A $631 million contract has been awarded to Laing O’Rourke, Jacobs, Metro Trains Melbourne to fast track two level crossing removals at Surrey Hills and Mont Albert.
The contract will also include the delivery of a new premium station to open in 2023.
Early works will start in August, including upgrading water infrastructure, moving underground services, and setting up site offices, with crews on the ground in the coming days. Major construction will start next year.
The two level crossings are some of Melbourne’s worst and will be removed by lowering the rail line beneath the roads in an open trench and building a new premium station with better facilities and more services.
“Awarding a contract takes us one step closer to making these death traps a thing of the past and we’re thrilled this project has been fast-tracked, creating hundreds of jobs and supporting local businesses along the way,” Victorian Transport infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said.
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“With no more level crossings on the Lilydale line, journeys will be faster, local roads safer and deadly boom gate delays a distant memory.”
Two fatalities occurred at Union Road in 2016 when a train and car collided – and a further eight near misses in recent years.
The designs for the new station and precinct will include a wider pedestrian bridge that will form a plaza connecting Beresford Street and the Hamilton Street shopping village. This aims to create more open space and a home for the existing Mont Albert station building, which will be retained for community use close to its current location.
The project will also include a new entrance at Montrose Street, providing better local access to the station.
“Many Mont Albert residents have been calling for a plaza at the top end of Hamilton Street to provide a home for the existing, heritage-listed Mont Albert station building and new community open space – and I’m pleased the design to remove these crossings also delivers that,” Member for Box Hill Paul Hamer said.