Altona railway station

For the railway station in Germany, see Hamburg-Altona station.

Altona
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from platform looking at station building, June 2019
General information
Location	Railway Street South, Altona, Victoria 3018 City of Hobsons Bay Australia
Coordinates	37°52′02″S144°49′48″E / 37.8672°S 144.8301°E / -37.8672; 144.8301
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Werribee
Distance	17.15 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	1
Tracks	1
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	70
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	ALT
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	1 December 1917;106 years ago (1917-12-01)
Electrified	2 October 1926 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Altona Beach (1917-1938)
Passengers
2005–2006	325,384 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Westona towards Werribee		Werribee line		Seaholme towards Frankston via Flinders Street

Track layout
Legend to Seaholme Pier Street 1 to Westona

Altona railway station is located on the Werribee line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-west Melbourne suburb of the same name, and opened on 1 December 1917 as Altona Beach. It was renamed Altona on 3 October 1938. ^{[4] [5]}

History

Altona station was originally opened as the terminus of the line from Newport. In 1888, the Altona Bay Estate Company, a private land developer, constructed a railway to Altona. The first official trains ran on the line on 8 September of that year. In 9 November 1888, the line was extended to a station named "Altona Beach", which was about a kilometre to the west of the current station. ^{[6] [7]}

As a result of the collapse of the 1880s Land Boom, regular services to Altona Beach ceased after August 1890, and the Victorian Government declined the offer of the owners to gift it the line. In the 1890s, a company opened a brown coal mine near the terminus of the line and, in 1907, a siding was built in the same area to enable sand to be dispatched by rail. In 1910, the Altona Brown Coal Colliery Company began railing quantities of brown coal, using a short north-west extension of the Altona line. ^[8]

In 1917, the owners of the railway entered into an agreement with the Victorian Railways (VR) to provide a regular passenger service, having guaranteed to cover any operating losses. ^[8] On 1 December 1917, the VR opened a new "Altona Beach" station at the present site. ^[4] For a period of time, de-motored McKeen railmotors were used as carriages on steam-hauled passenger services.

By 1924, the private owner of the Altona line owed the VR £7,289, being the accumulated deficit on operating passenger services, so the VR took full control of the line on 1 October of that year. ^[6] In 1926, the track was electrified and, in 1938, the station was renamed "Altona". Apart from a few direct trains between Altona and Melbourne in peak periods, all trains were run as shuttle services between Newport and Altona.

On 31 July 1959, the station was closed to goods traffic ^[4] and, in 1967, flashing light signals were provided at the Pier Street level crossing, at the up end of the station. ^[4] In 1977, the platform was extended at the down end. ^[4]

By the early 1980s, the station, and the line itself, was under threat of closure, as recommended in the Lonie Report. ^[9] In October 1981, the rail service was drastically cut, with all shuttle services withdrawn, and only two morning and evening trains being operated to and from Melbourne. ^[8] However, a change of state government in 1982 saw the restitution of most services in July of that year. ^[8]

On 21 January 1985, the line was extended to Westona and, ^[10] on 14 April of that year, it was further extended, from Westona to Laverton. ^{[5] [11] [12]} Also in that year, boom barriers were provided at the Pier Street level crossing. ^[4]

Platforms and services

Altona has one platform and is served by Werribee line trains. ^[13]

Platform 1:

•   Werribee line   all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston; all stations services to Laverton (weekdays only) and Werribee

Transport links

CDC Melbourne operates three bus routes via Altona station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  411 : Laverton station – Footscray ^[14]
•  412 : Laverton station – Footscray ^[15]
•  415 : Laverton station – Williamstown ^[16]

Kinetic Melbourne operates one SmartBus route to and from Altona station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• SmartBus  903 : to Mordialloc ^[17]

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
4. "Altona". vicsig.net. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
5. "Altona Station". Rail Geelong. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
6. Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to ‘62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways Public Relations and Betterment Board. p. 71.
7. "The Railways of Altona". Altona Laverton Historical Society. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
8. Guiney, Michael (1988). The Altona Bay Railway. self-published.
9. "Traffic". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). September 1981. p. 212.
10. Harrington, Tony (22 January 1985). "Western suburbs get new station, lose three others". The Age . p. 5.
11. "Victoria" Railway Digest March 1985 page 97
12. "Victoria" Railway Digest May 1985 page 151
13. "Werribee Line". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "411 Laverton Station - Footscray via Altona Meadows & Altona & Millers Rd". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "412 Laverton Station - Footscray via Altona Meadows & Altona & Mills St". Public Transport Victoria.
16. "415 Laverton Station - Williamstown via Altona". Public Transport Victoria.
17. "903 Altona - Mordialloc (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au