Somerton is a suburb in

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 ...

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 ...

, north of Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, located within the

City of Hume The City of Hume is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It includes the outer north-western suburbs and a number of rural localities between 13 and 40 kilometres from the Melbourne c ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. Somerton recorded a population of 6 at the 2021 census. Somerton is predominantly an industrial and business suburb, and has a number of industrial parks, including the Austrak Business Park, Somerton Logistics Centre and the Northgate Distribution Centre. It is bounded by Patullos Lane in the north, the

Merri Creek The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Northcote. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Fa ...

in the east, Somerton Road/Cooper Street in the south and the Craigieburn/ North East railway lines in the west.

History

The origin of Somerton's name is unclear, however records from 1847 show a "Summerton Inn". It may have also been named after Somers Town in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Somerton Post Office first opened on 1 January 1854 and closed in 1864. It reopened in 1892, some time after the

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

opened and again closed in 1966. In 1994, the Somerton Business and Delivery Centre opened.

Transport

Bus

Two

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service Somerton: * : Craigieburn station – Broadmeadows station via Upfield station. Operated by

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

. * : 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 ...

. Operated by

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 ...

Train

Roxburgh Park station, on the Craigieburn line, and Upfield station, on the Upfield line, are the nearest railway stations to Somerton.

Somerton railway station Somerton railway station (not to be confused with Fritwell & Somerton railway station, Fritwell & Somerton) was a railway station situated on the Great Western Railway, Great Western Railway's Langport and Castle Cary Railway. It served the to ...

opened in 1881 and closed to passengers in 1960. A

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 ...

on the Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line and an adjacent

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...

retain the Somerton name.

References

Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Hume {{melbourne-geo-stub

History

Transport

Bus

Train

See also

References