Ashburton railway station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

way station on the Alamein line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the eastern suburb of Ashburton, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Australia. Ashburton station is a ground level premium station, featuring one side platform. It opened on 30 May 1890. Initially opened as Norwood, the station was given its current name of Ashburton on 12 December 1890. Situated immediately north of the station, the

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

becomes

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for the rest of the section to Alamein.

History

Ashburton station opened on 30 May 1890, and was on the first section of the Outer Circle line. Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Ashburton Terrace in

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, where

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E. Dillon, who suggested the name, had previously lived. By 1893, the northern half of the Outer Circle line had been closed and, on 9 December 1895, the line beyond Ashburton, connecting with Oakleigh was closed as well. For a short period, that left the line from

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

to Ashburton as the only remaining stretch of the Outer Circle line. On 1 May 1897, Ashburton closed, along with the line from Camberwell. After an outcry from the local community, that section of the line reopened on 4 July 1898, becoming the Ashburton line once again. The line was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

on 30 October 1924 but, in the years leading up to that, it was served by the popularly-named ''Deepdene Dasher'', which ran a shuttle between Ashburton and Deepdene, and usually consisted of an F-Class engine and one or two American-type carriages. When the track was extended 600 metres to a new terminus at Alamein, on 28 June 1948, the Ashburton line became the Alamein line. In 1977, a signal panel was provided in the station building. The Train Staff and Ticket safeworking system to Alamein was also abolished in that year. A

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...

is located at the Flinders Street ( up) end of the station. In July 1989, timetabled use of the siding ended, due to the vandalising of trains stabled there. However, from time to time, maintenance trains use the siding during track works. On 1 February 1996, Ashburton was upgraded to a

premium station The Melbourne rail network is a metropolitan Commuter rail, suburban and Rail freight transport, freight rail system serving the city of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan rail network is centred around th ...

. Also occurring in that year, the station was the first on the metropolitan railway system where the former Metcard ticketing system was trialled.

Platforms and services

Ashburton has one platform and is served by Alamein line trains. Platform 1: * services to Alamein; weekday all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street; all stations shuttle services to

Transport links

Ventura Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines is a large bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operating a fleet of more than 950 buses on 141 bus routes. History Early history Ventura was founded in December 1924 by Henry Cornwall. The name and co ...

operates one bus route via Ashburton station, under contract to

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was previously the trading name of the Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victo ...

: * : Glen Iris station – Glen Waverley station

References

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Alamein=y, state=collapsed Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1890 Railway stations in the City of Boroondara