Seaford 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

Frankston line The Frankston line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's third-longest metropolitan railway line, at . The line runs from Flinders St ...

, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Seaford, 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. Seaford station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 1 December 1913, with the current station provided in 1979. A

substation A substation is a part of an electrical Electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission, and electric power distribution, distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or pe ...

is located at the northern ( up) end of the station.

History

Like the suburb itself, Seaford station is named after the English town of

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. The name was suggested by

local councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a Municipality, muni ...

Sydney Plowman, who was originally from Sleaford. On 13 November 1957, an

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a Battery (electricity), battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime mover (locomotive), ...

shunting in the

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

derailed, blocking both lines for almost two hours. Just before 18:00 on 5 June 1968, Tait trailer carriages 336T and 307T were damaged by fire while stabled near the station. In 1976,

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 replaced interlocked gates at the Station Street

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 ...

, located at the up end of the station. On 4 February 1979, Tait motor carriage 288M was destroyed by fire while stabled near the station. Also in that year, the current station buildings were provided. During the 1970s and 1980s, the station used to accommodate stabled trains at its

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 ...

s. That was discontinued during the late 1980s due to costs and

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

attacks. The tracks used to stable trains are still visible at the southern ( down) end of the station. By December 1985, the goods yard at the station had been closed to

traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

. In April 2002, 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 ...

and a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Music Albums * ''Cross Over'' (album), a 1987 album by Dan Peek, or the title song * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'', an album by Intrigue * ''Crossover'', an album by ...

at the station were abolished. In 2009, the

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 ...

nearest to Platform 2 was extended. On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011

State Budget A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Government revenues mostly include ...

, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Seaford 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 ...

, along with nineteen others. However, that was scrapped by the Baillieu Government in March 2011. Following a 2019 commitment by the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the Australian Government, federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison governmen ...

, the station was due to receive an upgraded passenger car park. However, that was scrapped by the same government in 2021. In October 2022, it was announced that Seaford would be

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

as part of a project to remove seven level crossings on the line. Further details, designs and a construction timeline were to be released closer to the opening of the station in 2029.

Platforms and services

Seaford 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. It is served by

trains. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street,

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the local government area of the City of Wyndham. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werrib ...

and Williamstown Platform 2: * all stations services to Frankston

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 two routes via Seaford 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 Cranbourne station * : Frankston station – Carrum station

Gallery

File:Station seaford 1.jpg, Northbound view from Platform 2, November 2007 File:Station seaford.jpg, Station carpark and entrance to Platform 1,
November 2007

References

External links

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Frankston=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in Australia opened in 1913 Railway stations in the City of Frankston