Ringwood level crossing removals
Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (17:25): (217) My adjournment matter this evening is directed to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, the Deputy Premier, and the action I seek is for the minister to join me for a level-crossing-free train trip between Ringwood and the CBD. It is an exciting time for train commuters in the Ringwood electorate. After a three-month closure of the rail line between Box Hill and Camberwell, trains have resumed along one of our city’s busiest train corridors. To all in the Ringwood electorate I say thank you for your patience, because while rail commuters have been travelling on replacement buses something pretty incredible has been underway: we have undertaken the largest infrastructure project the east has seen since the construction of EastLink. A team of hundreds have worked 24/7 to remove the dangerous and congested level crossings at Mont Albert Road and Union Road. The scale of the project is impressive. To remove these crossings we have built a staggering 1.3-kilometre trench, reaching depths of 10 metres below the surface, requiring the excavation of a staggering 213,000 cubic metres of soil. Held in place by 1700 concrete pylons, the corridor is now home to the beautiful new Union station, a premium station for the entire community to enjoy. Most importantly, for residents in the Ringwood electorate the entire stretch of railway between Ringwood and the CBD is now level crossing free.
I am proud to be a member of the Andrews Labor government which has made this happen, with the removal of not just the Mont Albert and Surrey Hills level crossings but also those at Blackburn Road and Heatherdale Road. In recognising the achievements of this Labor government I also want to take a moment to reflect on the shameful campaigns of the eastern suburbs Liberals. They spent the best part of two years fighting these level crossings at every single turn, and they made it one of the centrepieces of their campaign. A small, noisy rump thought they had the east in the bag, but they got the results they absolutely deserved. In the east we back progress, we back investment in public transport and we back a level-crossing-free train line from Ringwood to the city. While the haters are hating and the spoilers are spoiling, we are doing what matters.