News / Skyrail
Fresh momentum to push for accessible trams in Sydney Road
Upfield level crossing project set to begin work in 2029
Mark Phillips
WITH positive signs in recent weeks that construction of the Upfield skyrail will finally begin before the end of the decade, transport activists are renewing their push for accessible tram stops in Sydney Road.
The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) has confirmed that the railway line will close for at least three months during construction, curtailing public transport options for wheelchair users, parents with prams and other people with accessibility issues.
A refreshed timetable for the project released last month by the LXRP will see construction begin in 2029 and continue into the following year.
This lengthy lead up time provides an opportunity to make long awaited changes to Sydney Road before the disruption caused by construction, according to advocates for accessible, low floor trams.
Ahead of the state election in November, they want a firm commitment from the state government that it will install accessible tram stops along the length of Sydney Road.
There are only two accessible stops along the full length of Sydney Road, one of them at Brunswick Road and the other 5.5 km further north at the last stop on the line. This puts the state government in breach of the federal Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport.
“This is an election year and that gives the opportunity to demand a commitment from the Victorian government with very clear timelines on when they are going to do the work on Sydney Road because they recognise the problem, they want to do something about it but so far they are not providing any clear guidelines,” said Brunswick resident Christian Astourian, a motorised wheelchair user and founder of the Sydney Road Accessible Tram Stops Now community campaign.
Merri-bek Council last week also approved a new study of options for Sydney Road improvements.
Last month the LXRP released a trove of new information about the removal of the eight level crossings along the 2 km stretch of the Upfield line between Park Street and Albion Street.
When former Premier Daniel Andrews announced the project during the 2022 election, it was set to be delivered by next year. But in 2024, the government postponed it for three years due to budget pressures.
The new details include:
• Two new stations will be located near Union Street and Hope Street to replace the three existing stations.
• Rail bridge heights will vary from 4.8 metres to six metres; Dawson Street and Brunswick Road have a minimum clearance of 5.4 metres under the rail bridge.
• Both Brunswick and Jewell stations will be retained and repurposed but Anstey will be demolished. Some signal boxes and gates will also be preserved for heritage reasons.
• There will be some property acquisitions, including houses, next to the railway line. More details will be known in 2028.
• New signalised crossings will be installed at Albion and Victoria streets and raised zebra crossings at Hope, Albert and Union streets.
• Park Street will be slightly lowered to allow a 4.8 metre bridge height.
• Part of Bulleke-bek Park will close during construction and the western end of Clifton Park will be used for storage of construction equipment and materials.
• Respite and relocations will be offered to residents close to the railway line who are affected by noise and vibrations during construction.
In a bulletin sent on Sunday, the Brunswick Residents Network has raised a set of issues about lack of detail and clarity from the LXRP.
Read more:
When it comes to the impact of a full closure of the railway line for at least three months, the LXRP says extra low floor buses and taxis will be available for people with mobility issues.
But Astourian said this would be inadequate.
He said not all buses were equipped with ramps for wheelchairs, prams and other mobility devices and drivers often did not know how to use them, and there were a limited number of taxis available that could take wheelchairs.
“All these solutions the Victorian government is offering, they are a breach of basic human rights,” he said.
“And the only real solution will be the accessible tram stops along Sydney Road which will make Sydney Road safer for everyone.”
Hadfield resident Emilio Savle, who uses a motorised wheelchair as a result of polio, said the campaign was not calling for the replacement of all tram stops in Sydney Road but for strategically located accessible platforms.
Merri-bek councillor Adam Pulford, who successfully moved on Wednesday for the council to look at conducting a new study about options for Sydney Road, said the closure of the Upfield line made it imperative that accessible trams were in place as an alternative.
Pulford said the new study would help better understand how people used Sydney Road, including their preferred forms of transport but also look at barriers preventing change, including concerns from some traders about losing kerbside car parking.
“[Sydney Road is] the backbone of our community: so much happens along there, but it could be so much better,” Pulford said.
“And for a long time now, our community has been calling for change. They want it to be safer. They want it to be greener, more comfortable to walk down.
“When the train line closes, we [will] lose our most reliable form of accessible public transport … there’s time now for the Victorian government to act on Sydney Road to make it safer, greener and more accessible for everybody. And I want council to just keep pushing for that.”
Greens MP for Brunswick Tim Read said he still had some doubts about whether the level crossing removals will take place as planned, but assuming they did improving Sydney Road would be essential.
Read, who recently announced he would not be seeking re-election, said he had no doubt accessible transport in Sydney Road would be a key issue in the Brunswick electorate when people voted in November.
“I think that we need to see whether the Labor candidates in the area want Sydney Road to remain a traffic sewer where cars … are a protected species, or whether they want to revitalise Sydney Road and make it more of a destination and a place that’s friendly to pedestrians, bike riders and people with wheelchairs or otherwise disabled,” he said.
“The Brunswick community is a community that votes with its values and votes for others, and that’s why there’s so much support for low access tram stops.”
In a response to recent questions in Parliament about accessible tram stops, the Minister for Public and Active Transport, Gabrielle Williams, said: “Any significant changes to the Sydney Road corridor, including Route 19 tram stop upgrades, needs careful consideration and investigation to balance the needs of all transport users, traders and people who live in the community.”
Adding their voice to calls for accessible trams in Sydney Road is the Student Transport Riders Association, a recently formed organisation to lobby for better public transport for secondary and tertiary students.
“The lack of accessible tram stops, particularly on the route 19, is doing a disserved to the residents along this tram line, especially those with disabilities,” said STRA president Duale Siad.
“These passengers who cannot fully uitlise the inaccessible stops on Sydney Road are forced to use the woefully inadequate Upfiled line instead, which means a months-long shutdown disrupts livelihoods.”
The Level Crossing Removal Project is holding information sessions in Brunswick this month.
In person sessions will be held at T.O.M.S Place behind Sparta Place on February 24 and 26, and there are two remaining online sessions this Thursday and next Monday.
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