South Kensington railway station

For the London Underground station, see South Kensington tube station.

South Kensington
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from Platform 2, May 2023
General information
Location	Childers Street, Kensington, Victoria 3031 City of Melbourne Australia
Coordinates	37°47′59″S144°55′33″E / 37.7997°S 144.9258°E / -37.7997; 144.9258
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Werribee Williamstown
Distance	3.49 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	6
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	SKN
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	11 March 1891;133 years ago (1891-03-11)
Rebuilt	1975
Electrified	August 1920 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	89,182 [1]

Preceding station	Metro Trains			Following station
Footscray towards Werribee		Werribee line		North Melbourne towards Frankston via Flinders Street
Footscray towards Williamstown		Williamstown line
Sunbury line does not stop here

Track layout
Legend to North Melbourne to Arden 1 2 to North Dynon Rail Yard Maribyrnong River to Footscray Electrified Non-electrified This diagram: view talk edit

South Kensington railway station is located on the Werribee and Williamstown lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the inner north-western Melbourne suburb of Kensington, and opened on 11 March 1891. ^{[4] [5]}

Freight lines run to the south of the station. The closest of those lines are used by V/Line to reverse empty services from Traralgon and Bairnsdale, while the tracks further south are used by a variety of standard gauge freight operators. The lines to the east join Melbourne Yard, while those to the west are the South Kensington–West Footscray set of lines that lead to either South Dynon or West Footscray, via the Bunbury Street tunnel.

All the private sidings that formerly existed around South Kensington have now been closed. They included a siding to a large wool store to the north-east (now demolished), one to a warehouse and silos to the east (open but no longer served by rail), and two sidings to the north serving the Melbourne City Council abattoirs and Kenstore, a military warehouse complex that opened during World War II.

In 1972, the platforms were extended at the down end of the station. ^[6] In 1975, the present platform shelters were provided, when the station was modified to accommodate the quadruplication of the line to Footscray. ^[7] The disused station office, located near the entrance to the pedestrian underpass on Childers Street, was also provided around that time. ^[7] On 1 July of that year, parcel facilities at the station were abolished. ^[8] The following year, in November 1976, the quadruplicated line between South Kensington and Footscray was provided. ^[4]

The current configuration of the station dates from 2014, as part of the Regional Rail Link (RRL) project. The goods-only tracks immediately to the south of the station were replaced by a pair of tracks used by regional passenger services operating to and from Southern Cross. The signal box, formerly located at the up end of the down platform (Platform 2), was demolished to make way for the new RRL tracks. A mural outside the station on Childers Street was funded by the City–Maribyrnong River arm of the project, but it has since been painted over.

In 2020, in a survey conducted by the RACV, South Kensington was ranked as the worst railway station in Victoria. ^[9]

Platforms and services

South Kensington has two side platforms. It is served by Werribee and Williamstown trains. ^{[10] [11]}

Platform 1:

•   Werribee line   all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston
•   Williamstown line   all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston

Platform 2:

•   Werribee line   all stations services to Laverton via Altona (weekdays only); all stations services to Werribee
•   Williamstown line   all stations services to Williamstown

Gallery

• 
  Eastbound view from Platform 2 looking at now demolished signal box building, July 2005

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
4. "South Kensington". vicsig.net. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
5. "South Kensington Station". Rail Geelong. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
6. "Way and Works". Divisional Diary . Australian Railway Historical Society. April 1972. p. 6.
7. "Works & Safeworking". Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society. November 1975. p. 260.
8. "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1975. p. 226.
9. Jacks, Timna (10 March 2020). "No car parking, narrow platforms: Melbourne's worst train stations". The Age . Retrieved 17 March 2022.
10. "Werribee Line". Public Transport Victoria.
11. "Williamstown Line". Public Transport Victoria.