PT Problem of the Day: Level crossings cause long delays to trams and trains

Tram train crossing

It’s been a problem for decades: where trains cross trams, both suffer delays. The trams frequently have to wait for trains to cross, and the trains have to slow down to around 15 km/h — even when they’re running “express” through the adjacent station. This is a problem at four crossings: Glenhuntly (pictured), Kooyong, Gardiner and Riversdale.

It doesn’t have to be this way: the tram/train crossing at Elsternwick was grade-separated in the 1950s. A rolling programme of level crossing removals could rid much of Melbourne of its worst crossings within a few years, improving safety and cutting delays to trains, trams, buses, cyclists, pedestrians and motor vehicles.

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