More than 300 temporary car spaces are now available to commuters at Tottenham Station as work continues to ramp up on the Andrews Labor Government’s Melbourne Airport Rail project.
Extra car spaces have been built at Rupert Street in Tottenham to reduce impacts on rail passengers while car parks at Sunshine and Albion stations are partially or fully closed for Melbourne Airport Rail works.
Traffic flow will be carefully monitored and measures put in place including traffic management plans and signage to help pedestrians, passengers, residents, vehicles and construction machinery using the temporary car park. New lighting and CCTV has also been installed in the car park to ensure commuter safety.
Temporary parking became available on Friday 31 March, and the additional car spaces will be in place for two years while critical work is carried out at Sunshine and Albion stations.
Project workers recently completed a 60-hour construction blitz in and around Sunshine to prepare for construction of a new elevated rail bridge that will take trains over Ballarat Road and to the airport. Works have also begun on the new second pedestrian concourse at Sunshine Station.
With trains paused over the weekend of 17-19 March, construction teams worked around-the-clock to complete crucial works in the rail corridor. During the closure the rail bridge over Stony Creek was demolished, drainage installed, and the national freight tracks north of Albion Station realigned to make way for the new airport rail tracks.
A 60-tonne piling rig was moved into position between the tracks at Sunshine Station to allow work on the new concourse and platform extensions to begin shortly. The project will transform the station into a transport superhub, connecting the airport, CBD, and Victoria’s key regional centres including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.
Other work included laying the foundations for the new airport rail tracks, moving utility services to make way for the new infrastructure, and installing communications, power and service cables.
When Melbourne Airport Rail opens in 2029, passengers will be able to change to airport services at Sunshine Station and catch a train to the airport without having to travel in and out of the CBD.
The journey from Sunshine on dedicated tracks to the new, premium Melbourne Airport Station will be around 11 minutes.
Quotes attributable to Member for Laverton Sarah Connolly
“Sunshine Station will be pivotal to the project, which will better connect the west to the regions and the world.”
