’ve physically removed 65+ conflict points between road and rail in the past 10 years.

And a NBN footnote

I also ended up at the NBN Co. Discovery Centre in Melbourne.

Showing off fibre in pits.

Curbside fibre distribution hubs.

And junction boxes for multiple unit dwellings (MDUs).

All were part of the Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network that was planned to cover Australia, but later abandoned for the half-baked “Multi Technology Mix” of Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and legacy Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) networks.

Footnote

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

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