St Albans railway station, Melbourne

Last updated

St Albans
PTV commuter rail station
St Albans Railway Station.jpg
Northbound view from Platform 2, November 2016
General information
LocationSt Albans Road,
St Albans, Victoria 3021
City of Brimbank
Australia
Coordinates 37°44′40″S144°47′59″E / 37.7445°S 144.7997°E / -37.7445; 144.7997
Owned by VicTrack
Operated by Metro Trains
Line(s) Sunbury
Distance17.81 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side (formerly 3: 1 island and 1 side)
Tracks2
Connections Victoria bus logo.svg Bus
Construction
Structure typeBelow ground
Parking400
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, premium station
Station codeSAB
Fare zone Myki Zone 2
Website Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened1 February 1887;137 years ago (1887-02-01)
Rebuilt22 November 1959
27 January 2002
1 November 2016 (LXRP)
ElectrifiedOctober 1921
(1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–20061,207,043 [1]
Preceding station Melbourne train logo.svg Metro Trains Following station
Ginifer Sunbury line Keilor Plains
towards Sunbury or Watergardens
Former services
Preceding station Victoria train logo.svg V/Line Following station
Sunshine Bendigo line Watergardens
towards Sunbury or Bendigo
Track layout
BSicon MFADEg.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon MFADEg.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon STRg.svg
BSicon STRf.svg
BSicon CSTRa@g(r).svg
BSicon CSTRa@g(l).svg
BSicon lcCSTR+L.svg
1
BSicon PSTR(R).svg
2
BSicon PSTR(L).svg
BSicon lcCSTR+R.svg
BSicon lcCSTR+L.svg
BSicon PSTR(R).svg
BSicon PSTR(L).svg
BSicon lcCSTR+R.svg
BSicon CSTR(r).svg
BSicon CSTR(l).svg
BSicon STRg.svg
BSicon CSTRe@f(r).svg
BSicon STRf.svg
BSicon CSTRe@f(l).svg
BSicon MFADEf.svg
BSicon STR.svg
BSicon MFADEf.svg
BSicon STR.svg

St Albans railway station is a commuter railway station on the Sunbury line, serving the western Melbourne suburb of St Albans in Victoria, Australia. St Albans is a below ground premium station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 1 February 1887, with the current station provided in 2016. [4]

Contents

History

St Albans station opened on 1 February 1887. [4] It was provided at the request of a land development company that was sub-dividing the area. The company manager, Alfred Padley, asked for the station be named St Albans, apparently due to his forebears having an association with the English city of the same name. [5]

Originally, only three trains each way passed through St Albans on weekdays, and passengers had to inform the train guard at the prior stop if they wanted to alight there. [6] In 1888, a local service was provided, although it could not start operating to St Albans until 19 November of that year, when a single crossover was added, with tail-ropes probably used to shunt carriages with a locomotive on the adjacent track.

In 1898, that situation was resolved, when a second crossover was added and, by 1899, three non-interlocked signals had been provided in each direction, with the first proper signal box brought into use on 17 June 1901. [6] Later, steam-era trains operated hourly from Flinders Street to Braybrook Junction, with eight of hose trains continuing to St Albans.

In October 1921, the station became the terminus of the electrified network from the city, and services were improved, with trains operating every 40 minutes by day and hourly at night. [7]

The original station was located at the down end of the former Main Road level crossing, with all terminating electric trains using Platform 2. [7] In 1959, the station was rebuilt, with an island platform built on the up side of the level crossing. One side faced the main line and the other side formed a dock platform for terminating suburban trains. The old westbound platform was removed, but the eastbound platform remained for Spencer Street-bound regional trains. [7] Train stabling sidings were also provided around that time. [4] In 1986, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Main Road level crossing. [8]

A signal box with a mechanical lever frame, now abolished, was located on the former island platform, to control access to the former back platform and sidings.

On 26 July 1996, St Albans was upgraded to a premium station. [9]

In January 2002, as part of the extension of the electrified network to Sydenham, the platform that had been located at the down end of the level crossing was replaced by a new platform at the up end of the crossing. [4]

In November 2012, after electrification of the line was extended to Sunbury, V/Line Bendigo services ceased stopping at St Albans, and Metro Trains' terminating services also ceased, with Platform 3 no longer regularly used. The stabling yard was still used for train storage, until work on the grade separation project began in 2015. [4]

In late 2015, the Level Crossing Removal Authority commenced a grade separation project that replaced the Main Road level crossing with a road bridge over a lowered rail line. On 1 November 2016, the rebuilt station opened, with the overall project completed by mid-2017. Roughly a third of the station was directly below Main Road, with the remainder also lowered. [10] [11] [12]

Platforms and services

St Albans has two side platforms, located below ground level. It is served by Sunbury line trains. [13]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

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

CDC Melbourne operates seven bus routes to and from St Albans station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
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  5. "St Albans". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  6. 1 2 Newsrail November 1988 p328-331
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  11. $200 million to remove notorious St Albans level crossing Archived 27 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Premier of Victoria 27 April 2014
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