ESSENDON RAILWAY STATION, MELBOURNE

'Essendon railway station' is located on Buckley Street near Mt Alexander Road in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon, 9.2 km north of Melbourne's main central station, Flinders Street Station in Metcard ticketing Zone 1. The station consists of an island platform accessible via a pedestrian subway. The station's building is constructed of red brick in the Federation Free Classical Style.

Contents

Features

Layout

Other public transport links

History

References

Features

Essendon Railway Station was made to a premium station in 1996, being provided with staffing from first to last train, a ticket office that sells V/Line regional tickets in addition to Metcards, public toilets, and an indoor seating area. In the mornings there is an on-platform coffee seller and a newspaper kiosk (open to about 9am).
Nearby attractions are Windy Hill where the Essendon Football Club practice.
Essendon is the nearest station to Kangan Batman TAFE.
There are a number of local private schools, the students of which dominate morning inbound passenger numbers. The schools include Ave Maria College, St Columba's College, Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School and Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School.

Layout

The ticket office is on the island platform, as are two ticket machines.
Outbound trains normally arrive on the western side of the island platform (platform 3), while citybound trains normally arrive on the eastern side of the island platform (platform 2). The other platform (platform 1), on the eastern side of the station, is generally unused as it is too short to accommodate a 6-car suburban train, and has no Metcard equipment provided.
The pedestrian subway was previously prone to flooding, but until improvements to the drainage system were undertaken. A second subway passes under the railway line on the north side of the station, but it does not provided access to any platforms, merely connecting Rose Street to Russell Street.

Other public transport links

A number of bus lines connect with Essendon station.
The 465 and 468 depart from Rose Street on the west side of the station, and in the evening peak seem to reliably match up with northbound trains, however they stop running a little after 8:00 pm.
The 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 483, 501, 503 and 510 depart from Russell Street on the east side of the station.
The number 59 tram has a stop 190 meters to the east of Essendon station.

History

The first passenger line to Essendon opened in October 1860. The service was closed in July 1864, before reopening under government ownership on January 9 1871.^[1] In 1878 a new station was constructed on the present site. Passenger subways and footbridges were added in 1886. The centre platform and station building were added in 1909, following an increase in Essendon's population.
Essendon Railway Station is registered with the Victorian Heritage Register.

References

1. Railway History in Victoria 1839 - 1900 ARHS Railway Museum