A major bottleneck in Stonnington has gone forever after work on a level crossing finished six months ahead of schedule.

Trains started travelling over the new rail bridge at Toorak Rd for the first time this morning after crews worked around the clock for the past nine days.

media_camera The rail bridge at the Toorak Rd level crossing in Kooyong is now in operation.

Work included removing the boom gates, laying new tracks, installing wiring and signalling and connecting the new bridge to the Glen Waverley line.

Toorak Rd will also be reopened from Wednesday morning, with motorists no longer facing delays at the boom gates.

A lot of our attention at the moment is focused on this pandemic. For good reason. But at the same time, work hasn't... Posted by Dan Andrews on Sunday, 12 April 2020

The Toorak Rd and Monash Freeway interchange is one of the most congested intersections in Melbourne, with about 37,000 vehicles travelling through it each day in normal periods.

media_camera A massive amount of work has gone into speeding up the removal of the Toorak Rd level crossing.

Talbot Crescent was blocked off at one end during construction of the rail bridge, with residents and council pushing for the Kooyong road to be turned into a permanent cul-de-sac.

But the State Government rebuffed them.

media_camera Trains started using the rail bridge at Toorak Rd from this morning.

Forty L beams formed the bridge, each up to 31m long and weighing up to 128 tonnes.

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Works on open space will finish next year, with more than 23,000 trees, plants and grasses to be planted in the area.

The massive operation resulted in numerous transport delays in recent months, while buses also replaced trains for a significant part of the Glen Waverley line from April 3 to 12.