Mentone Station has opened two weeks early following a two month construction blitz as part of the Victorian Government’s $3 billion investment into rail infrastructure.
Works on the Frankston Line include 18 level crossing removals and 12 new stations. The upgraded Cheltenham Station is on track to open in mid-August.
Construction continues on a two month construction blitz throughout the pandemic with strict safety measures to support jobs and businesses.
Around 1,700 workers have helped to construct the project with crews working around the clock to pour more than 15,000 metres of concrete, install nearly 7000 tonnes of steel reinforcing and lay 25,000 tonnes of ballast.
Finishing touches on the stations, landscaping, and work on the 3.5 kilometre walking and cycling path between Cheltenham and Mentone will continue until late 2020.
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- Works ramp up on Cheltenham and Mentone rail upgrades
- Cheltenham and Mentone level crossing designs revealed
- Melbourne level crossing removal works to ramp up in winter
More than 200,000 cubic metres of soil was excavated from the 2.1 kilometres of rail trenches built.
The Cheltenham and Mentone boom gates on three roads were removed and opened to the public in mid-June, improving travel times for the 38,000 vehicles that cross the line daily.
Further along the Frankston line, works are ramping up on the removal of five dangerous and congested level crossings and building three new stations at Edithvale, Chelsea, and Bonbeach with major construction to lower the rail line into a trench starting in 2021.
Trains returned on the Frankston Line in South East Melbourne a week earlier than planned.
The Victorian Government will remove 75 level crossings by 2025, the Cheltenham and Mentone project takes the completed total to 38.