Clarkefield railway station is a

regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

way station on the Deniliquin line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the north-western suburb and town of

Clarkefield Clarkefield () is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne, Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Hume and the Shire of Macedon Ranges Local government areas ...

, in Victoria, Australia. Clarkefield station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened in December 1862.Clarkefield
VicsigClarkefield
VR History The station had various names. It initially opened as Lancefield Road, then it was renamed to Lancefield Junction in 1881. Then it had two various names of the same pronunciation, but different spelling. It was renamed to Clarkfield on 11 January 1926, then finally was given its current name of Clarkefield on 23 February 1926.Clarkefield
VicsigClarkefield
VR History

History

Clarkefield opened in December 1862, a year after the line opened between Sunbury and Woodend. The station, like the township itself, was named after local pastoralist, businessman and philanthropist, Sir William Clarke. Clarke later became a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

. The station was the

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (2012 film), an American film * ''Junction'' (2024 film), an American film * ''Jjunction'', a 2002 Indian film * ''Junction'' (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (E ...

for the Lancefield branch line, which operated between 1881 and 1956. The station was historically known as Lancefield Junction for this reason.

Catch points Catch points and trap points are types of railroad switch, points which act as railway safety devices. Both work by guiding railroad car, railway carriages and trucks from a dangerous route onto a separate, safer track. Catch points are used to d ...

were in use at Clarkefield in 1929. By 1935, they were abolished. In 1947, the

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

at the station was replaced with a signal bay. After the closure of the Lancefield line in 1956, a small remnant of the line became a

refuge siding A refuge siding is a single-ended, or dead-end, siding off a running line, which may be used to temporarily accommodate a train so that another one can pass it. For example, a refuge siding might be used by a slow goods train to allow a fast pass ...

. Around 1958/1959, 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 ...

that operated between the up mainline track and the former dock platform was abolished, and the siding leading to the

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

was removed by 1959. In 1977, the connections from the refuge siding to the up line was spiked out of use, with the auxiliary

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

also abolished around this time. On 17 January 2005, the signal bay at the station was abolished.Clarkefield Signal Box (CFD)
VR History Disused station

Rupertswood Rupertswood is a mansion and country estate located in Sunbury, 50 km north-northwest of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It known for being the birthplace of the Ashes urn, which was humorously presented to English cricket captain Ivo ...

is located between Clarkefield and Sunbury stations.

Platforms and services

Clarkefield 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 platforms, ...

s. In the morning, trains to

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 ...

depart from Platform 2, and trains to

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

depart from Platform 1, with this arrangement reversing in the afternoon. This is to allow services in the peak direction of travel to use the single 160 km/h track that was upgraded in 2006, as part of the

Regional Fast Rail project The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the Government of Victoria (Australia), State Government of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail servi ...

. It is serviced by

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

and

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative cen ...

line services. Platform 1: * services to

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of central Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. The town has three main streets: Mollison Street, Piper Street and High Street. Piper Street has ...

Eaglehawk The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') also known as the eaglehawk, is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. A ...

and

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

* services to

and Southern Cross Platform 2: * services to Kyneton, Bendigo, Eaglehawk, Epsom and Southern Cross * services to Echuca and Southern Cross

Transport links

Dysons Dyson Group of Companies, operating as Dysons, is a bus and coach operator in Victoria, Australia. The oldest of its subsidiary companies is L.C. Dysons Bus Services, which was founded in June 1952 and is based in Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora ...

operates one route via Clarkefield 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 ...

: *

Lancefield Lancefield is a town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges local government area in Victoria, Australia north of the state capital, Melbourne, 33.6km south of Puckapunyal and had a population of at least 2,743 at the 2021 census. History The are ...

– Sunbury stationLancefield - Sunbury-Clarkefield via Romsey & Monegeeta
Public Transport Victoria

Gallery

File:Clarkefield_Rwy_Station.png, Lancefield Junction station platform and building, 1890

References

External links

*
Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Northern=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in Australia opened in 1862 Regional railway stations in Victoria (state) Shire of Macedon Ranges