Mitcham 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 Belgrave and Lilydale lines, which are both part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the eastern suburb of

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

, 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. Mitcham station is a below ground

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 ...

, featuring two side platforms connected by a ground level concourse. It opened on 25 December 1882, with the current station provided in 2014.

History

Mitcham station opened on 25 December 1882, just over three weeks after the railway 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 ...

was extended to Lilydale. Like the suburb itself, the station was named after a farm property, ''Mitcham Grove'', owned by Wiliam Slater, a local who grew

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

s and

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s. Another theory is that Mitcham was named after a property, ''Mitcham Heights'', itself named after

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 1953, flashing light signals were provided at the former Mitcham Road

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

, which was located at the down end of the station. Until the 1970s, a shunting yard and

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before, after, and during loading to and unloading from a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, althou ...

existed where the southern

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

exists today. Tracks remained embedded in the car park surface of that time, enabling parking for the great majority of the time when trains did not use the yard. In 1979, the station was one of three used as trial sites for new

bike locker A bicycle locker or bike box is a Locker (cabinet), locker or box in which bicycles can be placed and locked, usually 1 or 2 per locker. They are usually provided at places where numerous cyclists need bike parking for extended times (such as ...

s under the Melbourne Bicycle Strategy, either for occasional, monthly or quarterly hire. Also occurring in that year,

boom barrier A bar, post, pole, beam, or boom gate, also known as a boom or a boom barrier, is a beam or bar on a pivot used as a gate. The boom is lowered to block vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled point or raised to permit such traffic. ...

s were provided at the former level crossing. By 1985, goods services to and from the station ceased. In 1989, the former ground level station buildings were provided, when the former

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 ...

was relocated into the new building. On 4 April 1996, Mitcham was upgraded to a

. On 2 January 2014, the original ground level station closed, as part of the

grade separation In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

project to replace the Mitcham Road and Rooks Road level crossings. It was replaced by a new below-ground station that opened on 25 January of that year. Until their removal due to the level crossing removals, a

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and siding were located at the up end of the station. Mitcham was due to receive an upgraded commuter car park, following a 2019 commitment by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. However, this was scrapped in 2021.

Platforms, facilities and services

Mitcham 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 with a

concourse A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space. The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or t ...

above on ground level. The concourse features a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room, toilets and a café. Access to the platforms is provided by stairs,

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

s and

ramp An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

s. The station is serviced by Metro Trains' Lilydale and Belgrave line services. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Lilydale * all stations services to Belgrave

Transport links

Kinetic Melbourne operates four bus routes via Mitcham 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 ...

: * : to Box Hill station * : to Ringwood station *

SmartBus SmartBus is a network of bus services in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Overseen by Public Transport Victoria, the network comprises nine key cross-town and orbital bus routes around Melbourne. Key aspects of the service include more freque ...

: Frankston station –

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...

: to

Lonsdale Street Lonsdale Street is a main street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It runs roughly east–west and was laid out in 1837 as one of Melbourne's original boundaries within the Hoddle Grid. The street ext ...

(

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

)

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 ...

operate four routes to and from Mitcham station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : to Blackburn station * : to Westfield Knox * : to Vermont East * : to Box Hill station

Gallery

File:Old Mitcham Station 1.jpg, Former ground level station building on Platform 1, April 2013, prior to demolition File:New Mitcham Station.jpg, Westbound view from Platform 1, January 2014

References

External links

*
Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Belgrave=y, Lilydale=y, state=collapsed Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1882 Railway stations in the City of Whitehorse