Jill Hennessy MP

ALTONA LOOP DUAL TRACK ON THE WAY AND BOOM GATES TO GO Kororoit Creek Road will soon be level-crossing free and Altona Loop services made more reliable following a 43- day construction blitz starting next month. As part of the Andrews Labor Government’s blitz, the Altona Loop along the Werribee line will power down from 7.30pm on 16 June to the last service on 29 July. This will allow crews to continue with the next stage of the crossing removal, including construction of a dual rail bridge over Kororoit Creek Road and duplication of track between the Werribee line junction and Kororoit Creek. Buses will replace trains along the Altona Loop from Newport and Laverton, servicing passengers to and from Seaholme, Altona and Westona stations. Werribee line trains will run express between Newport and Laverton. There will also be some overnight closures of Kororoit Creek Road at the level crossing with traffic detours in place, and some off-peak closures of the Werribee line, where buses will replace trains between Newport and Werribee. Local businesses and commuters will be informed of these changes well in advance. The planned blitz is after months of hard work on site, with crews constructing the Altona-bound rail bridge in the lead up, plus the concrete columns needed for the installation of the new City-bound rail bridge beams. Westona station is the only place on the Altona Loop where trains can cross, so the new partial duplication will provide another safe passing point and reduce the number of trains forced to bypass the loop via the Werribee line, improving the reliability of services. The new rail bridge design is the same Australian-first method successfully used on other rail projects, with similar beams previously installed on the Mernda Rail Extension Project and at Skye/Overton Road in Frankston. Forty L-shaped beams up to 31 metres long will be transported overnight to Kororoit Creek Road, then craned into place and joined together in pairs to form the rail bridges. On 30 July, services will resume with a more reliable Altona Loop and traffic will never have to deal with boom gate delays at Kororoit Creek Road ever again. Passengers are asked to plan ahead, for disruption information and to find your Plan B travel option, visit bigbuild.vic.gov.au Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan “This is another crucial project on our public transport network, not only to remove another potentially deadly level crossing, but to also improve service reliability on the Altona Loop.” “We’re getting on with the job of removing level crossings like the one at Kororoit Creek Road, which has caused frustration for drivers and posed a danger to pedestrians and vehicles for far too long.”  Quote attributable to Member for Altona Jill Hennessy “I encourage commuters to take the time and plan for these temporary changes - the long-term benefits will be well worth it once these upgrades are completed.”  Quote attributable to Member for Williamstown Wade Noonan “I congratulate the project team for their progress at Kororoit Creek Road and look forward to seeing the new rail bridge and track duplication in action.”

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