Sky train project to start on Pakenham-Cranbourne line this year

EXCLUSIVE: SKY rail will run nine metres above the ground on one of Melbourne’s busiest rail lines, with the project expected to start later this year.

Skytrain artwork.Supplied

• Angry families launch anti-sky train fight
• Pakenham-Cranbourne sky rail outlined in secret plans

SKY trains will run nine ­metres above the ground along Melbourne’s busiest rail line as part of a $1.6 billion level crossing removal project.

The Sunday Herald Sun can reveal three sections of the line between Caulfield and Cranbourne/Pakenham will be ­replaced with new elevated tracks as part of a plan that will remove nine level crossings and create 2000 jobs during construction.

Premier Daniel Andrews will today promise the project will start later this year, resulting in a quieter rail line and an extra 225sq/m — or “11 MCGs’ worth” — of public land.

But the design is likely to spark anger within parts of the community affected, with some residents alarmed about the proposal.

A consortium made up of CPB Contractors and Lend Lease will build the project, which also includes five new elevated stations at Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Clayton and Noble Park.

The work is due to be finished before the election in November 2018.

Premier Daniel Andrews said “every single level crossing between Caulfield and Dandenong will become history”.

“This tired and ugly rail corridor will become one of Melbourne’s largest community open spaces, with room for parks, playgrounds, netball courts and thousands of new car parks,” he said.

The largest section of elevated rail will be 3.6km long, built between Grange Rd, Carnegie, and Poath Rd, Hughesdale.

Another 2km-long elevated structure will be built between Clayton Rd and Centre Rd, Clayton, and a 2.7km sky rail section will go from Corrigan Rd to Chandler Rd, Noble Park.

Community consultation will further refine the designs, particularly around how the land beneath the new structures will be used.

The decision to adopt suburban sky rail will ignite a passionate protest today, with residents from affected areas already planning to rally in a Murrumbeena park.

They are also likely to present petitions to State Parliament this week, when MPs return after a long summer break.

Where the elevated rail will go.

When the Herald Sun first revealed the plan was being considered in January, some residents wrote to the government saying they were worried about empty space under a sky rail being used for “drug deals, crime ghettos and stolen cars”.

But Mr Andrews, whose seat of Mulgrave’s boundary runs along the rail line, said: “As a local, I look forward to taking my kids to enjoy this brand new and beautiful open space”.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said one of the advantages of elevating the rail line was that trains could keep running during construction.

“Raising the rail line means we can get rid of these nightmare level crossings with less disruption and be left with new open space that’s the size of 11 MCGs. It’s a win-win,” she said.

The Government said it had expert engineering modelling showing that raising the line would be quieter than running trains at street level, or in a “trench” to go under roads.

Each section will include barricades to ensure 60,000 train passengers who use the line each day cannot see into houses.

Longer stations will be built to accommodate high-capacity trains, while signalling ­upgrades will eventually allow an extra 11,000 passengers on to trains during peak hour.

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