On Sunday August 25 The Age reported on the release of plans for the Bell street to Moreland Road level crossing removal and the offer by the state government to buy out any residents next to the rail line.
Homes could soon be acquired by the state government on a voluntary basis as a 2.5-kilometre sky rail is built over Bell Street in Coburg to remove four level crossings from the Upfield train line in Melbourne’s north.
The design of the new elevated rail line, which will be up to 11 metres high at some points and stretch from Tinning Street in Brunswick, over Bell Street, to O’Hea Street in Coburg, was released on Sunday.
The state government is opening a “voluntary purchase scheme” to homes that will be most affected by the sky rail. Read more…
There were some interesting insights at the end of the article about the Upfield line and the need for track duplication and extension to Criagieburn and eventually Wallan…
- Metro Trains in 2018 called for the Upfield line, one of the city’s most infrequent peak-hour train services, to be duplicated.
- The Upfield line is one of Melbourne’s quietest, but the rail line is set for the largest yearly rise in passengers of all city trains, between 2021 and 2031.
- Patronage is set to grow by 5.3 per cent a year over the decade, Public Transport Victoria data shows.
Upfield Corridor Coalition 