West Footscray railway station will undergo a dramatic overhaul to accommodate the Melbourne Metro rail project.
The station, rebuilt less than three years ago, requires extensive work, including a new passenger platform on the station’s northern side, alterations to the existing station concourse, realigning of regional, suburban and freight tracks, and construction of new tracks.
The uncosted works, to begin in 2018, will allow some Sunbury line services to terminate and turn around at West Footscray station.
The Melbourne Metro’s twin nine-kilometre tunnels will increase network capacity by taking two of the busiest rail lines out of the City Loop.
A Melbourne Metro Rail Authority spokeswoman said works at West Footscray would help 12,000 extra passengers use the new stand-alone Sunbury to Cranbourne-Pakenham line.
“The additional platform and track to the north of West Footscray station will service city-bound trains coming from Sunbury in the morning and afternoon peak periods,” she said.
“The existing platform one will be used for trains travelling from the city to terminate and commence services at West Footscray station. This will assist trains to run on time.”
The works will enable additional trains to run to and from West Footscray station during the morning and afternoon peaks from 2026.
The authority spokeswoman said that although detailed Melbourne Metro requirements at West Footscray were not known at the time of the 2013 station rebuild, some future-proofing was incorporated into the design.
Minor platform extensions are also likely at Middle Footscray station, but no works are anticipated at Footscray station.
