Melbourne Level Crossing Removal Project has reached another milestone with the opening of the new Watsons Road bridge in Diggers Rest, Victoria. Spanning the busy Sunbury rail line, the bridge delivers the city’s 88th removed level crossing and permanently separates trains from road traffic.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Melbourne Level Crossing Removal Project reaches 88th milestone
Photo: Victorian Government

Watsons Road bridge in Diggers Rest: 88th level crossing removal

To mark this latest achievement in Melbourne’s level crossing removal program, 14 classic cars from the Macedon Ranges and District Motor Club drove over the new Watsons Road bridge to road-test the link.

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The bridge also includes a dedicated pedestrian path which, according to the Victorian Government, will make it easier for people to move across the rail corridor and connect with the surrounding community. These upgrades form part of a broader wave of Melbourne metro works, also discussed by Railway Supply.

The opening of Watsons Road bridge follows the commissioning of the new Golden Way road bridge and the removal of the Old Calder Highway level crossing in June. As part of the wider works around Diggers Rest Station, a new community open space now links the station with the local post office, and 35,000 trees, shrubs and grasses have been planted across the project area.

Metro Tunnel rail corridor now boom-gate free

Before these upgrades to the Old Calder Highway and Watsons Road level crossings, more than 8000 vehicles passed through the area each day. Drivers could face delays of up to 36 minutes when 27 trains travelled through during the morning peak. The government said that removing these level crossings also helps avoid even longer boom gate delays now that more trains are running on the Sunbury Line following the opening of the Metro Tunnel.

With the Metro Tunnel in operation, the almost 100-kilometre Metro Tunnel rail corridor is now boom-gate free, and all 35 sets of boom gates have been removed from the Sunbury and Cranbourne/Pakenham lines as part of the Melbourne Level Crossing Removal Project.

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