Yarra Glen is the city-end terminus of the

Yarra Valley Railway The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia. History The Lilydale-Melbou ...

, which operates over part of the former

Healesville railway line The Healesville railway line, in Melbourne, Australia, was the non-electrified continuation of the suburban Lilydale line, extending into the Yarra Valley. The line closed in the 1980s, but a heritage railway group, the Yarra Valley Railway, is ...

. The first station on the site was built in 1888–1889 when the railway line was extended from Lilydale to

Healesville Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 52 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census. He ...

. The settlement had been previously named Burgoyne, but when the railway was extended, the decision was made to rename it Yarra Glen. Though Yarra Glen was a small settlement, its station was often used for supplying Melbourne with produce from nearby farms. The station closed along with the Healesville line in 1980. It sat idle for some years, and suffered some major fire damage to the roof. However, the station is being restored by the

, which is based at

Healesville railway station Healesville is a railway station in Victoria, Australia. Formerly the terminus of the Healesville railway line, it is currently the principal station of the Yarra Valley Railway. A temporary station was built on the site in 1888–1889 when the ...

. The railway is currently open on weekends and public holidays, offering return trips from Healesville through the tunnel near Tarrawarra and back, using

Walker railmotor The family of Walker railmotors were a type of diesel railcar operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia. After World War II, the Victorian Railways undertook a major rebuilding program known as Operation Phoenix. One of the first tasks was ...

RM22. The

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

on 7 February 2009 burnt a good deal of grassland and forest in the Yarra Valley. The fire also caused the destruction of 13 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 ...

s between Yarra Glen Station and Healesville. Bridges of varying lengths were lost, the main ones being those on the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

flats, including a long one over the river itself. The bridges, between Yarra Glen and Yering, are visible from the

Melba Highway Melba Highway connects the outer eastern suburb of Coldstream, near Lilydale, and the town of Yea, in Victoria's Upper Goulburn on the Goulburn Valley Highway. The road is named after Dame Nellie Melba, a famed Australian opera singer of the ...

when approaching Yarra Glen. Six other bridges were destroyed, which were not part of the Yarra Valley Railway, and sleepers were burnt out over approx 2 km, also outside the running section of the railway. Until the 13 bridges and associated rail track can be restored to operating condition, Yarra Glen station is orphaned from the remaining part of the Yarra Valley Railway. Rebuilding progressed quickly during 2015, to the point where the reconstructed bridges, this time in concrete and steel, are clearly visible from the road close by. Yarra Glen Station is being rebuilt from the ground up by dedicated volunteers, including the Yarra Glen

Men's Shed Men's sheds or community sheds are non-profit local organisations that provide a space for craftwork and social interaction. The movement originated in Australia around the 1980s as a way to improve the health and wellbeing of older men. Howev ...

, and the finished building will closely match its original design. It is scheduled to be completed in 2017. With the fire having destroyed the timber bridges between Yarra Glen and

Coldstream Coldstream ( gd, An Sruthan Fuar , sco, Caustrim) is a town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. A former burgh, Coldstream is the home of the Coldstream Guards, a regiment in the British Army. Description Coldstream l ...

, the possible future reinstatement of railway services to Lilydale has been made highly improbable, because it would require a considerable amount of money and time.

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au Tourist railway stations in Melbourne Railway stations in the Shire of Yarra Ranges {{VictoriaAU-railstation-stub