Newport railway station, Melbourne

Newport
PTV commuter rail station
Northbound view from Platform 2, showing station building on Platform 1, January 2012
General information
Location	Melbourne Road, Newport, Victoria 3015 City of Hobsons Bay Australia
Coordinates	37°50′33″S144°53′00″E / 37.8424°S 144.8833°E / -37.8424; 144.8833
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Werribee Williamstown
Distance	10.56 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	3
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	80
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	NPT
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	1 March 1859;165 years ago (1859-03-01)
Electrified	August 1920 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Geelong Junction (1859–1869) Williamstown Junction (1869–1881)
Passengers
2005–2006	1,058,374 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Laverton towards Werribee		Werribee line Express services		Spotswood towards Frankston via Flinders Street
		Werribee line Limited Express services		Footscray towards Frankston via Flinders Street
Seaholme towards Laverton or Werribee		Werribee line		Spotswood towards Frankston via Flinders Street
North Williamstown towards Williamstown		Williamstown line
		Williamstown line Shuttle services		Terminus

Former services
Preceding station V/Line Following station Footscray towards Southern Cross Geelong line Werribee towards Waurn Ponds Warrnambool line Werribee towards Warrnambool

Track layout

Legend to Spotswood to Newport– Sunshine line 1 2 to North Williamstown to Newport Workshops to Newport Stabling Sidings Champion Road (Closing by 2030) Maddox Road (Removing by 2030) Paisley Drain to Seaholme Metro Infrastructure Works Siding   Paisley (Closed)   to CRT Terminal Kororoit Creek to Laverton Broad gauge, electrified Broad gauge, non-electrified Standard gauge, non-electrified Dual gauge, non-electrified This diagram: view talk edit

Newport railway station is a commuter railway station and the junction point on the Werribee and Williamstown lines, which are part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the western suburb of Newport, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Newport station is a ground level premium station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 1 March 1859. ^{[4] [5]}

Initially opened as Geelong Junction, the station was renamed two times. It was renamed to Williamstown Junction in January 1869, then was given its current name of Newport on 1 November 1881. ^[5]

Two sidings exist at the northern (up) end of the station, used for the stabling of trains that operate the Williamstown and Altona line shuttle services. The Western standard gauge line to Adelaide runs to the west of the station, behind Platform 1, and the Newport Railway Workshops are located to the south.

History

In 1857, two years before the station opened, the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company had opened its railway line from Geelong to Newport but, because the line from Melbourne to Newport was not yet complete, a track was constructed along North Road to a temporary terminus on the bank of the Yarra River at Greenwich, from where passengers were conveyed to Melbourne by ferry. In October of that year, the line from Melbourne to Williamstown, via Newport, was opened, and the Geelong line was connected to it. ^[6]

In 1887, a line from Sunshine to Newport was opened, to allow easier access to the port of Williamstown for trains from the north of Victoria. A number of sidings were also provided in the Newport area: to a flour mill on the Melbourne side, and a goods yard on the western side of the Williamstown line.

In October 1960, the Melbourne Road level crossing, which was just south of the station, was grade separated and replaced with the current road overpass. ^[4] In 1966, the stabling sidings to the north of the station were provided. ^[4] On 22 July 1967, a freight line was constructed to the west of Platform 1, so that freight services could bypass the station itself. ^[4] In 1995, that line was converted to dual gauge, and became part of the Western standard gauge line to Adelaide. ^[5]

On 18 July 1996, Newport was upgraded to a premium station. ^[7]

There have been several calls to build a Melbourne Metro 2 line, once the Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel has been completed. Melbourne Metro 2 would run from Newport to Clifton Hill via Southern Cross. ^[8] The project, designed to serve the Fishermans Bend development, as well as add capacity to the Mernda and Werribee lines, would bring considerable change to Newport, perhaps adding underground platforms. There have also been suggestions to route Geelong line services via Newport into Southern Cross once again, given the crowding at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, as well as the lack of capacity on the Regional Rail Link set of tracks between Sunshine and the city.

Announced as part of a $57.7 million package in the 2022/23 Victorian State Budget, Newport, along with other stations, will receive DDA-compliant accessibility upgrades. ^[9] The work was to begin in late 2022, with a timeline for the project to be released once construction began.

On the Altona loop line, Mobiltown station, now closed and demolished, was located between Newport and Seaholme. On the direct route to Werribee, Paisley station now closed, and Galvin station, closed and demolished, were situated between Newport and Laverton.

Platforms and services

Newport has two side platforms. Platform 1 features a large brick building which houses an enclosed waiting area and toilets. Platform 2 has a smaller brick building which also contains toilets.

It is served by Werribee and Williamstown line trains. ^{[10] [11]}

Platform 1:

•   Werribee line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston
•   Williamstown line   all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston

Platform 2:

•   Werribee line   all stations and limited express services to Werribee; all stations services to Laverton via Altona (weekdays only)
•   Williamstown line   all stations services to Williamstown

Until the opening of the Regional Rail Link in June 2015, Geelong and Warrnambool line services stopped at Newport. ^[12]

Transport links

Transit Systems Victoria operates four bus routes via Newport station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  432 : to Yarraville station ^[13]
•  471 : Williamstown – Sunshine station ^[14]
•  472 : Williamstown – Moonee Ponds Junction ^[15]
• Night Bus  947 : to Footscray station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only) ^[16]

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005–2006 to 2018–19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008–2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
4. "Newport". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
5. "Newport Station". Rail Geelong. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
6. W.L.F. (22 January 1944). "Greenwich Railway Station Is Not Even A Memory Now". The Argus. Retrieved 13 July 2015– via Trove.
7. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
8. "Network Development Plan" (PDF). Public Transport Victoria. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
9. "Improving Station Accessibility In Melbourne's West | Premier of Victoria". www.premier.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
10. "Werribee Line". Public Transport Victoria.
11. "Williamstown Line". Public Transport Victoria.
12. "New timetables from Sunday June 21 – Geelong" (Press release). Geelong: V/Line. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
13. "432 Newport - Yarraville via Altona Gate Shopping Centre". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "471 Williamstown - Sunshine Station via Newport & Altona Gate SC". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "472 Williamstown - Moonee Ponds via Footscray". Public Transport Victoria.
16. "947 Footscray – Newport Station via Altona North". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au