Sunshine Railway Station, Melbourne

Sunshine railway station is a commuter and regional railway station on the Sunbury, Geelong and Ballarat lines, serving the western suburb of the same name in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Sunshine is a ground level, premium station. It has four platforms, an island platform with two faces and two side platforms, connected by a footbridge and concourse. The station opened on 7 September 1885, with the current station provided in 2014 when it was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project.

Originally named Braybrook Junction, it was given its current name in July 1907 when the suburb of Sunshine took its name from the Sunshine Harvester Works.

V/Line services on the Bendigo corridor pass through the station but do not stop at it. Freight services running towards northern Victoria and Sydney run past the station, as well as freight trains heading for the western standard gauge line via the Newport–Sunshine railway line. The bus interchange at the station is a hub for routes to surrounding suburbs.

The station is planned to receive a significant package of upgrades as part of the Melbourne Airport Rail project, with works planned to commence in early 2026.

History

19th century

The Melbourne & Murray River Railway was built in the late 1850s, from Footscray to Bendigo. No station was built at that time on the current site; the closest station was Albion and Darlington, on the site of the current Albion station.

In 1874, a line to Melton was built, branching from the Bendigo line; a station was built at the site of the junction, opening on September 7, 1885, as Braybrook Junction. This line would be extended westwards to Bacchus Marsh in 1887 and eventually meet with another line extended eastwards from Ballarat in 1889. This line became the direct route from Melbourne to Ballarat; the original line ran via Geelong.

In 1887, the Newport-Sunshine railway line was opened, connecting the new station at Braybrook Junction to Newport and Williamstown, Victoria's major cargo port at the time.

20th century

In 1907, Braybrook Junction station was renamed Sunshine, after Hugh McKay had moved his Sunshine Harvester Works to a site adjacent to the station.

On 20 April 1908, Sunshine was the scene of the Sunshine train disaster, the worst train crash in Victorian railway history. 44 people were killed and over 400 were injured.

In 1929, the Albion – Jacana goods line was opened, connecting Sunshine with the North East line, allowing freight trains to avoid the steeper grades and suburban traffic on the suburban line between North Melbourne, Essendon and Broadmeadows.

The road level crossing at Sunshine was removed when grade separation was carried out in 1961. The works took place as part of the project to construct a standard gauge line from Sydney to Melbourne. In that same year, boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Bendigo line.

In January 1963, a fourth platform was provided on the adjacent Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line, to enable passengers to transfer between the interstate Sydney and Adelaide expresses. In 1965, control of signals at Albion was transferred to the signal box at Sunshine. Also in that year, the Grain Elevator Board sidings, that serve the nearby grail silos, opened for traffic. In 1976, a signal panel was provided to replace an existing panel and, in 1977, boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Serviceton line.

White City station was located between Sunshine and Tottenham. It closed on 4 October 1981 and has been removed.

On 5 February 1985, Harris trailer carriage 830T was destroyed by fire in a vandalism attack, whilst stabled in the former down end siding.

In 1988, the sidings leading to the Massey Ferguson factory were booked out of use. The lead to the sidings, which crossed the standard gauge line, was removed in February of that year.

In 1994, the former station underpass, which connected the platforms to nearby City Place, was completed, replacing an underpass. It was removed during the station upgrades between 2012 and 2014. Also in that year, the track leading to the former goods shed was removed, and a number of semaphore signals were replaced with automatic colour signals.

On 26 July 1996, Sunshine was upgraded to a premium station.

21st century

In mid-2004, the platform on the standard gauge line was removed. The waiting room on the platform was demolished five years earlier, in 1999.

From 2012 to 2014, the station was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project. Works included:
* a new bus interchange, completed in September 2013;
* construction of a new footbridge and concourse, completed in January 2014;
* upgrading Platforms 1 and 2 with new canopies;
* rebuilding Platform 3 and a new Platform 4, both completed in April 2014;

The standalone signal box to the north of the station, commissioned in 1914, was closed in 2016, and control of trains in the Sunshine and Albion areas was transferred to Metrol. The former signal box is one of the largest surviving examples of a tappet and lever frame box on the Victorian network, having once housed 80 levers. Although mechanical signalling was replaced with electronic interlocking before the box was finally taken out of service, it remains relatively intact as an example of Victorian Railways signal box architecture.

In early 2020, construction commenced on a new signal control centre south of the station, which will share control of the Sunshine–Dandenong corridor with an existing facility at Dandenong, after completion of the Metro Tunnel.

The station is planned to be rebuilt as part of the Melbourne Airport rail link project, with planned upgrades including new platforms and an improved track layout to "untangle hecomplex junction" and enable increased capacity for trains to the airport and western suburbs.

Expansion and precinct masterplan

In 2018, the Victorian Government announced that the Melbourne Airport Rail project would operate via Sunshine. The state government committed to upgrade the station into a "superhub" for passengers transferring between V/Line services, metropolitan services and airport trains.

Immediate works at Sunshine, funded as part of the airport link, included the construction of a second accessible concourse for interchanging, extra ticket gates, new lifts, a new regional platform and extensions of existing regional platforms to enable 9-carriage VLocity trains to stop at the station.

In 2022, early construction commenced on the Melbourne Airport Rail project, and a masterplan for the Sunshine station precinct was released. The plan includes new entrances to the station, an integrated bus interchange, open spaces, high-density developments surrounding the station, and the creation of pedestrian and cycling links across the rail lines. Trains on the Bendigo line, which currently skip Sunshine, are planned to begin stopping at the station to enable Bendigo line passengers to change to Airport trains.

Works at Sunshine are planned to commence in early 2026 following $2 billion of funding announced by the Commonwealth Government.

Facilities, platforms and services

Sunshine has two side platforms and a centre island platform with two faces. Access is provided to the platforms using stairs, lifts and ramps from an overhead footbridge and concourse, which features a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room and toilets.

It is served by Sunbury line and V/Line Ballarat and Geelong line trains.

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

Platform 2:
* all stations services to Watergardens and Sunbury

By June 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.

Platform 3:
* V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
* V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
* V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
* one daily V/Line service to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 4:
* V/Line services to Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Wendouree (pick up only)
* V/Line services to Ararat (pick up only)
* V/Line services to Wyndham Vale, Geelong and Waurn Ponds (pick up only)

Transport links

There are 15 bus services that use the bus interchange at Sunshine station.

CDC Melbourne operates three routes via Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:
* : to Laverton station (via Robinsons Road, shared with Transit Systems Victoria)
* : St Albans station – Highpoint Shopping Centre
* : to Footscray (via Ballarat Road)

Kinetic Melbourne operates four routes via Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:
* : to Melbourne CBD ( Queen Street) (via Dynon Road)
* : to Melbourne CBD (Queen Street) via (Footscray Road)
* : to Sunshine South (loop service)
* SmartBus : Altona station – Mordialloc

Transit Systems Victoria operates eight routes to and from Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:
* : to Laverton station (via Robinsons Road, shared with CDC Melbourne)
* : to Watergardens station (via Deer Park)
* : to Brimbank Central Shopping Centre
* : to Sunshine West (via Forrest Street)
* : to Sunshine West
* : to Woodgrove Shopping Centre ( Melton) (via Rockbank)
* : to Williamstown (via Newport and Altona Gate Shopping Centre)
* Night Bus : to Watergardens station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)941 Sunshine Station – Watergardens Station via Keilor Downs
Public Transport Victoria

Gallery

File:VLine VLocity departing Platform 3 towards Southern Cross Station at Sunshine Railway Station, Sunshine.jpg, V/Line VLocity train departing Platform 3 towards Southern Cross Station at Sunshine Station in October 2023.
File:Westrans number 58 (4871AO) Volvo on route 410 at Sunshine railway station, December 2013.jpg, Westrans Volgren bodied Volvo B7L at Sunshine station, December 2013
File:Sunshine Station platforms 1 & 2.jpg, North-west bound view from Platform 2,
May 2014
File:Sunshine Station platforms 3 & 4.jpg, South-east bound view from Platform 3 looking at station concourse and entrance, May 2014

References

External links

*

Rail Geelong gallery

Melway map

{{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Sunbury=y, South Western=y, Western=y, state=collapsed

Premium Melbourne railway stations
Former rail freight terminals in Victoria (state)
Railway stations in Australia opened in 1885
Sunshine, Victoria
Railway stations in the City of Brimbank