Oakleigh is a ground-level premium station, consisting of two sides that are connected to each other via the adjacent roads, and both platforms are connected to each other via a pedestrian subway.[6]
The station is served by 11 bus routes, including two SmartBus services. The station is approximately 15 kilometres (9.4mi) or around a 27-minute train ride away from Flinders Street.[7]
Description
The heritage listed building on platform 1 being used as a ticket office
Oakleigh railway station the main station in the suburb of Oakleigh. On the north side of the station is Portman Street, and Haughton Road is on the south. The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency, and is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne.[6] The station is approximately 15 kilometres (9.4mi) or around a 27-minute train ride away from Flinders Street.[7]
Oakleigh station consists of two side platforms that are connected by a pedestrian subway, previously, platform 1 was an island platform, and the station consisted of three platforms.[8] The two platforms have direct station entrances on their adjacent roads, with platform 1 having an entrance on Haughton Road and platform 2 having an entrance on Portman Street.
There are three car parks at the station.[7] Oakleigh station is fully accessible as the subway features lift access and both platform entrances feature ramps.[9]
In 1888, the Rosstown line opened, with Oakleigh being the eastern terminus.[12] Two years later, the outer circle line opened from Oakleigh to Waverley Road station.[13]
20th century
Oakleigh station, prior to electrification, 1910
In c.1910, the station featured two side platforms with an additional centre track. By this time, the station was controlled by two signal boxes; "A" at the city end, controlling the Warrigal Roadlevel crossing and interlocked gates, and "B", between the station and yard, controlling the latter. In 1915, a new station building had been constructed to the same style as Box Hill, Caulfield, Essendon, Heidelberg and Spotswood in the Melbourne area, and Castlemaine and Warragul in the country.[14] A new platform was provided on the south side, plus a fifth track for engines to run around their consists.[15][16]
In March 1922, electrification was extended from Caulfield to Oakleigh, and this was extended to Dandenong during December of that same year.[11] Around the same time, the Hanover Street bridge was built across the Dandenong end of the goods yard, with alterations to the passenger sidings and the run-around loop south of the station was abolished.[17]
In 1968, the Warrigal Road level crossing was closed, and, in conjunction with the demolition of shops, a new road overpass was provided. The original Warrigal Road surface was partially retained as a slip lane to serve a handful of shops along the western boundary. The road bridge piers were spaced to allow extension of the track from the southernmost platform in the citybound direction.[19]
In May 1972, a van that was on the 18:40 Traralgon goods train, which was shunting in the goods yard, derailed. This necessitated single line working on the Up line between Oakleigh and Caulfield, with buses used to convey passengers around the derailment site.[20]
In 1975, the track layout was drastically simplified. Both signal boxes were abolished and demolished, being replaced with a new, experimental route-setting power interlocking system located in the middle of the southern station building.[21][22] In lieu of the older system with individual levers, switches or buttons for each signal and turnout or crossover, the new panel used custom circuit boards and a button arrangement where the operator would select a route between any two signals, and that route would be requested, set and locked by the relay interlocking if available.[23] A 1972 report by BITRE indicated that the project would cost $330,000, and save $26,000 per year in staffing costs, plus avoiding $10,000 expected in upcoming overhaul costs for the existing mechanical systems, with a total benefit/cost ratio over 40 years of 1.7:1 at 7% discount rates or 1.3 at 10% discount rates.[24] In practice, the new interlocking lasted 43 years.
The new signal panel included a "switch out" feature, allowing the station's signalling to operate automatically during periods of reduced traffic. To facilitate this, the island platform was used for most trains, with high-speed (initially 40mph, later reclassed as 65 km/h) diverge turnouts provided at either end to avoid trains slowing down significantly for the diverging movements. Station staff operated the signal panel during busier times to allow access to or from the goods yard, terminating trains, or overtaking moves in either direction.[25]
The new signal panel included a "switch out" feature, allowing the station's signalling to operate automatically during periods of reduced traffic. To facilitate this, the island platform was used for most trains, with high-speed (65 km/h, 40mph) turnouts provided at either end to avoid trains slowing down significantly for the diverging movements. Station staff operated the signal panel during busier times to allow access to or from the goods yard, terminating trains, or overtaking moves in either direction.[26] While the panel was switched out, express trains through Oakleigh were assumed to run express through Hughesdale, Murrumbeena and Carnegie as well, and given altered level crossing timings; while the panel was switched in this selection had to be made manually.[27]
On 8 May 1981, a train entering service from Oakleigh sidings derailed, blocking the morning peak hour services. This trapped the following school train from Moe, so a Harris train was run "wrong line" (backwards relative to normal procedures) and parked parallel, with students transferring carefully between the two.[28] A similar incident occurred on 26 January 1982, as a train exiting siding "C" passed signal 38 at Clear Low Speed but 30 at Danger, derailing on the catch points and obstructing the citybound track from around 9am.[29] The train was rerailed by 5:30pm, but one of the cranes used in the operation became bogged while exiting the worksite.[30]
On Friday 4 December 1981, The Overland train service was stabled in Oakleigh due to an industrial dispute.[31]
In May 1984, the goods yard was officially closed to traffic, with the exception of briquette traffic, which was still being received. Way and Works waggon HD205, which had been parked at the city end of the through siding for years, was transferred to the Caulfield depot on 22 June 1984.[32] By October that year, the briquette traffic had also shifted to Westall.[33] The overhead in siding "A" was removed by December of that year, along with the points and the majority of the sidings.[33]
In March 1987, a guards' indicator light was provided for signal post 16, controlling citybound moves from Platform 1.[34]
As of April 1988, suburban timetables specified an overtaking move between outbound suburban and country trains, where the 16:53 and 17:36 departures from Flinders Street to Dandenong were each scheduled to wait 3 minutes at Oakleigh, for a Traralgon and Warragul service, respectively.[35]
Since 1989, the station has featured over 40 plywood cut-outs on its walls and surrounding the station. These illustrate the life stories of Oakleigh residents, who were aged between 15 and 70, when the murals were unveiled in September of that year. In 2002, they underwent restoration.[36] About half of these have since been restored, and glue can still be seen on the walls of the station building where the remainder had previously been placed.
When the Cranbourne line was electrified in 1995, trains that had previously terminated at Oakleigh were extended, and the passenger train stabling sidings fell into disuse. The extended goods siding that was along the north side fell out of use and was abolished around the same time, although the shell of the citybound dwarf signal at the down end remained in place until 2018. As a result, the signal panel was generally only used when the underpass flooded, as all trains in both directions could be diverted to the north-side platform (by then renamed Platform 3). The suburban sidings were restored to service in late 2004, but were only used occasionally after that, with further periods out of service.[38]
21st century
On 3 May 2007, a Flinders Street bound Siemens train from Pakenham derailed over a set of points at the Down end of the station.[39][40]
After the Siemens trains experienced braking issues in the mid-2000s, all trains were required to be signalled through as express trains, whether or not they actually stopped at Oakleigh.[41] This gave additional boom barrier downtime at the level crossings between Oakleigh and Caulfield, but provided a safety margin in case of brake failure.[38]
Southbound view from Platform 2, prior to being renamed to Platform 1, November 2007
On the night of 29 May 2018 the line between Caulfield and Westall was closed for Level Crossing Removal Project works, and the opportunity was taken to re-signal the entire section of railway including reconfiguring of Oakleigh Station. The signal panel, platform 1, pointwork either side of the platforms and sidings B and C were all abolished and progressively removed.[42] New tracks were laid either side of the remaining platforms, and the former platform 1 alignment was converted into a side platform, with former platforms 2 and 3 renumbered to platforms 1 and 2.[43] A new trailing crossover was provided towards Hughesdale station, and the former far down-end crossover was included in the new signalling system, all of which was worked from Dandenong. The panel was later extracted for preservation.
Throughout 2018–2019, Oakleigh was upgraded and modernised. Two concourses were built, lifts were installed, and the underpass was refurbished. Two heritage-listed buildings were maintained as originally built.[43][44]
The station is currently served by both the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which are both operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. Services to East Pakenham and Cranbourne travel together south-east towards Dandenong before splitting into two separate lines. Services to the city run express from Caulfield (Malvern during off-peak) to South Yarra before stopping at all stations to Flinders Street via the City Loop.[45]
Oakleigh Station is served by a total of eleven bus connections, including two Smartbus routes. Most routes (624, 693, 704, 742, 800, 802, 804, 862, and Smartbus Routes 900 and 903) serve the bus interchange on Portman Street just north of the railway station.[46] Whereas bus routes 625, 701, and 733 serve the bus stop on Johnson Street.[47] On Haughton Road there is a pair of rail replacement bus stop used during rail works on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines mainly along the Westall to Caulfield section.
Portman Street
Westbound (Bays "A", "B", "C")
Bay "A" (Stop ID 19805) is nearest to the station, Bay "B" is in the middle (Stop ID 19804), and Bay "C" (Stop ID 19803) is nearest to the Warrigal Road bridge.
Note some services terminate on Haughton Road opposite the entrance to Platform 1, at Bay "F", then run empty via Mill Road to start their next trip from Bay "E".
↑"Delays, etc". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. May 1972. p.13.
↑Winter, Vincent Adams (1990). VR and VicRail: 1962–1983. p.106. ISBN0-9592069-3-0.
↑"Works & Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. January 1976. p.18.
↑Harvey, R.G.; Niehoff, P.G.; Burton, I. (10 March 1975). "SIGNALLING DEVELOPMENTS ON THE VICTORIAN RAILWAYS AT OAKLEIGH" (Document). Read at the Annual Meeting at Mount Buffalo. Victoria: The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, Australian Section.
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