Major maintenance work will begin on the Seymour and Shepparton lines in August as part of an effort to improve service reliability.
The $10 million in works will include track, signalling and other structural upgrades. The station pit and track at Donnybrook will be replaced and new ballast installed.
Other works will include platform upgrades at Wandong Station, signal upgrades in Kilmore East, a bridge deck replacement at Dysart, culvert replacements near Mangalore, and sleeper replacement in Murchison East along with mud hole removals.
The Shepparton Line works are on top of the $356 million Shepparton Line Upgrade which aims at providing commuters with 9 return services a day and VLocity trains all the way to Shepparton.
To allow the works to be completed, coaches will replace all Seymour and Shepparton trains to and from Southern Cross Station between Saturday 25 August and 9 September. The government says that passengers should expect delays of up to 60 minutes.
“We’re getting on with vital upgrades to track, signalling and stations along the Seymour and Shepparton lines to provide a more safe and reliable service for passengers,” state transport minister Jacinta Allan said.
“We’ve scheduled this work to reduce disruption and we thank passengers in advance for their patience – but it needs to be done to get locals where they need to go sooner.”