Contract award

Acciona and WSP alliance to remove two Melbourne level crossings

By Staff Writer  |  25 October 2026

The Victorian Government has awarded an alliance of Acciona, WSP, Metro Trains Melbourne and VIDA Rail the contract to remove the level crossings at Anderson Street, Yarraville, and Hudsons Road, Spotswood.

The award was announced on 22 October 2026. Both crossings are on the Werribee line in Melbourne's inner west. Final designs will be released before construction starts next year, and the project is due to be complete in 2029. No contract value was given.

The two crossings

The government ranks Anderson Street among the most dangerous crossings still in use on the metropolitan network. Since 2006 there has been one death and four people seriously hurt there, and since 2016 there have been 26 near misses. Over 6,000 people cross on foot each day, and in the two-hour morning peak the boom gates are down for half the time. An earlier release put the number of trains through the crossing in that peak at up to 50.

Hudsons Road carries over 6,600 vehicles a day across the line, and many queue for long periods in the morning peak, which delays drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

What will be built

Pedestrians and cyclists will cross the railway through two new accessible underpasses. At Anderson Street there will be stairs on both sides of the line and two lifts on each side, serving cyclists and people using prams, wheelchairs or other mobility aids. The other underpass, linking Murray and Goulburn streets, will have stairs and ramps.

The Anderson Street crossing will close to vehicles. In October 2025, the government said expert assessments had found that closing it entirely was the safest and most effective design because of the narrow rail corridor and the dense urban setting, and that vehicles coming to Yarraville Village from the west would still be able to cross the line at Somerville Road and Francis Street.

On Anderson Street, the scheme frees up public space for seating, public art and dining outdoors. After community feedback, it will also add car parking to improve access to Yarraville Village. The government says the scheme will carry out the recommendations of an economic study for Maribyrnong City Council, which estimated that sales by local traders could grow by as much as 12 per cent.

A new Spotswood Station will open in 2028.

Consultation and the wider programme

The community has been consulted in four rounds, and the early Anderson Street designs were published in May 2026. The two removals are part of a programme to remove five level crossings across the inner west, at Newport, Spotswood, Yarraville and Altona, which the government says will leave the Werribee line with no boom gates by 2029.

Minister for Public Transport Vicki Ward said:

Getting rid of the Anderson Street and Hudsons Road level crossings will improve safety and cut congestion.

Vicki Ward, Minister for Public Transport, Victoria

Katie Hall, Member for Footscray, said:

This project will make Yarraville Village more walkable and open, with significantly more space for outdoor dining, seating and public artwork, along with more parking than exists today.

Katie Hall, Member for Footscray

Melissa Horne, Member for Williamstown, said:

We've banned trucks on Hudsons Road, and with the removal of the level crossing this will transform Spotswood making it safer for the community.

Melissa Horne, Member for Williamstown