Doing The Work To Power Bigger Sunbury Line Trains
Round-the-clock works on train substations to enable bigger, better trains to run on the Sunbury Line and pave the way for turn-up-and-go train services are now complete.
Crews worked 24/7 over six days in late February to connect two new substations at Talmage Street in Albion and Willaton Street in St Albans into the network, and complete upgrades to an existing substation at Diggers Rest.
Six brand new substations have been built as part of the upgrade, including others at Delahey, Footscray, St Albans Road in St Albans, and one at Calder Park rail yard. Crews also installed new high-voltage cabling between the substations and the rail corridor.
The upgrades will enable new high-capacity trains to run on the Sunbury Line in the future, using smart signalling technology to safely travel closer together, meaning more trains, more often on the Sunbury Line. The trains will also allow space for 113,000 more passengers in peak periods every week once the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025.
From mid-2022 crews will connect the Footscray, St Albans Road and Delahey substations to the network, while at the new Albion and St Albans substations landscaping and design works will include planting indigenous species and installing decorative screens to complement the local environments, with design input from the community.
Outside the new Footscray substation, a much-loved palm tree was recently returned to its home on McNab Avenue after it was temporarily relocated to a paddock in Clayton South while the building was constructed.
Other improvements underway as part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade include building longer and more accessible platforms, upgrading tracks and expanding train stabling.