Roxburgh Park railway station is located on the Craigieburn 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 northern

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

Roxburgh Park Roxburgh Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Hume Local government areas of Victoria, local government area ...

, and opened on 21 September 2007.Roxburgh Park
Vicsig It was built just north of the site of the former Somerton station, which was closed to passengers in 1960. However, the adjacent

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 ...

and

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

crossing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

retain the Somerton name. Roxburgh Park station was provided as part of the extension of electrification from

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Broadmeadows recorded a population of 12,524 at the 2021 census. Broadmeadow ...

to Craigieburn. The Craigieburn-bound ( down) line was slewed to the west, to permit an

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 ...

to be built between the two tracks of the

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

main line.

History

Somerton opened to traffic as a single platform on 15 May 1881. In 1889, Somerton became a

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

, when what is now the Upfield line was opened from

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

northwards through

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

. That line was closed to traffic from the Somerton end in 1903. The line through Coburg, then terminating at

Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Fawkner recorded a population of 14,274 at the 2021 census. The ma ...

, was reopened in 1928, but no junction was provided at Somerton. Instead, the

AEC railmotor The AEC railmotor was the first generally successful railmotor built for the Victorian Railways. 19 vehicles were constructed from 1922 to 1925, along with 24 trailer vehicles built to a similar design. Design Four different internal layouts ...

that operated the service was turned using a

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

to the south of the station. This situation remained until 1956, when the line from Fawkner was again closed. In 1959, the line from Somerton to Upfield was reopened for freight traffic, to serve the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

factory, with suburban services extended to Upfield from the city side. On 6 December 1960, Somerton was closed to passengers, but additional freight sidings were provided in the Somerton area throughout the 1960s. Construction of the Melbourne - Sydney

line also commenced at that time, opening for traffic in 1962, and the freight line from Somerton to Upfield was converted to

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...

in 1963. In 1988, a dual-gauge siding was provided to nearby cement silos and, in 1998, Austrak commenced development of a container terminal, as part of a larger "freight village". A number of major companies entered into long-term tenancies for warehouses at the site and, in 2004, Austrak entered into a lease with P&O Trans Australia to operate the terminal. The Somerton terminal has four 750-metre dual-gauge rail sidings, with connections northwards on both gauges. In 2000, the crossing loop on the standard gauge line was extended at the down end. Today, the area to the east of the main line contains a complicated arrangement of broad, standard, and dual-gauge tracks. Roxburgh Park station officially opened on 21 September 2007, but services to and from the station did not commence until 30 September of that year. The station was opened by the then Victorian Premier

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

, the then Minister for Public Transport

Lynne Kosky Lynne Janice Kosky (2 September 1958 – 4 December 2014) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Part ...

, and the then MLA for Yuroke,

Liz Beattie Elizabeth Jean Beattie is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014. She represented the electorate of Yuroke from 2002; she previously represented the abolished elec ...

. On 4 May 2010, a collision between a Comeng train set and a quarry train going to

Kilmore East Kilmore East is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria, 65 kilometres north of Melbourne. At the , Kilmore East had a population of 417. Kilmore East was occupied for European use by John Green, a neighboring pastoralist on the Kilmore ...

, led by

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...

locomotive G524, occurred between Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn stations.Craigieburn Suburban Train rear end Quarry Train
Vicsig

Platforms and services

Roxburgh Park has one

with two faces. It is served by Craigieburn line trains. Platform 1: * all stations services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Craigieburn

Transport links

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As at 2018, CDC Melbourne was the third-largest commuter bu ...

operates two bus routes to and from Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : to Broadmeadows station * : to Greenvale Gardens

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 bus routes via Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : Broadmeadows station – Craigieburn North * : to Pascoe Vale station

Kastoria Bus Lines Kastoria Bus Lines is a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Australia. It operates five routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is owned by Northern Transit Holdings, which also operates Broadmeadows Bus Service, Nationwide Tours ...

operates one route to and from Roxburgh Park 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 Craigieburn station

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 Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : Frankston station –

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is t ...

Gallery

Roxburgh_Park_railway_station,_Melbourne.jpg, Southbound view from Platform 1, September 2007 File:Roxburgh Park railway station, Melbourne, street view.jpg, Station forecourt and bus interchange, September 2007

References

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Craigieburn=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in Melbourne Railway stations in Australia opened in 2007 Railway stations in the City of Hume