Works for Melbourne Airport Rail Stage 1: West Footscray to Albion Rail Upgrade are gathering pace, with crews on the ground for site investigations at Tottenham.
Melbourne Airport Rail Stage 1 will untangle 6km of track between West Footscray and Albion and build 2 new platforms at Sunshine Station, transforming the station into a transport superhub with capacity for 1000 trains a day, including future trains to the airport and electric trains to Melton.
Crews have been busy undertaking soil assessments, locating underground services and assessing existing rail infrastructure between Tottenham and Sunshine stations, ahead of works ramping up across the area next month.
The site investigations will help inform plans for reconfiguring tracks between Tottenham and Sunshine, new rail flyovers and a new Tottenham Station.
Building 2 flyovers and removing the Tottenham freight crossover will permanently separate metro, regional and freight trains and create space for rail tracks to the airport.
The new Tottenham Station will be built 20m north of its current location on the realigned Sunbury Line corridor to maintain access to Sunbury services running through the Metro Tunnel.
At Sunshine, work is already underway to relocate utilities adjacent to the rail corridor and create space for an expanded Sunshine Station, including moving a major telecommunications line beneath the Sun Crescent station car park.
To allow crews to complete the work safely, 65 car spaces have been closed.
Crews are also continuing the relocation of a major jet fuel pipeline at Albion Station.
Moving the pipeline will allow the new platforms servicing the Geelong and Ballarat lines to be built at Sunshine Station.
It will also allow construction of an extended station concourse, a new station entrance and landscaped forecourt, and a new pedestrian and cycling path over the rail line.
The Albion Station car park remains closed while construction on the pipeline is underway, with 8 accessible car spaces still available.
Melbourne Airport Rail Stage 1 will be completed in 2030.
