Darra Station - upgrade

[ozbob]

Track is going down on the new roads through Darra












UP from footbridge







Photographs R Dow 19th June 2010

[ozbob]

Track laying proceeding at a rapid rate ..




This is the first bit of track for the branch line to Richlands points for the down line ..





Photographs R Dow 21st June 2010

[ozbob]

Progress









Photographs mufreight 25th June 2010

[ozbob]

Darra is almost a quad



Photograph mufreight 27th June 2010

[ozbob]

Some updates around Darra











Photographs mufreight 29th June 2010

[ozbob]

Ramp for platform 4 Darra has been poured.



Photograph mufreight 3rd July 2010

[ozbob]

Darra Station taking shape ..











Photographs mufreight 7th July 2010

[ozbob]

Darra now a quad





Photographs R Dow 8th July 2010

[ozbob]

Track closure this weekend (10th 11th July)

Platforms will be worked on.





Photographs R Dow 9th July 2010

[O_128]

Shame they arent making all the platforms fully covered 

[mufreight]

More pathetic they are not making the platforms themselves disability access compliant in accordance with the new federal legislation.

[ozbob]

Platform 4 final concrete poured .. lucky no rain poured! 









Photographs R Dow 10th July 2010

[ozbob]

The present Darra foot bridge is to be replaced.  This bridge is possibly the lowest foot bridge on the system.  And a great photograph location!

The bridge will be closed end of July/early August when subway and lifts at the City end of platforms operational.

















Photographs R Dow 11th July 2010

[ozbob]

Traffic in Railway Parade (in front of the shops) will be reduced to one lane from today.  Traffic flow clockwise.  This is to allow kerbing and behind platform one work to proceed, barriers are being removed today.





Tactile pavers nearly complete on platform 2



Photographs R Dow 11th July 2010

[ozbob]

There is a closure this coming Sunday 2pm to first train Monday am.

Ramp for platform 4



Railway Parade is one way




Photographs R Dow 16th July 2010

[ozbob]

RDO for majority of the work force today.

Platform one is being created



Photograph R Dow 19th July 2010

[ozbob]

Steady progress ..















Photographs R Dow 20th July 2010

[ozbob]

Platform one works proceeding.  View from the footbridge.  It is believed that the 'beloved' foot bridge will be removed in a week or so, to allow the construction of a new one.  Access will be via the new lifts and subway at the City end of the platforms during this time.



Photograph R Dow 12th August 2010

[ozbob]

The transformation of Darra continues.  The footbridge will be removed shortly, and replaced with a new one.



















Photographs R Dow 15th August 2010

[ozbob]

The footbridge removal is planned to commence early tomorrow morning (21st Aug).  Some final photographs of the bridge and Darra station generally.  Track closure this weekend, major changes for access from Monday AM.

























Photographs R Dow 20th August 2010

[ozbob]

http://www.translink.com.au/servicechange.php?1282196999

Bus stop relocation at Darra train station

From Monday 23 August, the bus stop at Station Avenue, Darra will be permanently relocated as part of the Corinda to Darra Rail Upgrade Project.

The new stop will be located 200 metres south-east at Manburgh Terrace.

Affected routes include:

    * 451 (Sinnamon Park to Darra)
    * 452 (Riverhills West to Darra)
    * 462 (Darra to Forest Lake)
    * 701 - school service
    * 782 - school service

Affected services

    * Bus number 451
    * Bus number 452
    * Bus number 462

[Stillwater]

In the Darra Station pics, the station nameplate is depicted with white lettering on a black background.  To the left of the station name is an orange coloured square with the TransLink symbol and word 'TransLink' inside it.  Other stations on the network where refurbishment has occurred recently has a similar nameplate, yet the orange coloured square is not there.  It is replaced by a red-going-into-orange stripe along the bottom, with the QR logo in the red portion of the stripe and the TransLink logo in the orange portion.  What are there two different styles for nameplate treatment at newly-refurbished stations?  And can the station name be a bit bigger?   

[ozbob]

The black lettering on white background signs are just temporary signs for use during construction.

red-going-into-orange stripe along the bottom, with the QR logo in the red portion of the stripe and the TransLink logo in the orange portion.

these are just new screens on the old frames and fluorescent lighting equipment, to minimise costs of changing I expect.

The orange ones are indeed a newer version.

[ozbob]

Massive work force at Darra.

A local shuttle bus is running between the Bowls Club (DOWN side) and the Bus Stop on the UP side.

Two 100T cranes in position, one UP side, one DOWN side.  Will be a while before the bridge is lifted.









Crane on UP side



Crane on DOWN side










This is the pedestrian pathway under Manburgh Tce bridge.  A proper footpath would be a minor job ..






Photographs R Dow 21st August 2010

[ozbob]

Scaffolding being erected underneath the bridge, prior to sectioning.
Cranes being positioned.





Photographs R Dow 21st August 2010

[ozbob]

Works notice

[ozbob]

The foot bridge proved to be very difficult to demolish.  It needed a hydraulic ram on tracks to finally break bridge section free.



The first section of the old foot bridge at Darra is finally lifted.  A number of hours were spent in freeing the bridge section.


























New Station Office platform 4 finishing touches ..



Some sleeper replacement on the main lines down from Darra




Photographs R Dow 21st August 2010

[ozbob]

Station office on platform 4 nearly ready. Subway will be open tomorrow morning.  Final touches being made to stairs for access to platforms 3 and 4.  Lifts will not be operational tomorrow morning.  Trees and gardens being established along the rear of platform one.

Big changes for Darra rail station tomorrow morning (Monday 23rd).  Foot bridge has been demolished, normal access from the west (Ipswich) end now closed. Access will be via the subway at the City end of the platforms.  This means that some folk will probably be caught short for time.  It now takes a few minutes to walk down to the subway from the car park.  This change has not been widely notified to Darra station commuters.

The only notice on TransLink is about the bus stop changes at Darra --> http://www.translink.com.au/servicechange.php?1282196999



A lane fenced off under the Manburgh Tce bridge for pedestrian access during the weekend ..
























Photographs R Dow 22nd August 2010

[ozbob]

Bridge gone, access now via subway.  Plenty of staff to assist with the changes.






















This was the first bus to use the re-established bus stop B Darra






















Manburgh Tce bridge - back to normal operation



Photographs R Dow 23rd August 2010

[#Metro]

Good to see feeder buses in action! 

[david]

I managed to grab a look at Darra Station today and it really does look fantastic. The station building is very modern looking (although, it does a fairly good job of camouflaging itself with its grey colour at night  ). The lime green paint used for the subway gives it a brighter look and safer feel and the access point from the subway to Platform 4 is fantastic. The new bus stop area is also starting to look very good and will (hopefully) attract more people to use the feeder services currently present.

Just one quick question though - is there anything to stop the use of the third track, say, from next week? All the work has been done from Corinda to Darra on the track and only some wiring is required through Platform 2 at Darra, which I imagine could be done fairly easily. Could we expect to see services operating on the track in the 1st week of September?

[Derwan]

They probably haven't connected the power yet.  mufreight will probably confirm that. 

[ozbob]

is there anything to stop the use of the third track, say, from next week? All the work has been done from Corinda to Darra on the track and only some wiring is required through Platform 2 at Darra

G'day David,

Interesting observation.  Both mufreight and myself have been discussing this very issue.  We think it might be sooner than later.  Will see if I can find out more, but it is nearly ready to go! 

[O_128]

I wish the ticket office had been built into a concourse to service all platforms

[mufreight]

There are a number of restricting factors on operations through platform 2 at this time.
Overhead as yet it is incomplete not only through the station at Darra but also to the west of Darra.
Signalling is a long way from complete from the Panhard Street crossovers to the Darra West junction with the existing western main lines.
Pointwork, the pointwork at the Wacol end of Darra appears to be incomplete and yet to be comissioned, if it was able to be used at the present time it would greatly simplify the operation of ballast trains on to the Richlands branch.
Works trains, the need of access to the Richlands branch for ballast trains for both the down (third track) and the up line (fourth track) over the next month or so would inhibit the use of the third (down suburban) track for passenger services.
By the end of the year is probable once the trackwork as far as Richlands is complete, the overhead and signalling are completed, tested and registered and the pointwork at Darra West has been commissioned.   

[ozbob]

By the end of the year is probable

Not long now ...  exciting times ahead!  Bring it on!! 

[david]

Thanks for sharing that information mufreight!

I had received advice earlier that Trackstar planned to have Darra station finished by September, with commissioning of the new tracks sometime soon after. From the looks of it, Trackstar will manage to stick to their scheduled completion date. It's interesting that Translink has a track closure between Corinda and Rosewood scheduled for the 11th of September. Perhaps we can look forward to an announcement soon?

[mufreight]

It might be that the closure on the weekend of the 11th is to enable the wiring of the main line crossover at Darra West and the wiring of the access between the mains and the suburban/freight lines and the commissioning of the points and crossover.
Not only would this allow the operation of trains through platforms 1 and 2 but it would greatly facilitate the operation of ballast and rail trains trains on the Richlands line as they would then be able to enter from the west and then propel onto the branch from Darra as there is no means of running around a train at Darra and to propel from Corinda could interfer with other traffic such as the coal trains.

[ozbob]

Railway Parade will be completely closed this weekend.  Next week though two way traffic back.

Barriers are being removed in preparation for the works to start later tonight.



The only major issue at the moment at Darra (apart from the fact it is in a construction zone) is that only one go card reader coming off platform 3. There was a temporary one at the bridge exit plus a permanent one so that two in effect. Now only one and is causing some delays.

Bus Stop A  (shops side)




Bus Stop B






The remains of the foot bridge






Photographs R Dow 27th August 2010

[ozbob]

Railway Parade closed as per the works notice












Stairs for platform 4 west end

These stairs are needed sooner than later.  It will greatly facilitate access to and from the Bowls Club for a lot of patrons.  As this stage there doesn't seem to be any rush at all.





Photographs R Dow 28th August 2010