Improving safety and reducing congestion

We are helping to remove level crossings on some of Melbourne’s busiest railway lines, to improve community safety, unclog local roads and enable more train services.

The Frankston line is one of Melbourne’s busiest, snaking 43km along Port Phillip Bay and serving commuters in the city’s busy south eastern suburbs. Like many Melbourne train lines, it was built at ground level, forcing drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to wait at boom gates for trains to cross busy roads. As the population boomed, these crossings became increasingly dangerous and congested.

Initiated in 2015 by the Victorian Government, The Level Crossing Removal Project aims to eliminate 110 level crossings across metropolitan Melbourne by 2030. As part of this project, the Southern Program Alliance  (SPA) was formed to remove level crossings along the Frankston line. Beca is playing a key role in removing these level crossings as part of the SPA design team, led by WSP, working alongside them and other subcontractors including Cox Architecture.

The first package of works awarded to SPA commenced in 2018 involved four level crossing removals, one station rebuild at Carrum and a Train Storage Facility at Kananook. 

In 2019 SPA started works to remove three level crossings and construct two stations in Cheltenham and Mentone. This was followed by the removal of five level crossings and three new stations in Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach.

SPA was awarded the Hurstbridge Line Duplication in 2021 which involves track duplication and the construction of two new stations in Greensborough and Montmorency.

Returning back to the Frankton Line, in 2021 SPA began removal of two level crossings in Glen Huntly and the construction of a new Glenhuntly Station.

Moving away from typical rail projects, SPA was awarded the contract to upgrade various safety systems in the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop across Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff stations.

SPA has been committed to safety across all its completed and current works and acknowledges the safety requirements of working on rail projects. Its various safety initiatives including during Rail Safety Week has kept its workforce safe while delivering these major rail infrastructure upgrades.

Working in a live railway corridor parallel to busy roads requires careful planning and collaboration with our alliance partners to minimise peak-hour disruptions and deliver these community changing infrastructure projects on time. 

Level crossing removals have made it safer and easier for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians cross the rail corridor, move around their local neighbourhoods and access the things they love. They have improved traffic flow, created more reliable travel times for road users and paved the way for more frequent train services along the Frankston and Hurstbridge lines.