ELEVATED rail is coming to Carrum as part of the state government’s promise to remove level crossings along the Frankston line in a plan dubbed “sky rail” by opponents of any form of raised rail.
Labor Transport Minister Jacinta Allan visited Carrum train station on Monday morning (6 March) to announce a 900-metre long eight-metre high “rail bridge” will be built over McLeod Rd and level crossings at Station St, Eel Race Rd and Mascot Ave will be removed.
Station St will be connected with a new road bridge over Patterson River.
A new train station and “a new Carrum village” built around the station “will revitalise the bayside suburb forever”, according to the state government.
Train stabling at Carrum will be moved to Kananook.
“Not only will we remove these level crossings – we will turn the ugly stabling yard in to a new Carrum village that will transform our community forever,” Carrum Labor MP Sonya Kilkenny said in a statement.
The Level Crossing Removal Authority said seven commercial premises in Kananook will be compulsorily acquired to build the new stabling for trains.
Jayco Page Bros Caravans is one of several businesses impacted by the property acquisitions.
Business owner Trevor Page said he is unhappy at the prospect of trying to find a new site for the caravans company after five decades at Wells St.
“It’s a real kick in the guts,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of choice. Where are we going to get eight acres? And it’s got magnificent frontage.”
Frankston Council criticised the state government and the LXRA for failing to consult council about the Kananook train storage plans before Monday’s announcement.
“Frankston City Council is extremely disappointed that the Victorian Government will build a train stabling facility in Kananook, including the compulsory acquisition of properties that house Frankston businesses,” mayor Cr Brian Cunial said in a statement.
“Once again, the Victorian government and the Level Crossing Removal Authority have failed to advise council of an impending announcement regarding the options for level crossings within Frankston City.
“Furthermore, at no stage was council advised that this unfavourable option was going to be pursued.”
Frankston Council has been lobbying the state government to build trains stabling berths at Baxter as part of a long-term push to electrify the Stony Point line to Baxter.
Ms Kilkenny said the LXRA had informed Frankston Council last September that Kananook was a possible site for trains to be stored.
“The LXRA have had ongoing discussions with Frankston City Council about all aspects of the level crossing removals including the Kananook stabling option,” she said.
“Frankston Council’s request to delay the removal of the level crossings in Carrum until the line is electrified through to Baxter is not consistent with the community’s desire and the compelling safety and congestion needs to get rid of these crossings as quickly as possible.
“The removal of the level crossings on the Frankston line will create thousands of jobs and local training opportunities.
“The stabling at Kananook will include the capacity for a maintenance facility in the future.
Ms Kilkenny said the Labor state government continues to work with the federal Coalition government on the business case for the electrification of the rail line to Baxter.
Liberal state Upper House MP for the South Eastern Metropolitan Region Inga Peulich said “Labor’s sky rail con will be a blight on our bayside landscape”.
“Sonya Kilkenny has been missing in action despite strong community opposition to sky rail,” Ms Peulich said.
Ms Allan said a rail trench “was not feasible due to the proximity of the project to the Patterson River”.
Ten level crossings will now be removed along the Frankston line from Cheltenham to Frankston as part of a state government project to separate road from rail at level crossings across Victoria.
Construction works will mostly begin next year and train commuters will suffer short-term disruptions to train services while Metro Trains supplies buses along sections of the Frankston line affected by level crossing removals.
An environment effects statement study will be carried out to investigate impacts on the nearby environmentally-sensitive Edithvale-Seaford wetlands, home to several species of birds, some rare, and wildlife.
Rail under road has been installed at Bentleigh, Ormond and McKinnon. Rail trenches will be dug at Cheltenham, Mentone, Bonbeach and Edithvale.
The LXRA announced late last month that a “hybrid design” will be built at Seaford by lowering Seaford Rd and the rail line will be “placed on a planted embankment to separate road from rail”.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 8 March 2017
15 Comments
I am very unhappy to think Carrum will have a SKYRAIL with all the negatives
That will mean. It has been shown that a trench is possible with engineer drawing from the no SKYRAIL group. So why is my villiage to be destroyed. I use Eel race road at least twice a day so I am also upset that this crossing will close. The bridge across the river is a sensible decision and will solve many of the traffic problems but the McCleod rd meeting Nepean highway is going to cause problems. Traffic light will bank the traffic back along McCleod ?No traffic lights will result in a right hand turn being just as difficult as exists from Eel race Rd
Neither the government nor LXRA (assuming of course they are not the same) are listening to this community. Rail under Road is possible and as such should be the only option.
Carrum and Seaford do NOT want elevated rail. It has been proven that it can go under and we are going to fight this 900m “bridge” that they are forcing on us. Residents deserve better than this. We want the level crossings removed but not that expense of thing our coastal suburb for the next 100 years!
All the great cities of the world have under grounds.. Proximity to Patterson River? There’s a tunnel under Sydney harbour! Future generations will curse this and it will be an expensive exercise in the future to take down those massive concrete pylons that will be graffitied and discoloured in no time and go rail under as it should be now!
This is a blight on the landscape and to those living and working under its shadows with the increased volume and vibrations..
A number of options to go under at Carrum downstream of the bridge have been presented to the LXRA which were not responded to nor rebuked by them. Lack of innovation resulting in ruining Carrum forever, with an Option being imposed that 95% of Comments opposed on the LXRAs own discussion forum.
94.6% of Carrum residents have voted to not want a “sky rail”
The Carrum rail station can be trenched (as proven by the Noskyrailfranstonline.org engineers)
So where are you on this issue at the moment Sonya Kilkenny?
This will only cause more congestion on the road as eel race road has no traffic lights to cross only boom gates. Therefore making all traffic to use the large intersection and having cross four lanes not a very well thought out plan for road congestion. Just leave it how it is if your not going to put rail under road!
This is a desperate government trying desperate measures for electoral gain. A government that took its legal right NOT TO CONSULT WITH COMMUNITIES TO THE SUPREME COURT. Once this is done , it cannot be undone. Our beautiful Bayside communities will be blighted forever . Frankston is currently being fast tracked despite significant opposition. No Sky Rail for the Frankston line
Absolutely disgusting from the labour government, it makes no difference what the public say, any consultation has just been a hr exercise to try to stop the media beat up as happened along the dandenong and cranbourne lines.
We will fight this until the end, it’s. o over until it’s under
#noskyrail
For the first time in my life, I feel such lack of control of my own destiny and such fear for the welfare and preservation of my own community where I have lived now for 35 years.
To uneccessarily impose a skyrail/elevated rail/rail bridge(semantics) on a community who are so vehemently opposed to the worst possible solution to level crossing removal is nothing short of arrogant dictatorship. The preservation of the intrinsic character of my community, the very reason I and everyone else chooses to live here and visit here is at risk of decimation, not to mention the numerous toxic health risks that skyrail/elevated rail imposes arbitrarily on the residents of the community. An authority that operates in such an arrogant manner as to totally ignore it’s constituents is an abomination, immoral and bloody-minded in the face of deafening opposition. Rail Under Road is the best, viable, and only appropriate solution to level crossing removal at Carrum. Angry and disgusted!
So the plan is to close Eel race rd and Mascot ave and then pump all the additional traffic through Carrum?
That’s not a plan its a disaster!
The Noskyrail group’s plan looks viable why isn’t it being looked at.
Is there any consultation at all?
Great news. The silent majority of us residents are glad these nuisance level crossings are finally being removed.
It’s a pathetic that the whinging Liberal party’s noskyrail group are playing politics after they did NOTHING when last in government to remove any of these dangerous level crossings along the Frankston line. Their laughable attempts at rail under “drawings” might as well been done by the local kids in kindy as they show a complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the necessary grades and clearances for rail. It was the stuff of fantasy with of course no mention of the much higher costs. No wonder the LXRA engineers rightly dismissed them.
97% of seaford residents want rail under road. The spin coming from this government is disgusting. We deserve better. Besides the ugliness and noise of skyrail, the closure of eel race road makes no sense. I travel It from seaford every day. It is a great crossing. Why force all seaford traffic flow onto Carrum? I am terrified what the plans for seaford station will eventually be.
Who came up with that “97%” figure? North Korea? It’s just the noskyrail group’s make believe number.
An actual ReachTEL scientific poll showed 60% in favour of elevated rail at these level crossings.
Exactly Bob.
The skyrail group are just a selfish minority who only care how it effects them, not how it effects the environment, its long term future and ramifications for the environment.
The whole mordialloc to seaford corridor should be a skyrail.
There are many advantages to this:
– no effect on the water table/flow in the wetlands.
– any future sea level rises will not effect the line. ie no trench flooding
– a continuous purpose built bike path can run its whole length removing bikes off nepean hwy and the rarely used station st paths
– areas under the skyrail can be given back to the community with either parkland, popup shops or car parking.
– a ridiculous trench system just results in a roller coaster design prone to future flooding and require a larger amount $$$ for maintenance and drainage/pumping.
– a trench that will never be completely covered so the community will never get back any use of it.
– train patrons will enjoy a nice view of bay
– a trench is just a likely to be graffitied as skyrail so classing that as a negative for skyrail is just a furphy.
Hopefully the EES statement allows this to happen rather than the political decisions on edithvale and carrum so far.