Newport railway station is the junction for the

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government a ...

and Williamstown lines 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. It serves the western

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 Newport, and opened on 1 March 1859 as Geelong Junction. It was renamed Williamstown Junction in January 1869, and renamed Newport on 1 November 1881.Newport
VicsigNewport Station
Rail Geelong Two sidings exist at the northern ( up) end of the station, used for the stabling of trains that operate the Williamstown and Altona line shuttle services. The

Western standard gauge line The Western standard gauge railway line is a standard-gauge railway line in western Victoria, Australia. Completed in 1995, it forms part of the Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor and serves as the principal interstate rail link between Vict ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

operates to the west of the station, behind Platform 1, and the

Newport Workshops The Newport Railway Workshops is a facility in the Melbourne suburb of Newport, Australia, that builds, maintains and refurbishes railway rollingstock. It is located between the Williamstown and Werribee railway lines. History Plans for a wo ...

are located to the south.

History

Newport station opened on 1 March 1859. In 1857, the

Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company ...

opened its line to Newport from Geelong but, because the line from Melbourne to Newport was not yet complete, a track was constructed along North Road to a temporary terminus on the bank of 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 s ...

at Greenwich, from where passengers were conveyed to Melbourne by ferry. In October of that year, the line towards Williamstown was opened and the Geelong line was connected to it. In 1887, a line from Sunshine to Newport was opened, to allow easier access to the port of Williamstown for trains from the north of Victoria. A number of sidings were also provided in the Newport area: to a flour mill on the Melbourne side, and 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 l ...

on the western side of the Williamstown line. In October 1960, the Melbourne Road

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

, which was located just south of the station, was replaced with the current overpass. In 1966, the stabling sidings to the north of the station were provided. On 22 July 1967, a freight line was provided to the west of Platform 1, so that freight trains could bypass the station itself. That line was converted to dual gauge in 1995, and became part of the Western standard gauge line to Adelaide. On 18 July 1996, Newport 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 ...

. There have been several calls to build a Melbourne Metro 2 line, once the Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel has been completed. Melbourne Metro 2 would run from Newport to Clifton Hill via

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

. The project, designed to serve the

Fishermans Bend Fishermans Bend (formerly Fishermen's Bend) is a precinct within the City of Port Phillip and the City of Melbourne. It is located on the south of the Yarra River in the suburb of Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, close to the Melbourne ...

development, as well as add capacity to the

Mernda Mernda is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Mernda recorded a population of 23,369 at the 2021 census. Hi ...

and Werribee lines, would bring considerable change to Newport, perhaps adding underground platforms. There have also been suggestions to route Geelong line trains via Newport into Southern Cross once again, given the crowding at

Wyndham Vale Wyndham Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Wyndham Vale recorded a population of 20,518 at the . The suburb of Ma ...

and Tarneit, as well as the lack of capacity on the

Regional Rail Link The Regional Rail Link (RRL) was a project to build a 47.5 kilometre length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, the main aim of which was to separate regional V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services from the el ...

tracks between Sunshine and the city. Announced as part of a $57.7 million package in the ''2022/23 Victorian State Budget'', Newport station, alongside others, will receive accessibility upgrades and improvements. The development process will begin in late 2022, with a timeline for the upgrades to be released once construction has begun. On the Altona loop line, demolished station Mobiltown was located between Newport and Seaholme. On the direct route to

, disused station Paisley and demolished station Galvin were located between Newport and Laverton.

Platforms and services

Newport has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

s. Platform 1 features a large brick building which houses an enclosed waiting area and toilets. Platform 2 has a smaller brick building which also contains toilets. It is served by

and Williamstown line trains. Platform 1: * all station and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston * all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston Platform 2: * all stations and limited express services to

and Laverton * all stations services to Williamstown Until the opening of the

in June 2015, Geelong and

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

line services stopped at Newport.

Transport links

Transit Systems Victoria operates four routes via Newport station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : to Yarraville station * : Williamstown – Sunshine station * : Williamstown –

Moonee Ponds Junction Moonee Ponds Junction is a bus and tram interchange on the junction of Ascot Vale Road / Pascoe Vale Road and Mount Alexander Road in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne (Puckle Street / Dean Street also meets at the same point). It is located approximately ...

* : to Footscray station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)

References

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Werribee=y, Williamstown=y, state=collapsed Former rail freight terminals in Victoria (Australia) Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Melbourne Railway stations in Australia opened in 1859 Railway stations in the City of Hobsons Bay