Thomastown 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 Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Thomastown, 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. Thomastown is a ground-level

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 23 December 1889, with the current station provided in 2011.

History

Opening on 23 December 1889, when the railway line was extended from

Reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

to Epping, Thomastown station, like the suburb itself, is named after John and Mary Thomas, who began

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

ing near Edgars Creek in 1848. The station was originally serviced by regional trains on the line to Whittlesea.

Electrification 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 ...

and suburban services were extended along 4.4 kilometres of

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from Reservoir to Thomastown in 1929, paid for by a land developer, who paid for the works and who also guaranteed against operating losses. From 1931, it was the terminus of the railmotor service from Whittlesea, remaining so until electric suburban services were extended to

Lalor Lalor is an Irish surname derived from the Irish ''Ó Leathlobhair'', from ''leath-'' “leper; weak, ailing person”. Notable people with the surname include: * Denis Lalor, athlete * Francis Ramsey Lalor (1856–1929), politician * James Fi ...

in November 1959, with services beyond Lalor discontinued and the line closed. On 7 August 1967, the original station building was destroyed by fire. In 1969, a new station building, which was of a brick construction, was provided. In 1968, flashing light signals were provided at the Heyington Avenue

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 nearby in the up direction of the station. In 1980,

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. By the late 1980s, much of 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 ...

to the east of the station was removed. On 20 December 1996, Thomastown was upgraded to a

. In September 2007, a

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government an ...

park & ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...

upgrade opened, with an additional 100 car spaces opened to the south-east of the station, taking the total to 382. In 2010, 90 additional car parking spaces were provided. As part of the

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of the line from Keon Park to Epping, a second

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, ...

was added, and the existing station rebuilt. On 28 November 2011, the current station opened.

Platforms and services

Thomastown has two

s. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Mernda line services. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Mernda

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 six bus routes via Thomastown 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 Wollert West * : to Thomastown station (clockwise loop via West Lalor) * :

Pacific Epping Pacific Epping is a shopping centre in Epping, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It opened in 1996. It is located on the corner of High Street and Cooper Street, away from Epping railway station, Melbourne, and approximately north of ...

–

Northland Shopping Centre Northland Shopping Centre is a major shopping centre in Preston, Victoria, Preston, approximately 11 km north of the Melbourne central business district in Victoria, Australia. It is the largest predominantly single-level shopping centre in ...

* : to Thomastown station (anti-clockwise loop via West Lalor) * : to Thomastown station (circular route via Darebin Drive) * : to

RMIT University The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

Bundoora campus

Gallery

Thomastown railway station, Melbourne.jpg, Station footbridge, building, concourse and entrance to Platform 1, June 2012

References

External links

*
South Morang extension project gallery

Melway map
{{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Mernda=y, state=collapsed Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1889 Railway stations in the City of Whittlesea