Trains have returned to Melbourne’s Craigieburn, Seymour and Shepparton lines as work continues on a 270-metre road underpass to replace the now closed Buckley Street level crossing in Essendon.
Roughly 300 people are working round the clock to have the underpass opened months ahead of schedule, after services resumed on the train line, public transport minister Jacinta Allan said this week.
“The Buckley Street level crossing is on track to be the 29th level crossing removed, smashing our promise to remove 20 by the end of the year,” Allan said.
More than 20,000 tonnes of soil has been removed to build the new 270-metre underpass, which is now being lined with 150 architectural panels.
Each 5.5-tonne panel was manufactured in Laverton, in Melbourne’s south-west.
With trains now running, Allan said Buckley Street will remain closed until the end of the month, and some local roads would be closed intermittently in the coming weeks. But the underpass will be open months ahead of the initially planned date, which was early 2019.
“Another level crossing bites the dust,” industry minister Ben Carroll said, “and as we remove them we support local industries, create jobs and most importantly make the community safer.”