Work Powers Ahead On Sunbury Line Upgrade

VIC Premier

Work will soon begin to provide the power needed to run bigger, better trains on the Sunbury Line.

Crews will be working around the clock to connect two brand new substations at Talmage Street in Albion and Willaton Street in St Albans into the network, as well as connect an upgraded substation at Diggers Rest.

Buses will replace trains on sections of the Sunbury Line from 8.30pm on Monday 21 February to the last train on Sunday 27 February to enable these works to take place. Buses will also replace trains on parts of the Sunbury line on each evening from Monday 28 February to Wednesday 2 March.

The works are part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade which will be complete in 2023 – adding longer platforms, track upgrades and expanded train stabling to support the new generation trains when the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025. The Sunbury line will connect to the Metro Tunnel, creating space for 113,000 more passengers in peak periods every week.

As part of the upgrade, six new substations have now been built to boost power along the line – including the two at Talmage Street in Albion and Willaton Street in St Albans, another at St Albans Road in St Albans, and three more in Footscray, Delahey and Calder Park.

New high-voltage cabling between the substations and the rail corridor will also be connected, with some trenching and work to disconnect and remove existing infrastructure. Each new substation will include indigenous plants and decorative screens to complement their local environments, which have been shaped by the local community.

Work also continues in Sunbury to remove the Gap Road level crossing, which has been fast tracked to be complete in 2022 to get traffic in the Sunbury CBD moving sooner. Crews have made major progress on piling that will support the new rail bridge and retaining walls for the lowered road.

One eastbound lane on Gap Road at the crossing was closed to allow the completion of piling north of Station Street, while crews continue work on retaining walls alongside the rail line next to the Target shopping complex car park and on the corner of Gap Road and Horne Street. One lane each way on Gap Road between Horne Street and Evans Street remains open, with pedestrians and cyclists being diverted to the Sunbury Station overpass.

Gap Road/Station Street will be lowered under the existing rail line to preserve the heritage-listed Sunbury Station, to improve safety and ease congestion, especially when more trains run on the Sunbury Line in the future. The project will include building new shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Sunbury community will also benefit from investment on the Sunbury Road upgrade to be finished in 2025, which will add extra lanes on Sunbury Road between Powlett Street and Bulla-Diggers Rest Road, adding traffic lights, new walking and cycling connections and building a new bridge over Jacksons Creek. 

As stated by Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan

“It’s great to see these works progressing to enable bigger, more modern trains to run on the Sunbury Line in the future and connect passengers to the Metro Tunnel in 2025, whilst creating hundreds of jobs.”

“Whether you’re catching a train, driving, walking or cycling – we’re getting on with these works to make it easier and more reliable to get where you need to go around Sunbury.”

As stated by Member for Sunbury Josh Bull

“These works will transform the way we travel in the north-west – with better connections, slashed travel times and improved safety.”

/Public Release. View in full here.