Ringwood railway station, Melbourne

Ringwood
PTV commuter rail station
View of Ringwood station from platform 2 in 2022
General information
Location	Railway Place, Ringwood, Victoria 3134 City of Maroondah Australia
Coordinates	37°48′57″S145°13′44″E / 37.81595°S 145.22887°E / -37.81595; 145.22887
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Lilydale Belgrave
Distance	25.76 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	3 (1 island, 1 side)
Tracks	3
Connections	Bus Coach
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	180
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	RWD
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	1 December 1882;141 years ago (1882-12-01)
Rebuilt	1999 January 2016
Electrified	January 1923 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	1,387,780 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Heatherdale towards Flinders Street		Lilydale line		Ringwood East towards Lilydale
		Belgrave line		Heathmont towards Belgrave
Terminus		Lilydale line Shuttle services		Ringwood East towards Lilydale
		Belgrave line Shuttle services		Heathmont towards Belgrave

Track layout
Legend to Heatherdale 1 3 2 Bedford Road (Removing by 2025) to Heathmont to Ringwood stabling yard to Ringwood East

Designations
Victorian Heritage Register
Official name	Ringwood Railway Station
Type	State Registered Place
Criteria	a, e
Designated	August 20, 1982
Reference no.	H1587 [4]
Heritage Overlay number	HO39 [4]

Ringwood railway station is a commuter railway station and the junction point for the Belgrave and Lilydale lines, serving the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, Victoria, Australia. Ringwood is a premium status ground structure station featuring three platforms, with an island platform and one side platform connected by an accessible overground concourse. The station opened on 1 December 1882. ^[5]

The original single story brick station buildings, situated on platform 3, are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and today function as the ticket and staff offices. The station was reopened in January 2016 as part of a multimillion dollar redevelopment of the Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood Town Square and Railway Place. ^{[6] [7]}

History

Ringwood opened on 1 December 1882, when the railway line from Camberwell was extended to Lilydale. ^[5] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Ringwood in Hampshire, England. ^[8]

In 1926, a signal box was provided at the station, and was located on Platforms 1 and 2. ^[5] It has since been relocated to the bus interchange. Signals are now controlled from within the station building on Platform 3.

Stabling sidings are located at the down end of the station. The sidings closest to the Lilydale line were provided in 1973, and were extended in 1978, ^[5] whilst in 1979, the sidings closest to the Belgrave line and the Bedford Road level crossing were provided. ^[9] In order to construct these sidings, the Belgrave line was temporarily slewed. ^[9]

In 1982, duplication of the line to Bayswater was provided, ^[5] with duplication of the line to Croydon occurring in 1984. ^[5]

In 1994, siding "A" was abolished. ^[5] On 31 July 1996, Ringwood was upgraded to a premium station. ^[10] In 1999, a major signalling project took place at the station. ^[11] The project included new sets of points to replace existing ones, upgrading of all signals and a new back platform constructed (Platform 1). ^{[11] [12]} Prior to the project, the track on the Platform 1 side was used as a siding, which continued to the Wantirna Road bridge.

In 2015, Ringwood was upgraded as part of the Eastland Shopping Centre 2015–2016 expansion (Stage 5), with the $66 million project completed in January 2016. The work included a new concourse, the provision of lifts, a reconfigured bus interchange, CCTV and heritage work on the station buildings. ^{[13] [14]} The station buildings themselves were not significantly altered, as they are heritage listed. ^[15]

Incidents and accidents

In February 1908, EE class steam locomotive 478 overran the buffer stops at the Wantirna Road siding, derailed and toppled down the embankment, ending up level with the road. ^[16]

Around 1964, an L Class electric loco ran away, crashing through the same buffer stops, and stopping with its front bogie dangling over Wantirna Road. ^[17]

On 16 October 1989, a Comeng and a Hitachi train set collided 500m east of the station, near the Bedford Road level crossing. ^{[18] [19] [20]} The collision occurred on a bend when the 7:11am train from Belgrave, led by Comeng 589M, collided with the rear of the 7:13am train from Upper Ferntree Gully, which was stationary at the time, derailing the Comeng train. 10 injuries were reported. ^{[18] [19] [20]}

On 7 December 1992, a Comeng set overshot the same siding as in the 1908 accident, with leading car 392M crashing into and stopping on top of the buffers, near the edge of the Wantirna Road bridge. ^[21]

On 12 May 2010, an X'Trapolis 100 set ran off the end of the tracks and into a fence in the Ringwood stabling yard. ^[22]

Facilities, platforms and services

Ringwood is served by Lilydale and Belgrave line trains. ^{[23] [24]} It has one island platform (Platforms 1 and 2) and one side platform (Platform 3). Platform 3 and the concourse feature customer service windows, with Platforms 1 and 2 having a semi-enclosed waiting area. Platform 3 and the concourse also have toilets, and there is a kiosk on with Platforms 1 and 2. All platforms are accessible via ramps, stairs and lifts. The bus interchange is located outside Platform 3.

Platform 1:

•   Belgrave line   weekday all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•   Belgrave line   all stations shuttle services to and from Belgrave
•   Lilydale line   all stations shuttle services to and from Lilydale

Platform 2:

•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to and from Lilydale
•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to and from Belgrave

Platform 3:

•   Lilydale line   all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
•   Belgrave line   all stations and limited express services to Belgrave

Transport links

Kinetic Melbourne operates five bus routes via Ringwood station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  271 : to Box Hill station ^[25]
•  364 : to Warrandyte ^[26]
•  370 : to Mitcham station ^[27]
•  380 : to Ringwood station (loop service via Croydon) ^[28]
• SmartBus   901  : Frankston station – Melbourne Airport ^[29]

McKenzie's Tourist Services operates one bus route via Ringwood station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  684 : Eildon – Southern Cross station ^[30]

Ventura Bus Lines operates three routes to and from Ringwood station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  670 : to Box Hill Institute Lilydale Lakeside Campus ^[31]
•  679 : to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre ^[32]
•  742 : to Chadstone Shopping Centre ^[33]

V/Line operates one road coach service via Ringwood station:

• Mt Buller – Mansfield – Melbourne (via Yea) ^[34]

Gallery

• 
  Westbound view in May 2014, prior to the station upgrade

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. "Ringwood Railway Station". Victorian Heritage Database . Government of Victoria . Retrieved 11 December 2023.
5. "Ringwood". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
6. updated, Ali Morris last (14 November 2016). "Community is at the heart of Melbourne's transformed Eastland shopping centre". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
7. Boucher, Dinah Lewis (8 July 2020). "QIC Kick Off Construction at Eastland". The Urban Developer. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
8. "Ringwood". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
9. "Works". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1979. p. 233.
10. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
11. "Ringwood Resignalling". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
12. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society: 249. August 1999.
13. Ringwood Station and Interchange Upgrade Archived 4 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport, Planning & Local Infrastructure
14. Ringwood Station and Interchange Upgrade Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine Public Transport Victoria
15. Ringwood Railway Station Archived 6 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine On my Doorstep
16. "(untitled)". Public Record Office Victoria. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010.
17. Personal observation.
18. Kelly, Hugo (17 October 1989). "Improve rail signals or face closures, say unions". The Age . p. 4.
19. Coffey, Michelle (16 October 1989). "10 hurt as trains crash". The Herald . p. 3.
20. McDonald, Lachlan (17 October 1989). "Urgent rail talks; Safety fears over crash". The Sun . p. 5.
21. "Train teeters on the edge". The Age. 8 December 1992. p. 3.
22. One of Metro's newest trains crashes through fence at Ringwood Archived 15 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Herald Sun
23. "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria.
24. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "271 Box Hill - Ringwood via Park Orchards". Public Transport Victoria.
26. "364 Warrandyte - Ringwood Station via Croydon & Warrandyte Rd & Eastland SC". Public Transport Victoria.
27. "370 Mitcham - Ringwood via Ringwood North". Public Transport Victoria.
28. "380 Ringwood - Croydon Loop". Public Transport Victoria.
29. "901 Frankston - Melbourne Airport (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria.
30. "684 Eildon – Melbourne via Lilydale Station". Public Transport Victoria . Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
31. "670 Ringwood – Lilydale via Croydon & Chirnside Park". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
32. "679 Chirnside Park Shopping Centre – Ringwood via Canterbury Rd". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
33. "742 Ringwood – Chadstone SC via Vermont South & Glen Waverley & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
34. "Mt Buller-Mansfield – Melbourne via Yea". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

External links

• Media related to Ringwood railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au