Camberwell railway station, Melbourne

Camberwell
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from Platform 3, with two X'Trapolis trains passing each other, November 2023
General information
Location	Burke Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124 City of Boroondara Australia
Coordinates	37°49′35″S145°03′31″E / 37.8265°S 145.0587°E / -37.8265; 145.0587
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Lilydale Belgrave Alamein
Distance	10.21 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	3 (1 island, 1 side)
Tracks	3
Connections	Bus Tram
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	CAM
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	3 April 1882;142 years ago (1882-04-03)
Rebuilt	1919
Electrified	December 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	1,756,328 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Local
Auburn towards Flinders Street		Lilydale line		East Camberwell towards Lilydale
		Belgrave line		East Camberwell towards Belgrave
		Alamein line Weekday peak only		Riversdale towards Alamein
Terminus		Alamein line Weekday off-peak & weekends
Express
Richmond towards Flinders Street		Lilydale line Weekday express		Box Hill towards Lilydale
		Belgrave line Weekday express		Box Hill towards Belgrave
Glenferrie Limited service towards Flinders Street

Track layout
Legend to Auburn 1 3 2 to Riversdale to East Camberwell

Camberwell railway station is a commuter railway station and the junction point for the Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale lines, which are all part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the eastern suburb of Camberwell, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell station is a ground level premium station, featuring three platforms, an island platform with two faces and one side platform connected by a ramp and accessible overground concourse. It opens on 3 April 1882, with the current station provided in 1919. ^[4]

History

Camberwell station opened on 3 April 1882, when the railway line was extended from Hawthorn. ^[4] It remained the terminus of the line for a few months in that year, until the railway was extended to Lilydale. ^[4] When the first section of the Outer Circle line opened in 1891, a new station was built at East Camberwell, to provide an interchange. However, the Outer Circle line quickly failed. By 1898, only the section from East Camberwell to Ashburton remained in operation (later extended to Alamein in 1948), and services for Ashburton began to depart from Camberwell.

In the late 1910s, the line from Hawthorn to Camberwell was regraded, to ease the steep gradient facing down services. Steam locomotives could not pull a fully laden train between the two stations, so peak-hour services had to be split. The locomotive would bring one set of carriages to Camberwell, then return for the other set, causing significant delays. With the regrading, the tracks at Camberwell were sunk into a cutting and the existing station was demolished. In 1919, the current Federation-style station buildings were provided, when the works were completed. ^[4]

Immediately east of the station, the Alamein line diverges south, with a flyover carrying the southbound line over the Lilydale and Belgrave lines. This flyover was provided in 1959, when the line was duplicated to Riversdale. ^{[4] [5] [6]} In 1963, a third line was provided between Hawthorn and Camberwell ^[4] and, in 1964, the third line was extended to East Camberwell. ^[4] Also occurring in November of that year, the signal box at Camberwell was the first in Victoria to have push-button signalling installed. ^[7] In 1972, the centre track was extended to East Camberwell ^[4] and, in 1974, the platforms were renumbered to their current arrangement. ^[4]

At around 7:20am on 9 August 1975, a Tait train set rolled away from the station prior to operating an Alamein service. ^{[8] [9]} It occurred after the driver and guard left the train and went into the station building. ^{[8] [9]} It reached speeds of up to 30kph before it slowed to walking speed near Flinders Street, allowing a driver's supervisor to jump aboard and stop the train. No passengers were onboard at the time. ^{[8] [9]}

On 27 April 1996, Camberwell was upgraded to a premium station. ^[10] In 1997, four stabling sidings were constructed on the site of the former goods yard, to replace sidings that were removed at Jolimont Yard, ^[11] with the sidings brought into service on 5 January 1998. ^[12] The stabling sidings had been first proposed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (The Met) in the mid-1980s. ^[13]

Redevelopment controversy

In 2001, the Victorian State Government launched a new metropolitan planning strategy, Melbourne 2030 , which proposed intensification of development around public transport nodes, such as railway stations and tram routes, along with limits on such development in residential neighbourhoods. The precinct around the station was identified as one of a number of "activity centres" earmarked for redevelopment. ^[14]

In March 2003, VicTrack announced plans to develop the airspace over the site, including the construction of a deck over the station platforms and adjacent stabling yard, with 3–4 levels of car park, and 3–4 storeys of commercial space. The original plans, involving the station's demolition, led to protests from the local community. They received a significant amount of media attention, with actor Geoffrey Rush and comedian Barry Humphries publicly backing the campaign, and heading a protest march up Burke Road from Camberwell Junction to the station. ^[15] The comedian performed a poem about planners at the rally, and noted that the railway line was sometimes called "The Orient Express". To those supporting development of the station, the actions of the protesters were seen as an example of NIMBYism.

The Boroondara Residents Action Group worked with architects McGauran Giannini Soon to provide alternative ideas for developing the air-space over the station and yard that were more in-keeping with their view of community preferences, including a small public plaza and a new public library, with some small-scale shops. ^[16]

Although the station is historic, it is not protected by any of the state's heritage listings for any architectural or cultural reasons, and failed to gain that protection when nominated to the Victorian Heritage Register by local residents groups. ^[17]

In July 2009, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved a nine-story development on the site, provided that 14 design modifications were made within 28 days. ^[18]

In October 2012, VicTrack announced that it had discontinued negotiations with the preferred developer, CSTP Pty Ltd. ^[19]

Platforms and services

Camberwell has one island platform with two faces and one side platform. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale line services. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Platform 1:

•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•   Alamein line   weekday all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street; all stations shuttle services to Alamein

Platform 2:

•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street; all stations and limited express services to Belgrave
•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street; all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
•   Alamein line   terminating services from Alamein

Platform 3:

•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to Belgrave; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn
•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to Lilydale; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn
•   Alamein line   all stations shuttle services to Alamein

Transport links

CDC Melbourne operates one bus route via Camberwell station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  612 : Box Hill station – Chadstone Shopping Centre ^[23]

Kinetic Melbourne operates one bus route via Camberwell station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  285 : Doncaster Park and Ride – Camberwell Shopping Centre ^[24]

Yarra Trams operates one route via Camberwell station:

• : Melbourne University – Camberwell ^[25]

Gallery

• 
  Eastbound view of the station platforms, July 2008
• 
  Eastbound view of the station platforms, with X'Trapolis trains in the siding and Platform 2, January 2017
• 
  Eastbound view of the station platforms, April 2021
• 
  The station's car park, April 2021
• 
  An X'Trapolis train departs the station's siding, November 2023
• 
  X'Trapolis train on a Flinders Street-bound service awaits to depart Platform 1, another can be seen sitting in the sidings, November 2023

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. "Camberwell". vicsig.net. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
5. "Rail Fly-over to Open Soon". The Age . 14 November 1959. p. 3.
6. "Camberwell Fly-over Electrified". The Age. 16 November 1959. p. 11.
7. Vincent Adams Winter (1990). VR and VicRail: 1962–1983. V.A. Winter. p. 204. ISBN   0-9592069-3-0.
8. "'Ghost' train races to city". The Herald . 9 August 1975. p. 1.
9. Grant, Wayne (11 August 1975). "Bolting train 'human error'". The Sun News-Pictorial . p. 2.
10. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
11. "New Yard at Camberwell Station". www.railpage.org.au. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
12. "Minutes of Meeting held Friday February 20, 1998". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. March 1998. pp. 47–52.
13. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 1986. p. 188.
14. "Melbourne 2030 – Planning for sustainable growth, Department of Planning and Community Development Victoria Oct 2002". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
15. Rush, Humphries and Drost march to save Camberwell from the Station development" Marvellous Melbourne
16. "McGauran Giannini Soon Pty Ltd EXPERT URBAN DESIGN EVIDENCE Camberwell Station 2R Cookson Street, Camberwell, February 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
17. Heritage Council rejects Camberwell Station listing ABC News 11 November 2005
18. Cassie Maher (14 July 2009). "Camberwell rail rework suits tribunal". Progress Leader. progress-leader.whereilive.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
19. Chadwick, Vince, & Carey, Adam (4 October 2012). "After 10 years on tenterhooks, a sigh of relief for Camberwell group". The Age. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
20. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria.
21. "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria.
22. "Alamein Line". Public Transport Victoria.
23. "612 Box Hill - Chadstone via Surrey Hills & Camberwell & Glen Iris". Public Transport Victoria.
24. "285 Doncaster Park & Ride - Camberwell via North Balwyn". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "72 Melbourne University - Camberwell". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

Media related to Camberwell railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons

• Birrell, B. and O'Connor, K. – 2030: a space fallacy – plans to end the urban sprawl will destroy the character of Melbourne, Opinion piece in The Age
• Dovey, K et al. (2005) What is Urban Character? The case of Camberwell, Proceedings, 2nd State of Australian Cities Conference, Brisbane: Griffith University
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au