Altona residents and Hobsons Bay’s deputy mayor are calling for a partial duplication of the Altona Loop while services are shut down for up to three months to remove the Kororoit Creek Road level crossing.
The crossing in Williamstown North closes for a total of 11 minutes in the two-hour morning peak but has been fast-tracked for removal by 2019 as part of the state government’s $6 billion level-crossing removal project.
The single-track Altona Loop is one of the Metro network’s biggest bottlenecks but will remain a single track even after a new rail bridge is built.
Altona commuters rely on a sparse rail service of a train every 22 minutes in peak times and every 20 minutes between peaks.
Altona commuters are also among the most frequent victims of station skipping. Metro services occasionally bypass the Altona Loop when there is a service disruption, stranding passengers at Laverton or Newport stations.
In some cases, Altona-bound commuters have been informed while in transit that they will bypass the loop, leading passengers to coin the term “kidnap trains”.
Altona Loop Group spokeswoman Jennifer Williams said that unless the track was duplicated, train commuters would have the same poor service after the level crossing was removed.
“I think duplication of the line would make a lot of sense at that stage, while it’s shut down,” she said.
“The reason is that pre- and post-crossing removal we’ll still have the same train service – the same bypasses, the same dumpings and kidnappings.
Ideal time
Hobsons Bay deputy mayor Sandra Wilson said it was an ideal time to duplicate the track.
“I know it’s in the PTV network plan 20 years from now,” she said.
“But if they’re going to do work of such magnitude and close the line down for three months, given all the suffering that we’ve had, wouldn’t it be good to have not just a resolution for the level crossing but also for the train users?”
Level Crossing Removal Authority chief executive Kevin Devlin said the level crossing removal would be “future-proofed” to allow for expansion of the rail corridor.
“While it’s too early to tell how long the disruption will be, we’ll do everything we can to minimise disruptions and ensure the community is aware of any changes to their train service,” he said.
– with The Age
