The Victorian Government says its half-a-billion-dollar upgrade program for the Ballarat Line will be complete by the end of 2019, with almost a million hours of work clocked so far.
Premier Daniel Andrews on June 21 visited the new Cobblebank station, delivered as part of the Ballarat Line Upgrade to provide a transport link for a suburb expected to reach a population of 55,000.
He said crews have so far laid 26 kilometres of track, 40,000 concrete sleepers and 100,000 tonnes of ballast over more than 100 kilometres of the Ballarat line. The project includes track duplication, station upgrades and passing loops, to boost reliability and enable more frequent services in the peak.
“The Ballarat Line Upgrade is the first step of our Western Rail Plan – to deliver more trains, more often to Melbourne’s west and our growing regional centres,” the premier said.
Next steps for the Western Rail Plan include delivering two new electrified metro lines to Melton and Wyndham Vale, and upgrading the Geelong and Ballarat lines to deliver fast rail to regions.
As part of the push to complete the Ballarat Line Upgrade by the end of 2019, coaches are replacing trains for two weeks to allow a 400-strong workforce to undertake critical construction work around the clock.