The upgrade of the Sunbury Line, a suburban railway line in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, was undertaken to facilitate improvements in the capacity and frequency of services.
The upgrade enables the Sunbury Line to accommodate more modern trains upon the completion of the Metro Tunnel project in 2025. The Metro Tunnel project involves the development of a new end-to-end railway line connecting Sunbury in the west to the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines in the south.
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The Sunbury Line was upgraded by Rail Projects Victoria, a government agency that is also implementing the Metro Tunnel project. The upgrade involved an investment of A$2.1bn ($1.56bn).
Construction on the project started in 2019 and was completed six months ahead of schedule in July 2023.
Once the Metro Tunnel opens, passengers on the Sunbury Line can directly access five new stations: Arden, Parkville, State Library, Town Hall (connecting to Melbourne Central and Flinders Street stations) and Anzac.
Sunbury Line upgrade details
The upgrade works involved removing the level crossing on Gap Road in Sunbury, a major traffic bottleneck, and building a new track with traction power enhancements on the route between Sunbury and the Metro Tunnel’s western entrance in Kensington.
The project extended the platforms between Sunbury and Footscray, equipped eight stations with wheelchair boarding platforms to improve accessibility, and upgraded the train stabling facilities at Calder Park, Sunbury and Watergardens.
This included the laying of 5.78km of rail tracks and the installation of 71.5km of overhead copper wires and overhead line equipment, and 8,440 sleepers.
The Metro Tunnel will add 65 new high-capacity metro trains (HCMT) that will operate between Cranbourne and Sunbury from 2025. The high-capacity trains will increase the passenger handling capacity of the Sunbury line by 113,000 passengers a week during peak hours.
Construction details
The removal of the Gap Road level crossing began in July 2021, with the relocation of underground utilities.
Work delivered as part of the level crossing removal included the construction of a new rail bridge and a road underpass on Gap Road/Station Street, along with the creation of new shared paths to ensure the safe movement of cyclists and pedestrians.
The bridge was designed with principles from crime prevention through environmental design, aiming to create a two-span structure with improved sightlines and increased lighting, thereby improving wayfinding.
The construction work at Watergardens station included the extension of platforms to accommodate longer trains. The installation of three elevators and the extension of the concourse to improve station access were completed by August 2021.
A new substation was built near the train line at the corner of Willaton and Bent streets in St Albans. Construction of the substation was completed in February 2022.
Other works included the installation of signalling, communications and power infrastructure, platform upgrades at the Sunshine, Middle Footscray and West Footscray stations, and improvements to the power infrastructure at the Tottenham substation.
The overhead power line infrastructure at the Metro Tunnel’s western entrance was also upgraded.
Contractors involved in Sunbury Line upgrade
Rail Infrastructure Alliance, a consortium comprising John Holland, CPB Contractors, AECOM and Metro Trains Melbourne, received an A$215m ($145.4m) contract for the first package of works for the Sunbury Line upgrade.
The contract covered platform extension works and accessibility improvements at stations, as well as the construction of additional stabling facilities along the Sunbury Line.
John Holland covered works at the eastern and western portals, such as cut and cover tunnelling, decline structures, turnbacks and the reconfiguration and realignment of existing lines at the local level.
As lead designer for the project, AECOM provided the detailed design for the Gap Road level crossing removal. It employed an environment, social and governance-embedded design approach for the new underpass.
Design company Veris was commissioned by the RIA to create a 3D model of Sunbury Station for architectural and engineering design purposes. The company used 3D laser scanning to capture data on the architectural, structural and civil elements of the station, which was then used to develop Revit and 3D CAD [computer-aided design] models.
Multiworks, a local construction and engineering company, was selected by Metro Trains Melbourne to provide upgrade works at the Tottenham substation, as part of the Sunbury Line Upgrade.
The upgrade supports the introduction of new HCMT trains that require traction power upgrades in the Sunbury to Dandenong corridor.
The second package of the construction work, worth A$534m ($398m), was also awarded to RIA.
