Work has started on the new Caulfield to Dandenong rail trail. It's looking good and arriving earlier than expected.
Concrete is pouring already in the section between Noble Park and Sandown Park stations where the elevated rail track is now in operation.
The photo shows the construction crew at work. They are so impressed with the trail they are thinking about selling their utes and switching from hi-vis to lycra!
The trail will be enormously beneficial for these suburbs as it links communities to schools and facilities such as the skate park, aquatic centre and local shopping district.
It is also immediately clear just how wise it was to choose elevated rail rather than put the train in trenches at the level crossings.
The space freed up, by going up, has allowed the delivery of the rail trail and other community facilities at ground level that would not have been possible otherwise.
The community facilities will be installed in the wake of the path construction.
One positive will be an off-leash dog park at Noble Park. This is far preferable to have dogs on extensible leashes wandering all over the trail.
When complete, the continuous 17-kilometre shared path will link together several sections of existing paths, and will extend from the Monash University Caulfield Campus to the Eastlink Trail near Yarraman Station.
Meanwhile, crews have wasted no time clearing now-redundant ground level tracks in readiness for landscaping to begin.
More than 8000 cubic metres of soil and ballast has been removed from the old rail line, and works have started to demolish Noble Park’s former station.