St Albans 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

Sunbury line The Sunbury line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's fifth longest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street railway station, Fl ...

, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the western suburb of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, 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. St Albans 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. It opened on 1 February 1887, with the current station provided in 2016.

History

St Albans station opened on 1 February 1887. It was provided at the request of a land development company that was sub-dividing the area. The company manager, Alfred Padley, asked for the station be named St Albans, apparently due to his forebears having an association with the English city of the same name. Originally, only three trains each way passed through St Albans on weekdays, and passengers had to inform the

train guard A conductor (North American English) or guard (Commonwealth English) is a train crew member responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve actual operation of the train/locomotive. The role is common worldwide under various j ...

at the prior stop if they wanted to alight there.

Newsrail ''Newsrail'' is a monthly railway magazine covering the railways and tramways of Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a lan ...

November 1988 p328-331 In 1888, a local service was provided, although it could not start operating to St Albans until 19 November of that year, when a single

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 ...

was added, with tail-ropes probably used to shunt carriages with a locomotive on the adjacent track. In 1898, that situation was resolved, when a second crossover was added and, by 1899, three non- interlocked

signal 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 ...

s had been provided in each direction, with the first proper

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 ...

brought into use on 17 June 1901. Later, steam-era trains operated hourly from Flinders Street to Braybrook Junction, with eight of hose trains continuing to St Albans. In October 1921, the station became the terminus of the electrified network from the city, and services were improved, with trains operating every 40 minutes by day and hourly at night. The original station was located at the down end of the former Main 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 ...

, with all terminating electric trains using Platform 2. In 1959, the station was rebuilt, with an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

built on the up side of the level crossing. One side faced the main line and the other side formed a dock platform for terminating suburban trains. The old westbound platform was removed, but the eastbound platform remained for

Spencer Street Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the westernmost boundary of the Hoddle Grid. Spencer Street is named for John Spencer, forme ...

-bound regional trains. Train stabling sidings were also provided around that time. In 1986,

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 Main Road level crossing. A signal box with a mechanical

lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the Railway signal, signals, track locks and Railroad switch, points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usuall ...

, now abolished, was located on the former island platform, to control access to the former back platform and sidings. On 26 July 1996, St Albans was upgraded to a

. In January 2002, as part of the extension of the

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 ...

network to

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

, the platform that had been located at the down end of the level crossing was replaced by a new platform at the up end of the crossing. In November 2012, after electrification of the line was extended to Sunbury,

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, ...

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 ...

services ceased stopping at St Albans, and

Metro Trains Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the operator and brand name of train services on the electrified metropolitan rail network serving the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the largest urban rail network in Au ...

' terminating services also ceased, with Platform 3 no longer regularly used. The stabling yard was still used for train storage, until work on 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 began in 2015. In late 2015, the Level Crossing Removal Authority commenced a grade separation project that replaced the Main Road level crossing with a road bridge over a lowered rail line. On 1 November 2016, the rebuilt station opened, with the overall project completed by mid-2017. Roughly a third of the station was directly below Main Road, with the remainder also lowered.

Platforms and services

St Albans 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, located below ground level. It is served by

trains. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Watergardens and Sunbury In 2025, it is planned that trains on the Sunbury line will be through-routed with those on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, via the new

Metro Tunnel The Metro Tunnel, formerly known as Melbourne Metro Rail (MMR), is an underground rapid transit project currently under construction in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It involves the construction of twin rail tunnels between South Kensington ...

Transport links

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is one of the brands of CDC Victoria, which is in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As a ...

operates seven bus routes to and from St Albans 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

Highpoint Shopping Centre Highpoint Shopping Centre is a shopping centre located in Maribyrnong, in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Highpoint is Victoria's third largest shopping centre and the fifth largest in Australia, with an annual turnover ...

* : to Caroline Springs Square Shopping Centre * : to Watergardens station * : to Watergardens station * : to Brimbank Central Shopping Centre * : to Brimbank Central Shopping Centre * : to Watergardens station

Gallery

File:Disused Platform.jpg, Melbourne bound platform that was located north of the Main Road level crossing, September 2005. It was replaced by a new Platform 1 in January 2002. This platform has since been demolished as part of the grade separation works in 2016. File:EntranceStAlbans.jpg, Former entrance to Platform 1 before the removal works in 2016. File:St_Albans_Railway_Station.jpg, St Albans Station looking north in November 2016, taken on the first opening day.

References

External links

*
Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Albans railway station Melbourne Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1887 Railway stations in the City of Brimbank