Montague Street light rail station

Montague Street
PTV tram stop
Montague light rail stop
General information
Location	South Melbourne, Victoria 3205 Australia
Coordinates	37°49′49″S144°56′55″E / 37.8303°S 144.9486°E / -37.8303; 144.9486
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Yarra Trams
Line(s)	Port Melbourne
Platforms	2 (2 side)
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At grade
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Operational
Station code	126 MON (former)
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
History
Opened	2 June 1883
Closed	11 October 1987
Rebuilt	18 December 1987
Electrified	600 V DC overhead
Previous names	Montague railway station
Services
Preceding station Yarra Trams Following station Southbank tram depot towards Box Hill Route 109 North Port towards Port Melbourne
Former services Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station Sandridge Bridge   Port Melbourne line   North Port   List of closed railway stations in Melbourne

Montague Street is a light rail station and former railway station, on the former Port Melbourne railway line in the inner Melbourne suburb of South Melbourne, Australia. The station was located to the south of the Montague Street road underpass, between Woodgate Street and Gladstone Lane, with a large goods shed located on the Melbourne side of the station. The station buildings and platforms have been demolished, and there are now a pair of low-level platforms forming a tram stop on route 109.

History

Montague station opened in 1883, a number of years after the original opening of the line through it in 1854. ^[1] The station mainly served workers at nearby factories, so under a new timetable in May 1967 the station was closed on Sundays due to a lack of passengers. This was altered in June 1969 so that two late night trains would stop there, to cater for shift workers. ^[2]

In 1908, plans were first made to relocate the functions of the 1870s Shipping Shed at Spencer Street station (roughly where platforms 9 and 10 are today) to a new location. A site to the north of the Port Melbourne line and on the Melbourne side of Montague station was selected, with work commencing in 1913. ^[3] A southerly deviation of the Port Melbourne line was created between Clarendon and Ingles Streets to make way for two 5-ton travelling jib cranes, ^[4] and Montague Street was extended northward under the tracks to compensate for the removal of the level crossing gates at Ferrars Street. Track work was underway in 1915 but was delayed by World War I, and the Shipping Shed was not completed until late 1921. ^[3]

The Shipping Shed had a number of internal sidings, as well as more outside. Two goods lines ran to the north of the station, connecting the shipping shed yard with the main line near Ingles Street, where a signal box was located to control the points and signals. ^[5] The signal box at Ingles Street was abolished in October 1971 and replaced by a signal panel at Graham station, down the line. ^{[2] [6]}

The shed operated in conjunction with the H.M. Customs Department for the handling of freight that arrived by sea at Princes Pier in Port Melbourne. That continued for five decades, until containerisation saw the end of conventional cargo handling at Port Melbourne. In later years, until the closure of the line, the shed was used to store rolls of newsprint from Australian Paper Manufacturers Maryvale Mill. ^[3]

The last passenger train to call at the station ran on 10 October 1987, after it had been announced that the line would be converted to light rail. The final goods train to Montague Yard ran on 16 October 1987, powered by a single Y class diesel-electric locomotive. ^[7] The replacement light rail line was officially opened on 18 December 1987. ^[8]

In the early 1990s, the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (popularly known as Jeff's Shed) was built on the area once occupied by the Shipping Shed, ^[9] while the construction of Southbank tram depot, and the diversion of Normanby Road towards Whiteman Street, have obliterated all traces of the Shipping Shed yard. ^[3]

Tram services

Yarra Trams operates one route via Montague Street station:

• : Box Hill – Port Melbourne ^[10]

Gallery

• 
  Interior of the Montague shipping shed from the internal footbridge
• 
  1980s Metropolitan Transit Authority name plate for the Montague light rail stop

References

1. "Montague". VICSIG – Infrastructure. vicsig.net. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
2. S.E. Dornan and R.G. Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. ISBN   0-909459-06-1.
3. T. Penn and D. Jowett (September 2007). "Montague Goods Shed" (PDF). Locolines. rtbuvicloco.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
4. "Port Melbourne Flinders Street Railway Reservation, South Melbourne, VIC Profile". aussieheritage.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 August 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
5. "Port Melbourne Line – Flinders St to Bridge St". signaldiagramsandphotos.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
6. "Port Melbourne line 1974". Victorian Railways signalling diagram. victorianrailways.net. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
7. "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). January 1988. pp. 20–22.
8. Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 77–82.
9. "Melway Edition 1". custommaps.net. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008. (map 23)
10. "109 Box Hill - Port Melbourne". Public Transport Victoria.

See also

• Montague Street Bridge