A number of railway lines and stations which formed part of the greater Melbourne railway network have been closed over time, either in part or in full. The decision to close a railway station has historically been made by the department responsible for rail transport within the Government of Victoria.
Over the history of the Melbourne railway network, a total of eleven complete railway lines, as well as 75 railway stations, have been closed. The most recent railway stations to close are Surrey Hills and Mont Albert stations, which closed on 17 February 2023, due to the level crossing removal project which will see the two stations merge and become Union station, while the most recent railway line to close to traffic is the Port Melbourne railway line, which was closed on 11 October 1987 and subsequently converted to light rail. A number of stations have also been closed and rebuilt at another location, such as West Footscray, which was rebuilt 160 metres away as part of the Regional Rail Link project.
Most closed railway lines have been converted to other uses, such as rail trails or linear parkland. In addition, a number of closed railway stations have been converted for other uses, such as retail stores.
Closed railway lines
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Name
! Opened
! Closed
! Stations
! Current status
! Notes
|-
|Broadstore branch line
|
|
|1
|Dismantled after 1991
|
|-
|Gembrook line
|
|
|15
|Reopened in 1962 as the Belgrave line between Upper Ferntree Gully and Belgrave. Beyond Belgrave the Puffing Billy Railway reopened in 1962 as a heritage service along the former line.
|
|-
|Healesville line
|
|
|5
|Until 2020, the line remained in place between Lilydale and Yarra Glen, however, the line has since been dismantled as far as Yering, and was dismantled to Yarra Glen throughout 2022. Beyond Yarra Glen the Yarra Valley Railway is undertaking works to restore the line towards Healesville.
|
|-
|Inner Circle line
|
|
- (North Fitzroy to Royal Park)
- (North Fitzroy to Rushall)
|3
|Reservation mostly intact and used by the Capital City Trail
|
|-
|Kew line
|
|
|2
|Dismantled and reservation sold.
|
|-
|Mornington line
|
|
|5
|Disused line remains in place between Baxter and Moorooduc. The Mornington Railway Preservation Society operate tourist services between Moorooduc and a rebuilt Mornington station.
|
|-
|Mont Park line
|
|
|1
|Dismantled and reservation sold
|
|-
|Outer Circle line
|
|
- (Fairfield to APM Siding)
- (East Kew to East Camberwell section)
- (APM Siding to East Kew section)
|7
|Section between East Camberwell and Alamein remains open as the Alamein Line, with the reservation remaining intact and used as a linear park and is part of the Anniversary Outer Circle Trail north of East Camberwell station.
|
|-
|Port Melbourne railway line
|
|
|4
|Was converted to light rail between Port Junction and Port Melbourne, with tram services commencing to use the line from 18 December 1987. The line is today served by tram route 109 services.
|,
|-
|Red Hill line
|
|
|3
|Dismantled and some of reservation sold, with the remainder existing as a rail trail.
|
|-
|Rosstown Railway
|
|
|4
|Dismantled, much remains as linear park or parkland adjacent to Elsternwick station
|
|-
|St Kilda – Windsor link line
|
|
|0 (link between two other lines)
|Dismantled and reservation sold
|
|-
|St Kilda railway line
|
|
|4
|Was converted to light rail between Port Junction and St Kilda, with tram route 96 commencing to use the line from 20 November 1987
|
|-
|Spring Vale Cemetery line
|
| or 10 December 1950
|1
|Dismantled and reservation sold
|,
|-
|Warburton line
|
|
|10
|Reservation intact, used for rail-trail
|
|-
|Whittlesea line
|
|
|4
|Line remains open to Mernda. Beyond Mernda the line has been dismantled, with the right of way remaining intact.
|
|-
|}
none|thumb|805x805px|Diagram showing Melbourne's rail network including former and planned lines
Stations
Closed
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! Station
! class=unsortable | Image
! Line(s)
! Suburb/Town
! Opened
! Closed
! Current status
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Greenwich
|
| Werribee
| Newport
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Cremorne
|
| Windsor (Sandringham)
| Richmond (now Cremorne)
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Albion & Darlington
|
| Sunbury
| Albion
|
|
| Demolished; replaced by Albion station in 1891
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Botanic Gardens
|
| Hawthorn (Lilydale) and Windsor (Sandringham)
| East Melbourne
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Maidstone
|
| Sunbury
| Between Footscray and Albion
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Saltwater River
|
| Williamstown
| Between Maribyrnong River and South Kensington
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Richmond Park
|
| Glen Waverley
| Between Burnley and Heyington stations
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Fitzroy
|
| Inner Circle
| Fitzroy North
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Fulham Grange
|
| Outer Circle
| Alphington
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Willsmere
|
| Outer Circle
| Kew
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | East Kew
|
| Outer Circle
| Kew
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mambourin
|
| Geelong
|
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Waverley Road
|
| Outer Circle
| Malvern East
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Pic Nic
|
| Hawthorn
| Burnley
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Garden Vale
|
| Rosstown Railway
| Gardenvale
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Hawthorn Road
|
| Rosstown Railway
| Caulfield
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Booran Road
|
| Rosstown Railway
| Glen Huntly
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Sugar Beet Mill
|
| Rosstown Railway
| Carnegie
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Deepdene
|
| Outer Circle
| Balwyn
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Shenley
|
| Outer Circle
| Canterbury
|
|
| Demolished; platform mound remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Roystead
|
| Outer Circle
| Canterbury
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Holden
|
|Sunbury
|Between Diggers Rest and Sydenham stations
| (late)
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | North Carlton
|
| Inner Circle
| Carlton North
|
|
| Station building converted to community centre
|-
! style="text-align:left" | North Fitzroy
|
| Inner Circle
| Fitzroy North
|
|
| Demolished; platform mound remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Williamstown Racecourse
|
| Geelong (branch)
| Williamstown
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Spring Vale Cemetery
|
| Pakenham (branch)
| Springvale
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Balnarring
|
|Red Hill
|On private property, nearly no remains
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Merricks
|
|Red Hill
|Part of equestrian facility
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Red Hill
|
|Red Hill
|On private property
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | North Campbellfield
|
|Upfield
|Near current Upfield station
|
|
|Upfield station opened nearby on 17 August 1959
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Campbellfield
|
|Upfield
|Camp Road, Campbellfield
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Barker
|
|Kew
|Barkers Road, Kew
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Kew
|
|Kew
|North of Hawthorn station
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | South Morang
|
| Whittlesea
| South Morang
|
|
| Demolished; rebuilt as Middle Gorge in 2018
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mernda
|
|Whittlesea
| Mernda
|
|
| Demolished; rebuilt in 2018
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Yan Yean
|
| Whittlesea
| Yan Yean
|
|
| Demolished; platform remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Whittlesea
|
| Whittlesea
| Whittlesea
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Somerton
|
| Craigieburn
| Roxburgh Park
|
|
| Demolished; replaced with Roxburgh Park in 2007
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mont Park Asylum
|
| Hurstbridge (branch)
| MacLeod
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mount Evelyn
|
| Warburton
| Mount Evelyn
|
|
| Demolished,Rebuilt Platform
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Wandin
|
| Warburton
| Wandin North
|
|
| Demolished; platform wall remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Seville
|
| Warburton
| Seville
|
|
| Demolished; platform wall remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Killara
|
| Warburton
| Seville East
|
|
| Demolished; platform wall remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Woori Yallock
|
| Warburton
| Woori Yallock
|
|
| Demolished; platform wall remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Launching Place
|
| Warburton
| Launching Place
|
|
| Demolished, Platform wall holders remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Yarra Junction
|
| Warburton
| Yarra Junction
|
|
| Intact; Station building houses Upper Yarra Museum
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Wesburn
|
| Warburton
| Wesburn
|
|
| Demolished; platform wall holders remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Millgrove
|
| Warburton
| Millgrove
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Warburton
|
| Warburton
| Warburton
|
|
| Demolished; platform remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Narrambi
|
| Mornington
| Mornington
|
|
| platform material reused for Mornington Tourist railway station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Coldstream
|
| Healesville
| Coldstream
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Yering
|
| Healesville
| Yering
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Langwarrin
|
| Stony Point
| Langwarrin
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Lyndhurst
|
| Cranbourne
| Lyndhurst
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | White City
|
| St Albans (Sunbury)
| Tottenham
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mobiltown
|
| Werribee
| Altona North
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Galvin
|
| Werribee (express route)
| Altona
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Paisley
|
| Werribee (express route)
| Altona North
|
|
| Demolished; platform remains
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Williamstown Pier
|
| Williamstown
| Williamstown
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Graham
|
| Port Melbourne
| Port Melbourne
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Montague
|
| Port Melbourne
| South Melbourne
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | North Port
|
| Port Melbourne
| Port Melbourne
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Port Melbourne
|
| Port Melbourne
| Port Melbourne
|
|
| Converted to tram stop
|-
! style="text-align:left" | St Kilda
|
| St Kilda
| St Kilda
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and commercial use
|-
! style="text-align:left" | South Melbourne
|
| St Kilda
| South Melbourne
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and commercial use
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Albert Park
|
| St Kilda
| Albert Park
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and commercial use
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Middle Park
|
| St Kilda
| Middle Park
|
|
| Converted to tram stop and commercial use
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Stopping Place #16
|
| Mornington
| Mornington
|
|
| Replaced by Mornington tourist station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | APM Siding
|
| Hurstbridge (branch)
| Alphington
|
|
| Demolished
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Werribee Racecourse
|
| Werribee
| Werribee
|
|
| Platform intact and signs remain
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Princes Bridge
|
| City Loop, Mernda and Hurstbridge
| Melbourne
|
|
| Subsumed into Flinders Street station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | General Motors
|
| Pakenham
| Dandenong South
|
|
| Intact but no legal access to station site
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Surrey Hills
|
| Belgrave and Lilydale
| Surrey Hills
|
|
| Demolished; replaced with Union station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Mont Albert
|
| Belgrave and Lilydale
| Mont Albert
|
|
| Demolished (building relocated); replaced with Union station
|}
Future closed
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! Station
! class=unsortable | Image
! Line(s)
! Suburb/Town
! Opened
! Closing
! Future status
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Anstey
|
| Upfield
| Brunswick
|
|
| To be demolished and replaced with future Northern station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Brunswick
|
| Upfield
| Brunswick
|
|
| To be demolished and replaced with future Northern station
|-
! style="text-align:left" | Jewell
|
| Upfield
| Brunswick
|
|
| To be demolished and replaced with future Northern station
|}
Rebuilt
These stations previously existed in slightly different locations, and/or at a higher or lower level (for example, originally at ground level then lowered into a cutting), to their modern-day counterparts. They may be considered the closed predecessors of today's stations.
- Ardeer (August 1956) – on the Melton line (greater metropolitan line)
- Boronia (1998) – on the Belgrave line; track lowered station rebuilt (with a significantly larger capacity than before the rebuild) lowered as part of grade separation under the intersection of Dorset/Boronia Roads. Surface areas and carpark now integrated with Boronia Junction Shopping Centre.
- Bentleigh (11 June – 29 August 2016) – on the Frankston line; rebuilt as part of the level crossing removal works at North Road, McKinnon Road and Centre Road.
- Box Hill (1983–1985) – on the Belgrave/Lilydale line; track lowered and station incorporated into Box Hill Central shopping centre.
- Canterbury (19 June 1966) – on the Belgrave/Lilydale line; current high level station opened on 15 September 1968 and was completed and the Canterbury Road level crossing closed on 22 December 1968
- Dandenong – Built 8 October 1887, upgraded in 1994–1995 – Change over for the Pakenham and Cranbourne Lines
- Elsternwick (October 1960) – on the Sandringham line; grade separated to remove the level crossing and tram square at Glen Huntly Road.
- Epping (29 November 1959) – terminus of the Epping line until 2012; current station opened on 30 November 1964
- Fawkner (13 July 1903) – on the Upfield line; current station opened on 10 December 1906
- Footscray 1900 – two separate stations for the Williamstown and Sunbury lines were merged into the current site
- Flinders Street
- Originally Melbourne Terminus (built 1854)
- Current Flinders Street station (built 1910)
- Gardiner (18 January 2016) – lowered into cutting as part of the removal of a Glen Waverley line rail crossing at Burke Road.
- Ginifer railway station (1 November 2016) – lowered into cutting as part of the removal of a Sunbury line rail crossing at Furlong Road.
- Glen Waverley (24 February 1964) – terminus of the Glen Waverley line
- Heatherdale (2015 - 6 February 2017) track lowered into cutting and station rebuilt as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project.
- Hoppers Crossing (1983) – Originally located on the Western Side of Old Geelong Road (1970–1983) for country trains, rebuilt with longer platforms to cater for Electric Trains on the Eastern Side of Old Geelong Road.
- Laburnum (January 2007) – on the Belgrave/Lilydale line; track lowered to create a rail underpass replacing the level crossing at Middleborough Road.
- Lalor (5 August 1952) – on the Mernda line
- McKinnon (25 March – 1 August 2016) – on the Frankston Line; rebuilt as part of the level crossing removal works at North Road, McKinnon Road and Centre Road.
- Mitcham (25 December 1882 – 2 January 2014) – on the Belgrave/Lilydale line; track lowered to create a rail underpass replacing two level crossings at Mitcham Road and Rooks Road. New station opened 25 January 2014.
- Moorabbin 1959 – on the Frankston line; new station lowered below road level and provision made for the third track (which did not occur for some 20 years), road underpasses established for South Road and the Nepean Highway
- Mornington (1987) – on the Mornington line; new station located on the demolished Stopping Place 16 station and opened 2000
- Narre Warren (3 June 1995) – on the Pakenham line
- Nunawading (January 2010) – on the Belgrave/Lilydale line; track lowered and station rebuilt with a provision made for a third track as part of the Springvale Road grade separation project.
- Officer (13 May 1956) – on the Pakenham line
- Ormond (11 June – 29 August 2016) – on the Frankston line; rebuilt as part of the level crossing removal works at North Road, McKinnon Road and Centre Road.
- Richmond (the gateway to the city for all eastern lines) has had several incarnations:
- Punt Road low level (8 February 1859 – 12 December 1859)
- Swan Street low level (12 December 1859 – 1885)
- Richmond high level (1885 – 26 March 1960) – the opening of this station overlapped with the closure of Swan Street
- Sandown Park (16 May 1955) – on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines; current station opened on 19 June 1965
- Southern Cross, the main terminus of regional and interstate services in Victoria.
- Progressively expanded until 1960.
- Rebuilt station building and platform layout beginning in 1960 as part of the works providing a standard-gauge railway link to Sydney.
- Beginning 2002, Spencer Street has been substantially rebuilt and renamed Southern Cross. While maintaining the previous platform layout, the station bears no resemblance to the former station.
- St Albans (1 November 2016) - on the Sunbury Line; rebuilt as a part of the Level Crossing Removal works at
Main Rd West.
- Tottenham low level (27 July 1982) – on the Sunbury line
- Watergardens (Sydenham) (2002) – on the Sydenham line
- Watsonia was lowered into a cutting when the line between Macleod and Greensborough was duplicated. (Hurstbridge line)
- West Footscray (14 October 2013) – on the Sunbury line; rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project.
See also
- List of closed railway stations in Victoria
References
External links
- Railpage Australia