Officer railway station

"Officer station" redirects here. Not to be confused with Station officer.

Officer
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from former Station Street level crossing looking at Officer station in the distance, August 2011
General information
Location	Station Street, Officer, Victoria 3809 Shire of Cardinia Australia
Coordinates	38°03′58″S145°24′40″E / 38.0662°S 145.4110°E / -38.0662; 145.4110
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Pakenham
Distance	51.45 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	20
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	OFC
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	4 August 1881;143 years ago (1881-08-04)
Rebuilt	13 May 1956 1990s
Electrified	July 1954 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Officer's Siding (1881-1888)
Passengers
2005–2006	13,105 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Beaconsfield towards Flinders Street		Pakenham line		Cardinia Road towards East Pakenham

Track layout
Legend to Beaconsfield Officer South drain 1 2 Gum Scrub Creek Gum Scrub Creek floodway to Cardinia Road

Officer railway station is a commuter railway station on the Pakenham line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Officer, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Officer station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 4 August 1881, with the current station provided in 1956. ^[4]

Initially opened as Officer's Siding, the station was given its current name of Officer on 13 February 1888. ^[4]

History

Officer station opened on 4 August 1881, almost four years after the railway line was extended from Dandenong to Pakenham. ^[5] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Robert Officer, a local pastoralist. ^[6] Another theory is that the station and suburb were named after the Officer family, who were originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales. ^[7]

In 1955, the line between Officer and Pakenham was duplicated ^[5] and, on 13 May 1956, duplication between Officer and Berwick was provided. In that year, a new station was also provided east of the original site. ^[5]

In 1976, flashing light signals were provided at the former Station Street level crossing, which was located nearby in the up direction of the station. ^[8] A decade later, in 1986, boom barriers were provided. ^{[9] [10]}

On 8 May 1987, a collision involving a Flinders Street-bound Comeng train set and V/Line locomotive N457, operating an up Traralgon service, occurred in the down direction of the station. ^{[11] [12]} 45 people were injured in the collision. ^{[11] [12]} Comeng carriage 388M was later scrapped due to the collision, however, part of the carriage was later used as a café in the pedestrian underpass at Werribee. ^[13]

In 1988, the former goods siding was taken out of service. ^[14] The main line points leading into the siding were spiked, and were removed at a later date. ^[14]

Sometime during or after 1995, the present station shelters were provided, replacing timber station buildings. ^{[15] [16]}

During the 2011/2012 financial year, it was the second least used station on Melbourne's metropolitan system, with 55,000 passenger movements. ^[17]

On 29 July 2021, the Level Crossing Removal Project announced that the Station Street level crossing will be closed to vehicle traffic by 2025, and was replaced with the pedestrian gates located further up next to the station. ^{[18] [19]}

On 18 May 2024, Station Street level crossing and equipment was removed and the road was permanently closed. It was replaced by the existing pedestrian crossing gates located further up next to Officer station. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

Platforms and services

Officer has two side platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Pakenham line services. ^[23]

Platform 1:

•   Pakenham line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•   Pakenham line   all stations services to East Pakenham

By June 2025, it is planned that trains on the Pakenham line will be through-routed with those on the Sunbury line, via the new Metro Tunnel.

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. "Victorian Government Gazette (10 February 1888, p. 455)". slv.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
5. "Officer". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
6. "Officer". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
7. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
8. "Works". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society. July 1976. p. 160.
9. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. March 1987. p. 91.
10. John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
11. Burchall, Greg (8 May 1987). "Two suspended after train smash". The Age . p. 1.
12. Ayres, Bill; Yates, Michael (8 May 1987). "45 hurt as passenger trains hit near station". The Herald . p. 1.
13. "Suburban Trains". Vicsig. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
14. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 1988. p. 186.
15. Corporation, Public Transport (17 June 1995). "Tenders–Upgrade of Officer Station". The Age. p. 85.
16. "Officer". When there were stations. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
17. Station Patronage Research Archived 23 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Public Transport Victoria
18. "10 more level crossings to go by 2025". Victoria's Big Build. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
19. "Station Street, Officer". Victoria's Big Build. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
20. "Designs unveiled for Officer level crossing closure". Victoria’s Big Build. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
21. "Station Street, Officer – permanent road closure and major works starting". Victoria’s Big Build. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
22. "Reminder: Station Street, Officer to permanently close this Saturday". levelcrossingremovalproject.cmail20.com. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
23. "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au