ON RIGHT TRACK
WORK PROGRESSING WELL
The Shepparton railway line upgrade has reached a muddy milestone, notching up 40 km of digging, trenching and boring despite the wet weather.
Crews delivering stage two of the upgrade have completed all underground trenching, boring and pipe installation works between Donnybrook and Seymour.
The 40 km route of cabling that has been installed below and above the ground represents one third of the total distance required to facilitate upgrades to 59 level crossings between Donnybrook and Shepparton.
‘‘This cabling work is really critical for the upgrade of the Shepparton line, both for enabling VLocity trains as part of stage two and to run more services as part of stage three,’’ Regional Rail Revival director Mark Havryluk said.
‘‘While the lockdowns of Greater Shepparton and Mitchell Shire have had a short-term impact on our works in the area, we’re still on track to deliver these upgrades as targeted to enable VLocity trains to travel to and from Shepparton for the first time and enable faster and more frequent services.’’
Stage two of the line upgrade is delivering the infrastructure required to enable modern VLocity trains to travel on the line for the first time.
Site mobilisation works will start in Nagambie in the coming weeks to support construction of the platform extension at the station to suit longer VLocity trains.
Stage two of the project will also extend platforms at Mooroopna and Murchison East and includes a new stabling facility north of Shepparton Railway Station to house the modern trains.
Work has also started on stage three of the upgrade while trains weren’t running on the line in September, with construction of the extended crossing loop at Murchison East starting.
Crews worked around the clock — notching up more than 17,000 work hours — to undertake earthworks, drainage and signalling works and remove parts of the existing track.
More than 10,000 cubic metres of soil was removed and 15,000 tonnes of locally-sourced quarry products used across the nine-day construction blitz.
The crossing loop extension will boost capacity on the line and make services more reliable by enabling a 1.2 km-long freight train and two six-car VLocity trains to pass each other.
Site investigations have also taken place along the line to design the stage three track and signalling upgrades, which will enable nine week-day return services to Shepparton and deliver faster journeys.
Stage two is targeted for completion in late 2022 and stage three in late 2023.
The Shepparton line upgrade is part of the $4 billion Regional Rail Revival program, which is upgrading every regional passenger rail line in Victoria and creating 3000 jobs and local supplier opportunities.