Prahran railway station is a commuter railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Opened on 22 December 1860, it was initially named Greville Street, then it was given its current name of Prahran on 1 January 1867. The station is named after, and serves, the south-eastern suburb of Prahran.[5] Prahran station is a ground level host station,[3] featuring two side platforms. The station is accessible, with step free access to the station provided.
Prahran station is served by the Sandringham line, which is part of Melbourne's railway network. The station connects to services on tram route 6. The journey to Southern Cross railway station is approximately 6.72 kilometres (4.18mi).
The station consists of two side platforms with a total of two platform edges.[3] A station building is located at Porter Street, which has a boom-style verandah extending around the building. The station complex is included in the City of Stonnington's heritage overlay, numbered HO95. The complex is largely the same as when it was originally built, as only minor works such as repainting have been carried out.[10] Car parking is not available at the station. The station is listed as an "independent access" station on Metro Trains Melbourne's accessibility guide, as step-free access to the station is provided. Prahran station is staffed only during the morning peak.[11]
History
Prahran station opened on 22 December 1860 as Greville Street, when the railway line from Cremorne was extended to Chapel Street station.[12][13] On 1 January 1867, the station was renamed 'Prahran'.[3] In 1886, a deputation from Prahran's residents was raised to the commissioners of the Victorian Railways, which proposed the removal of Prahran station and the construction of a new station at Commercial Road, which would eliminate the level crossing at Greville Street.[14][15] However, the removal never took place.[16] Prahran station was served by the Brighton Beach line until 1887, when the line was extended to Sandringham.[17]
Improvements to the station occurred in 1895.[18][19] Another proposal for the station's removal was put forward in 1905.[20][21] The Victorian Railways started an omnibus service between Prahran station and Malvern town hall which operated between 1 December 1905 to 17 June 1906.[22][23] The service shut down due to the unreliability of the buses and rough condition of roads, which made the service unpopular with locals.[24] In 1908, a pedestrian subway at Prahran station was proposed.[25] This was completed in 1915, replacing the overhead footbridge at Greville Street.[26][27]
Three-position signalling was provided to the Sandringham line between Richmond station and Prahran station on 4 October 1915, which was the first example of automatic signalling in Victoria.[28][29] On 16 December 1917, three-position signalling was provided between Prahran station and Ripponlea station.[30] The Sandringham line was electrified on 28 May 1919.[31] New brick buildings were provided at the station in 1939 due to its poor condition at the time.[32][33] In 1962, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Greville Street level crossing, located at the up end of the station. The signal box that protected the level crossing was also abolished during that time.[34] In October 1979, automatic semaphore signals were replaced with light signals between Prahran and Windsor.[35]
Automatic pedestrian gates were provided at the Greville Street level crossing on 24 May 1997, which, in turn, abolished the pedestrian subway.[36] On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Prahran to a premium station, along with nineteen others.[37][38] However, in March 2011, this was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.[39] In 2014, Labor candidate for Prahran, Neil Pharaoh, proposed to open a second entrance to Prahran station on High Street.[40] By September, it had become an election promise in the 2014 Victorian state election.[41] The Liberal Party then matched the pledge in October.[a][43][44] On 24 June 2015, then-Labor Member for the Southern Metropolitan Region, Philip Dalidakis, officially opened the second entrance.[45]
On weekdays, Sandringham line services run every 7–8 minutes during peak hours. Services also run every 10–12 minutes during interpeak periods and every 20 minutes after 8:30pm. Services run every 20 minutes throughout the day on weekends. On Sundays, a service will run every hour until 8:00am, and every 40 minutes until 10:00am.[46] Since the Sandringham line is part of the Night Network, services also run hourly on Friday and Saturday nights.[47]
↑ "Prahran Station". The Argus (Melbourne). 7 February 1939. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
↑ Sinnatt, John (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection"(PDF). Somersault. 13 (1). Signalling Record Society of Victoria: 10. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
↑ Sinnatt, John (July 1997). "Signalling Alterations"(PDF). Somersault. 20 (4). Signalling Record Society of Victoria: 63. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
Stations and services in italics are planned or under construction
Stations in (parentheses) are uncommon stops for the listed service
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