By Tom Cowie
It’s no laughing matter for residents, but Angela Villella describes how close her apartment balcony is to the Mernda rail line in Melbourne’s north in almost comedic terms.
“I run a food business. I could serve a cup of coffee to people on the platform from my kitchen,” she said. “It’s pathetic.”
The level crossing removal works on Keon Parade have resulted in a station being moved to within metres of apartments.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Villella, a former Darebin councillor, is part of a group of owners who have expressed their frustration with an unexpectedly intrusive neighbour: the rebuilt Keon Park train station, which opens on Friday.
As part of level crossing removal works on Keon Parade, Reservoir, the station has been demolished and rebuilt on elevated tracks about 100 metres closer to the city.
While the old location was on ground level and had no buildings next to it, the new station sits directly alongside apartment buildings and residents’ balconies.
‘This cacophony is not a mere background disturbance but a dominant, intrusive force that has eroded the peace within my home.’
Goran Torbakov
The estimated gap between the apartments and the station is four or five metres, leading to concerns about lights shining into bedrooms late at night, noise and a lack of privacy.
“It’s public access all day and all night; people can look into my bedroom,” said Villella, who moved into her apartment on level three in the middle of 2022.
Another resident, Goran Torbakov, who is also chair of the building’s body corporate committee, said sound from the railway line echoed through his home.
Before the station’s opening, Torbakov said, tests were conducted on the PA system, including the button telling commuters the departure time of the next train.
It was a taste of things to come, he said.
“Imagine how many people will be pushing it. We can hear it in our loungeroom. It’s ‘The next train to Flinders Street departs in five minutes’ and ‘The next train to Mernda departs in three minutes.’ ”
Months of construction had already been hard to handle, Torbakov said.
In a letter to the premier and transport minister in January, he described it as an “unrelenting assault of noise upon my daily life”.
“This cacophony is not a mere background disturbance but a dominant, intrusive force that has eroded the peace within my home,” he wrote. “It reverberates through the walls, disrupts our sleep, and infiltrates every moment of our existence.”
After residents raised issues with noise, as well as high levels of dust, the Level Crossing Removal Project offered free hotel stays and “refurbished” noise-cancelling headphones.
A train being tested at the new Keon Park station.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“They actually believe that I could be with headphones, and my whole family with headphones all day, every day,” Torbakov said.
Instead, residents are calling for the government to install double-glazed windows, as well as privacy screens to prevent people looking into their homes.
But with workers putting the finishing touches on the station this week, the worry is that nothing will be done. About 100 owners are affected. Half of those directly face the tracks.
Residents also said there was a lack of consultation over how close the train line would be built to their homes. There was no process under which the design could be altered, they said.
“When I purchased it [an off-the-plan apartment], there was no indication, no knowledge, of the rail crossing being removed,” Villella said.
Residents have complained about noise, light and lack of privacy from the station.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“I don’t think there’s anywhere else in Melbourne like it. If this was a private development going through council, there’s no way it would be approved.”
‘They actually believe that I could be with headphones, and my whole family with headphones all day, every day.’
Goran Torbakov
A plan showing the station would be moved south of Keon Parade was released in March 2022, according to the state government. Major construction started in 2023 and the boom gates were removed earlier this year.
It was deemed unviable to build the new station in its original position, due to overhead power transmission lines and other significant utility assets crossing the rail corridor.
A Level Crossing Removal Project spokesperson said the new station and removal of boom gates would provide better connections to local shops and public transport.
“We will continue to work with nearby residents and offer them a range of amenity options as we deliver the brand new Keon Park station,” the spokesperson said.
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