A $631 million contract has been awarded to Laing O’Rourke, Jacobs, and Metro Trains Melbourne for the fast-tracking of two-level crossing removals at Surrey Hills in addition to a new premium station opening by 2023. Early works including upgrading water infrastructure will start this August with crews onsite soon after that time period finishes up next year when construction begins in earnest.
The New Surrey Hills station.
In a bid to make the city run more smoothly, two of Melbourne’s worst-level crossings will be removed. The new plan is an open trench for trains below ground and improved facilities at stations like Union Road station that have been impacted by accidents in recent years with multiple fatalities on both sides as well as eight near misses in 2016 alone.
It’s no secret that Mont Albert station is one of the most overcrowded stations in Melbourne. The new designs for this area aim to fix that by adding more space and providing better access points with an entrance at street level as well as a pedestrian bridge connecting Beresford Street into what is now Hamilton Street shopping village. This will create public green areas, improve connectivity between shops on either side of these two streets without having them right next door neighbors – making your walk home much shorter.