Princes Pier is a 580 metre long historic

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

, in

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

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 was known as the New Railway Pier until renamed Prince's Pier after the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) who visited

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 ...

in May 1920.

History

The pier was constructed between 1912 and 1915 by the

Melbourne Harbor Trust The Melbourne Harbor Trust was established in 1877 to improve and operate port facilities for the growing city of Melbourne. It was superseded by the Port of Melbourne Authority in 1978 and later by the Port of Melbourne Corporation. Creation ...

to supplement the adjacent Station Pier (originally the 'Railway Pier'). From completion in 1915 until 1969 it was also a major arrival point for new migrants, particularly during the post-war period. In addition to a pier, there was a gatehouse and barriers, terminal building, amenities rooms, goods lockers, ablution blocks, railway sidings and passenger gangways. From opening the pier was linked by rail to the

Port Melbourne railway line The Port Melbourne railway line is a former railway line in Melbourne, Australia, opened in September 1854, that is now a light rail line. It was instigated by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to carry passengers arriving in Victo ...

, via double lines branching from the Melbourne side of Graham station. Eight railway tracks ran onto the bridge, four along either face. A passenger rail service was provided to the pier after 30 May 1921 operated by suburban electric trains. Running when ships were docked at the pier, it was usually operated by a single double ended 'swing door' motor car until the service ended in November 1930, because it was not financially rewarding for the

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

. The overhead wiring was removed on 17 August 1953, and the line singled and worked as a siding from 21 March 1961. With the containerisation boom the pier became unused, being closed to public access in the early 1990s due to the poor timber condition. Squatters caused a fire in the late 1990s that destroyed the store structures. In the three years to 2004, 14 fires occurred. A refurbishment, estimated to cost $14 million, was announced by the State Government in April 2006, with the first 196 metres of the pier to be fully restored. Beyond that point, the decking was removed and the original pylons preserved. A full restoration was estimated to cost $60 million. A contract for the work was awarded in June 2007, and work began in October of the same year. The refurbished section of the pier reopened to the public in December 2011.

References

External links

Victorian Railways signal diagrams:
Victorian railways Diagram Port Melbourne Line Bridge Street to Piers 1919
* * * * * * {{coord, -37.8424, 144.9265, format=dms, type:landmark_region:AU-VIC, display=title Transport infrastructure completed in 1915 Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne Landmarks in Melbourne Piers in Australia 1915 establishments in Australia Port Phillip Buildings and structures in the City of Port Phillip