No level crossing is spared from the Level Crossing Removal Project. The one near my station is up for replacement. The rumour was that was to be replaced with the rail line going over the road. The issue, though, was it’s location: it’s right next to some stabling yards, where trains are kept when they’re not in use.

I was unsure what they were going to do about this. You could see from the photo that these stabling yards, along with platform 3 at the station, are accessed by a pretty broad flat junction. And I couldn’t see how they could keep this and elevate the rail line to cross the road. They could move the yard, but speaking to a driver while we were both waiting for our coffee train, there isn’t a suitable place to move the yard to, unless they start taking parkland.

Well, the proposal is in, and from the concept drawings, it looks like they’re planning to keep the yard:

So, okay. I guess they could find a way to do this. I would be interested in knowing what they do about access to platform 3 though. I can’t see them keeping the existing rail road that goes along the yard fence line. I’m guessing that they’ll need to reconfigure the junction in some way. Either that, or they scrap platform 3 altogether. It does see some use, and provides a good terminal for certain services, but maybe they could live without it? 🤷

Anyway, something to look forward to.