Munro St signal box set for demolition in level crossing application

For more than 90 years this signal box has stood on the train line in Coburg, but plans show it would be in the way of impending sky rail and an application to demolish it is under way.

The signal box on Munro St, Coburg that could be demolished. Picture: Google Maps

A 91-year-old signal box near Coburg train station will demolished to make way for sky rail installation, as part of an application from the Level Crossing Removal Project.

The signal box on Munro St was built in 1928 and replaced an earlier box that was built there in 1892.

The LXRP has applied with Heritage Victoria to demolish the box.

The box — along with the Brunswick to Coburg section of the Upfield line — is currently under an interim protection order from the heritage body as it assesses whether to add any further items to the state heritage register.

The signal box was built in 1928. Picture: Google Maps

Plans in the LXRP application show the sky rail running at the same height as the roof of the box.

It claims that a demolition of the box will cost between $100,000 and $250,000, while building around it would set the project back up to $10 million

A nearby tree would also be removed as part of the plan.

Levers still remain in tact inside the box.

Marilyn Moore is writing an objection to the application on behalf of the Coburg Historical Society and said she remembers it in use to open the gates at the crossing until 1983.

“It’s a landmark, it’s always been there and I’ve watched it since I was a tiny child,” she said.

“You used to be able to see through the windows and watch the man inside.”

No Sky Rail Upfield Line president Jason Clarke said the lack of plans available on the removals was keeping the public in the dark.

“If the LXRP want to enter into genuine discussions with the community, about how to solve any issues involving the Munro St signal box, they need to publicly release the full station and sky rail designs, showing the locations of the columns and the alignment of the sky rail viaduct,” he said.

Submissions on the application can be made until August 28.

The box opened and closed gates at the crossing for 65 years.

Meanwhile, members of the Upfield Corridor Coalition will rally outside State Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan’s office on Friday to ask to see plans for the four crossing removals.

As of Tuesday, the alliance had gathered 3494 hard copy and electronic signatures on a petition calling for the duplication of the line past Gowrie train station.

Gowrie train station is the first on the line with only one track. Picture: James Ross

The Leader understands the are no current plans to upgrade the track.

Alliance spokeswoman Jane Holroyd said passengers all along the line were quick to sign up to the petition.

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“From the thousands of conversations we’ve had at train stations while gathering signatures, we know that the current state of the line is causing great hardship — for teenagers who are regularly late for high school, and for others who are regularly late for work and other appointments,” she said.

“With the line as it is, it is little wonder many people living in Melbourne’s north who have the option to jump into a car opt to do so, even though it means crawling along Melbourne’s already congested roads.”

The petition can be signed online until September 6.