LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY
The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project has changed the face of Victorian suburbs. Its project director, Brett Summers, tells Niki Waldegrave how blending the old with the new has made city living and commuting easier for future generations.
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he train line from Melbourne CBD to Cranbourne and Pakenham is Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor, crossed by some of
Australia’s most congested roads, where boom gates were down for up to 82 minutes during the morning peak. With a number of fatalities recorded at level crossings on both that corridor and others, in 2015 the Victorian Government tasked the Victoriabased Level Crossings Removal Project with removing 50 dangerous level crossings by 2022 in addition to other infrastructure upgrades across section of Melbourne’s rail network. One of its showpieces was the $1.6 billion Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project, an intensive logistical exercise led by project director Brett Summers. One of Australian’s biggest construction plans, the Level Crossing Removal Project delivered the MARCH 2019