Maroondah: Croydon, Ringwood, Ringwood East level crossings to go, new stations built

All level crossings in Maroondah will be gone within four years with a mix of sky rail and underground works to take place. This is how it will affect you.

The Dublin Rd level crossing in Ringwood East is one of three set to be removed in Maroondah by 2025. Picture: Kiel Egging

Boomgates will be banished and two railway stations will be rebuilt in Maroondah by 2025 in a massive package of rail infrastructure works for the region.

The state government will spend $2.5 billion on the next phase of its level crossing removal program, which includes removing 10 level crossings and building five new railway stations throughout Melbourne.

Sky rail will arrive in Croydon with the removal of its Coolstore Rd level crossing and an elevated new railway station.

Two more level crossings will be removed and go underground — the Dublin Rd level crossing in Ringwood East on the Lilydale line, and the Bedford Rd level crossing in Ringwood on the Belgrave line.

The Bedford Rd level crossing in Ringwood will be removed for an underground rail trench by 2025. Picture: Kiel Egging

A new station will also be built at Ringwood East, where the government was already planning a new carpark.

Ringwood state Labor MP Dustin Halse said the works in his electorate were “an enormous announcement for the community” and would create hundreds of jobs.

“It’s the culmination of nearly three years of advocacy and I would like to thank all who have spoken to me about removing these level crossings,” he said.

But a local trader at Dublin Rd had mixed feelings about the level crossing removal.

The Young Brother cafe owner, Brian Huang, said he “liked the vibe” of the level crossing and removing the boomgates wasn’t necessary.

The Young Brother's Brian Huang has mixed feelings about the removal of a railway crossing near his Ringwood East cafe. Picture: Kiel Egging

“I like the layout at the moment … based on the traffic I can’t see any point of it,” he said.

“It’s not that busy of an intersection.”

Meanwhile, Maroondah councillor Rob Steane expressed his joy about the works in and around Croydon on his Facebook page.

“Woohoo. This is fantastic news and I’m happy to have been a small part of the advocacy to the State Government to finally get these added to the list of level crossing removals,” he wrote.

Level Crossing Removal Project chief executive Kevin Devlin said the level crossing removals were an “expansion” of works underway to remove level crossings at Lilydale and Mooroolbark.

Works are set to begin sometime in 2022, but the order of the projects and how much they will individually cost is yet to be determined, and will be finalised as part of the planning and procurement process.