Eltham railway station is located on the Hurstbridge line in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It serves the north-eastern

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, and opened on 5 June 1902. Eltham is the terminus for a number of peak and off-peak services on the line. Five stabling sidings are located to the west of Platform 2, with the site previously having been a

goods yard A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

. The last timber

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...

on the Melbourne suburban network is located to the south of the station.

History

Eltham station opened on 5 June 1902, when the railway line from

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

was extended. It remained a terminus until June 1912, when the line was extended to

Hurstbridge Hurstbridge is a town in Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Hurstbridge recorded a population of 3,554 at the 2021 census. Hurstbri ...

. Like the suburb itself, the station is named after the district of

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. In 1960, Platform 1 was converted from a south-facing

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. Overview Bay and islan ...

to a through platform, with a connection to the main line provided at the down end of the station. Also in that year, the current station building was provided. In 1969, flashing light signals were provided at the Diamond Street

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

, located nearby in the down direction from the station. In 1977, a ramped goods platform was abolished, with a

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...

believed to be demolished around the same time. By 1984, goods traffic to and from the station ceased. In 1987,

boom barrier A boom barrier, also known as a boom gate, is a bar, or pole pivoted to allow the boom to block vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled point. Typically the tip of a boom gate rises in a vertical arc to a near vertical position. Boo ...

s were provided at the Diamond Street level crossing. On 4 July 1996, Eltham was upgraded to a

Premium Station The Melbourne rail network is a passenger and freight train system in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan passenger rail network is centred on the Melbourne CBD and consists of 222 stations across 16 lines, which s ...

. A minor refurbishment of the station also occurred during this time. On 25 December 2011, following a large

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

and subsequent

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

, parts of the line at the down end of the level crossing were washed away. The flooding also eroded a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...

, exposing a small timber bridge. Eltham was one of the last stations in Melbourne to be controlled by mechanical

safeworking Signalling block systems enable the safe and efficient operation of railways by preventing collisions between trains. The basic principle is that a track is broken up into a series of sections or "blocks". Only one train may occupy a block at a ...

, including the use of semaphore signals. It was also a break between two different types of safeworking: Greensborough to Eltham was controlled by miniature electric staff, whilst Eltham to Hurstbridge was controlled by train staff and ticket. Both safeworking systems were converted to Automatic Track Control (ATC) in early 2013. A new amenities building for train drivers was constructed around that time, as well as an upgrade to the stabling sidings. On 15 May 2019, the

Level Crossing Removal Project The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) is a program of the Government of Victoria, Australia, to remove 110 level crossings and rebuild 51 railway stations in Melbourne. After pledging the removal of 50 level crossings at the 2014 Victor ...

announced that planning for the

duplication Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to: Biology and genetics * Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation * Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome * Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...

of the line between Eltham and Greensborough was underway,Hurstbridge Line Upgrade Stage 2 planning underway
- Level Crossing Removal Project with the project expected to start in late 2021. The timber trestle bridge will not be affected by the project.

Platforms and services

Eltham has one

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

with two faces. Trains in either direction can depart from either platform, although

bound services almost always depart from Platform 1, and Flinders Street bound services usually depart from Platform 2. It is served by Hurstbridge line trains. Platform 1: * all stations services to

* all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street * all stations services to Hurstbridge

Transport links

Dysons Dysons is a bus and coach operator in Victoria, Australia. History Dysons was founded in June 1952 when Laurie Dyson purchased the business of Ned Gastin with route 46A Regent station to Janefield Hospital. Over the years a number of route ...

operates two routes via Eltham station, under contract to

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...

: * : to

Glenroy station Glenroy Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. It is situated approximately north of Fitzroy Crossing and east of Derby in the Kimberley region. History The property was established in the earl ...

(via Lower Plenty) * : to Glenroy station (via Greensborough)

Kinetic Melbourne Kinetic Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia, operating a fleet of 531 buses on 43 bus routes, as well as seven SmartBus routes. It commenced operations on 31 January 2022, taking over all routes previously operated by Transdev Me ...

operates one

SmartBus SmartBus is a network of bus services in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Overseen by Public Transport Victoria, the network comprises nine key cross-town and orbital bus routes around Melbourne. Key aspects of the service include more frequen ...

route via Eltham station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : Chelsea station – Westfield

Airport West Airport West is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Airport West recorded a population of 8,173 at the . Bounded by ...

Panorama Coaches Panorama Coaches is a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates four routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is a subsidiary of the Dineen Group. History In September 1949, Don Nugent and W McKenzie p ...

operates four routes to and from Eltham station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : to

Warrandyte Warrandyte is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Warrandyte recorded a population of 5,541 at the . Warrandy ...

* : to Warrandyte * : to

Diamond Creek Diamond Creek is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Nillumbik local government area. Diamond Creek recorded a population of 12,503 at the 20 ...

* : to Eltham station (Eltham Town Service)

Gallery

File:ElthamTrestleBridge.jpg, A Metro X'Trapolis train crosses the trestle bridge in November 2013

References

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Hurstbridge=y, state=collapsed Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Melbourne Railway stations in Australia opened in 1902 Railway stations in the Shire of Nillumbik