Train tracks or bridges at 10 locations between Albury and Euroa will have to be replaced or altered to allow bigger double-stacked freight trains to run along the new inland rail system.
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Six of the locations are in Wangaratta, including the Green Street overpass and two pedestrian bridges at the rail station.
Australian Rail Track Corporation staff were in the North East this week to start discussions with the community about the solutions.
The preference was to remove Wangaratta’s pedestrian bridges at nearby Cusack and Docker streets, which are too low for the trains to fit underneath, and replace them with one higher bridge.
But the ARTC was open to residents’ suggestions for the new location.
It also planned to reconfigure the tracks, moving one line from the eastern side of the station where the front entrance is located, to the western side at the back.
Level crossings were not an option, after the Victorian government ruled they were too dangerous and started working to remove them throughout the state.
ARTC senior project manager Dinesh Batra said the goal was to provide access for double-stacked trains under the bridges without acquiring any property and having minimal impact on the environment.
“Every structure is different, in every case there will be a different solution,” he said.
“Local knowledge is very appreciated, sometime there are very good ideas.”
Every structure is different, in every case there will be a different solution.
- ARTC senior project manager Dinesh Batra
The ARTC’s preference is to lower the track underneath the Murray Valley Highway at Barnawartha and Beaconsfield Parade at Glenrowan.
Lowering the track by 1.5 metres at Glenrowan would minimise the impact on heritage issues in the area.
Residents who came out to talk to ARTC staff this week were generally happy with that option, but warned the ground became very soft and muddy during wet periods.
Works are scheduled to take place between 2020 and 2025.
The staff said they planed to conduct the work one track at a time, to prevent train service disruptions wherever there are double tracks.