The Rowville line & Burnley group service improvements

An extension of the existing broad gauge heavy rail network to one of the largest rail-poor areas of outer Melbourne using the Wellington Road median with an underground link from Oakleigh to Alamein via Chadstone Shopping Centre and Holmesglen.

New line: The terminus of the line shall be underneath Stud Park shopping centre car parks whereafter the line heads south and swings to the West underneath Wellington Road and surfaces just beyond the Corporate Avenue intersection. The route runs down the median of the road to just before the Garnett Road intersection where the line dives into the side of the hill and then surfaces once more to the west of Springvale Road and continues to run down the median of Wellington Road to Monash University. Yet again diving into the side of the hill at Monash University and surfacing on the western side of Clayton Road, the line continues down the North Road median where it is elevated and swung around to the south to eventually lie next to the current Pakenham/Cranbourne lines. Line continues alongside the existing rail corridor to just before Oakleigh station where the line dives into a new tunnel that stretches from Oakleigh to Ashburton via Chadstone & Holmesglen with the tunnels surfacing to the south of Ashburton near the current end of the Alamein line.

Burnley - Camberwell quadruplication:

A 4th track to the built between Burnley and Camberwell in the space which was reversed for it with the original Box Hill triplication project in the 70s effectively giving the corridor a 'fast' and 'slow' set of tracks - 4th Platform built at Camberwell only.

New Rowville line stations:

1. Rowville (underground)

2. Jells Road / Waverley Park (underground)

3. Springvale Road (open-cut with minor SmartBus? interchange facilities above)

4. Monash University (open-cut)

5. Huntingdale (two new platforms built adjacent to current infrastructure with minor interchange facilities to the Pakenham/Cranbourne lines alongside)

6. Oakleigh (two new platforms built directly underneath current platforms 1 and 2 at Oakleigh with major interchange facilities to the Pakenham/Cranbourne platforms above)

7. Chadstone Shopping Centre (underground)

8. Holmesglen (two new platforms built direct underneath current platforms 1 and 2 at Holmesglen with major interchange facilities to the Glen Waverley line platforms above)

Alamein Line changes:

1. Alamein Station closed, replaced with a bus service running between Ashburton and Holmesglen via the site of the old Alamein station.

2. Burwood & Hartwell Stations closed & demolished with a new station located at the mid-point between them above the Burwood Highway - to be built with interchange facilities to the #75 tram below.

3. Willison & Riversdale stations closed & demolished, Riversdale & Prospect Hill Roads grade separated with a new Riversdale Station build directly under the new Riversdale Road overpass - to be built with interchange facilities to the #70 tram above.

Service Patterns:

Rowville Line to run on 10 minute frequencies throughout the day stopping all stations to the City Loop via the Chadstone & Camberwell with extra peak services stopping all stations Rowville to Oakleigh then expressing Oakleigh-Caulfield-South Yarra-Richmond-City Loop via the current Caulfield group.

Belgrave & Lilydale lines throughout the day stop all stations from Belgrave & Lilydale to Camberwell then express Camberwell-Burnley-Richmond-City Loop with peak services consisting of the current mixed stopping patterns between Camberwell and Box Hill.

Glen Waverley line frequency boosted to 10 minutes in off-peak times.

Future Melbourne-related benefits:

- New Rail service to suburban areas which previously did not have them.

- Polarises the relationship between the CBD, Glenferrie/Swinburne, Camberwell, Chadstone, Holmesglen, Oakleigh, Monash/Clayton and Mulgrave activity precincts on one seamless public transport line.

- Forges new links between the inner East and middle & outer South East by providing a one-change train solution between the Rowville, Pakenham & Cranbourne lines at Oakleigh.

- Removes pressure from Chadstone Shopping Centre to expand its car parking requirements with the one-change rail solutions at Oakleigh, Holmesglen and Camberwell.

- Based on a 10 minute all day frequency on each of the various lines, the average wait time at any of the three interchange stations is merely 5 minutes.

--  AlastairTaylor - - 13 Jun 2008 - 20:34