Mont Albert railway station

Not to be confused with Mount Albert railway station.

Mont Albert
View of platforms from Beresford Street in December 2018.
General information
Location	Churchill Street, Mont Albert, Victoria Australia
Coordinates	37°49′10″S145°06′20″E / 37.81955°S 145.10556°E / -37.81955; 145.10556
System	Closed PTV commuter rail station
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Lines	Lilydale Belgrave
Distance	14.63 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	3 (1 island, 1 side)
Tracks	3
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	30
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Demolished (Platform 1 station building retained for community purposes) [1]
Station code	MAB
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	11 August 1890 (1890-08-11)
Closed	17 February 2023
Rebuilt	19 December 1971
Electrified	December 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	276,139 [2]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Surrey Hills towards Flinders Street		Lilydale line		Box Hill towards Lilydale or Belgrave
		Belgrave line
List of closed railway stations in Melbourne

Track layout
Before station closure (February 2023) Legend to Surrey Hills Mont Albert Road (Removed in 2023) 1 2 3 to Box Hill

Location

Mont Albert railway station was a commuter railway station on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines, part of the Melbourne railway network. It served the eastern Melbourne suburb of Mont Albert in Victoria, Australia. Mont Albert was a ground level unstaffed station, featuring three platforms, an island platform with two faces and one side platform. It was located between Surrey Hills and Box Hill and it opened on 11 August 1890 and closed on 17 February 2023, due to the works associated with the Level Crossing Removal Project. ^[5]

History

Mont Albert station opened on 11 August 1890 and, like the suburb itself, was named after Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria. ^[6]

In 1963, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Mont Albert Road level crossing, which was located nearby in the Flinders Street (up) direction of the station. ^[7]

In the 1960s, track amplification works resulted in the Box Hill-bound platform being rebuilt and converted to an island platform. ^[8] In December 1971, services on the third track from East Camberwell were extended though the station to Box Hill. ^[9]

In 2020, it was announced that as part of the removal of level crossings at Union and Mont Albert Roads, ^[1] both the Mont Albert and nearby Surrey Hills stations would be closed by 2023, with a single new railway station at Union to be constructed between the two stations. On 17 February 2023, the last train to depart from Mont Albert was a Belgrave-bound train at 20:37, ^[5] before its closure for demolition. The replacement new station, Union, opened on 22 May of that year. ^[10] The former station building on Platform 1 was refurbished and relocated within the precinct for community use. ^{[1] [11]}

Platforms and services

Mont Albert had one island platform (Platforms 2 and 3) and one side platform (Platform 1), linked by an underpass. It was serviced by Metro Trains' Lilydale and Belgrave line services. ^{[12] [13]}

Mont Albert platform arrangement
Platform	Line	Destination	Via	Service Type
1	Belgrave line     Lilydale line	Flinders Street	City Loop	All stations and limited express services
2	Belgrave line     Lilydale line	Lilydale, Belgrave		All stations
3	Belgrave line     Lilydale line	Blackburn, Ringwood, Lilydale, Belgrave		All stations

Transport links

At the time of closure, one bus route serviced Mont Albert, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  766 : Box Hill station - Burwood (operated by Ventura Bus Lines) ^[14]

Gallery

• 
  Eastbound view from Platform 2, May 2014
• 
  Heritage station building in its original location on Hamilton Street.
• 
  Westbound view from Platform 1, January 2016.

References

1. "Surrey Hills and Mont Albert crossings removal fast-tracked". Victoria's Big Build. 17 June 2022. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
2. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
3. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
4. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
5. "Mont Albert". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
6. "Mont Albert". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
7. "Lights and Barriers for Crossings". The Age . 18 April 1963. p. 5.
8. "Victorian Railways: East Camberwell to Box Hill diagram 5' 30". signaldiagramsandphotos.com. Retrieved 11 March 2008.^{[ dead link ]}
9. SE Dornan & RG Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. p. 80. ISBN   0-909459-06-1.
10. "New Union Station to open on 22 May". Victoria's Big Build. 18 April 2023. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
11. Surrey Hills level crossing removal Archived 16 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine City of Boroondara
12. "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria.
13. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "766 Box Hill - Burwood via Surrey Hills". Public Transport Victoria . Retrieved 29 April 2023.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au