Agreed with protestors sky rail is Shyte
Put the trains under ground like burke road
Plenty of suburban rail systems around the world have elevated rail as part of their network and they don't end up ghettos. The main section of Berlin's S-Bahn is an elevated section running right through the middle of the city while the U5 line (IIRC) runs between apartment blocks in its elevated section. London's newish Docklands light rail is elevated and even Sydney is currently building 4km of skyrail as part of their new north-west line. Melbourne already has elevated rail between West Richmond and Clifton Hill as well as Glenferrie to Auburn, Malvern to Caulfield, Pattison on the Frankston line and Gardenvale on the Sandy line over the Nepean Hwy.
The Glen Eira council (the mayor) put local support for the skyrail project at a ratio of 8:2 in favour. Of course you won't read that in the Herald-Sun
. Most of these "protesters" are Liberal party rent-a-crowd such as MP David Davis, who doesn't live anywhere near the area, while the leader of the anti-skyrail group is also a Liberal party cheerleader.
At the end of the day, the level crossings have to go to increase rail capacity and road traffic flow while space needs to be created around stations for park-and-ride. The choice of how it's done comes down to engineering issues, practicability and cost. Unlike the other single grade-separations we've had so far, putting large sections of the Dandenong line down in a trench (it wouldn't be underground) would shut the line down for years. The timeframe for construction and cost would be significantly greater as well. On the Frankston line near Carrum, the final decision will come down to engineering concerns regarding the water table (with the beach nearby and Patterson river) as well as the time frame and cost for the project between skyrail vs trench options.
