Angry families on Pakenham Cranbourne line launch anti skytrain fight

Angry families who fear they will be forced to live in the shadow of a proposed suburban skytrain have launched a campaign against the controversial proposal.

Carnegie residents prefer the current railway line to an elevated version. Picture: Tony Gough

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ANGRY families who fear they will be forced to live in the shadow of a proposed suburban skytrain have launched a campaign against the controversial proposal.

Residents along the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines say there has been a lack of consultation about level crossing removals near their homes, which could see train lines elevated to two storeys above street level.

This month the Herald Sun revealed those skytrain designs had been submitted to the Andrews Government — which hasn’t ruled out the option — as a cheaper way to remove up to nine of the level crossings along Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor.

Carnegie mother of two Karlee Browning said people from her street, which is next to the rail line, were stunned.

Ms Browning and husband Mark wrote to Premier Daniel Andrews to warn of a potential eyesore, saying they wanted to counter what urban design expert Ian Woodcock put forward as potential positives, such as shops and parkland under elevated tracks.

“I need to bring to your attention what really happens beneath railway and freeway bridges: drug deals, crime ghettos, stolen cars and discarded household goods are just the beginning,” the letter says.

Ms Browning told the Herald Sun an online petition had been started against a skytrain.

“We have been lied to, we have been hoodwinked.”

Opposition planning spokesman David Davis said Mr Andrews should rule out a “cheap and nasty” sky rail that would hurt families “with deafening noise”.

Spokesman for acting Public Transport Minister Luke Donnellan, Bob Neilson, said Labor “promised to remove every level crossing between Dandenong and Caulfield and we are still considering the best way to do that”.

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