Box Hill railway station, Melbourne

Box Hill railway station is located on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, and opened on 1 December 1882.^[4]

Box Hill
PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from Platform 4 in January 2013
General information
Location	Station Street, Box Hill, Victoria 3128 City of Whitehorse Australia
Coordinates	37°49′09″S 145°07′17″E / 37.8192°S 145.1214°E / -37.8192; 145.1214
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Lilydale Belgrave
Distance	16.12 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	4 (1 island, 2 side)
Tracks	3 (Platform 1 has no track)
Connections	Bus Tram Coach
Construction
Structure type	Built over
Parking	500
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	BOX
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	1 December 1882; 141 years ago (1882-12-01)
Rebuilt	1983–1985
Electrified	December 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	2,327,976^[1]
2006–2007	2,685,655^[1]  15.36%
2007–2008	2,913,572^[1]  8.48%
2008–2009	3,025,194^[2]  3.83%
2009–2010	3,160,572^[2]  4.47%
2010–2011	3,160,397^[2]  0.005%
2011–2012	2,742,972^[2]  13.2%
2012–2013	Not measured^[2]
2013–2014	3,253,534^[2]  18.61%
2014–2015	3,260,422^[1]  0.21%
2015–2016	3,487,765^[2]  6.97%
2016–2017	3,769,046^[2]  8.06%
2017–2018	3,660,554^[2]  2.87%
2018–2019	3,685,500^[2]  0.68%
2019–2020	2,775,200^[2]  24.69%
2020–2021	1,192,700^[2]  57.02%
2021–2022	1,387,500^[3]  16.33%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Union towards Flinders Street Lilydale line Laburnum towards Lilydale Belgrave line Laburnum towards Belgrave Future Burwood towards Southland Suburban Rail Loop East (under construction) Terminus
Former services Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station Mont Albert towards Flinders Street   Lilydale line   Laburnum towards Lilydale or Belgrave   Belgrave line
Track layout Legend to Union 1 2 4 3 to Laburnum

The station is located underground, beneath the Box Hill Central Shopping Centre. East of the station, towards Lilydale and Belgrave, the three tracks merge into two.

History

Box Hill station opened when the railway line from Camberwell was extended to Lilydale.^[4] When the station opened, Box Hill was a separate town with several hundred residents.^[5] It was named in 1861 after Box Hill in Surrey, England, which was the birthplace of the local postmaster.^[5] In 1895, a large market was opened next to the station.^[5]

On 19 December 1922, the section of line from Flinders Street to Box Hill was electrified, and that was extended to Ringwood the following month.^[4]

In 1971, the current centre line between East Camberwell and Box Hill was provided.^[4] It was also in that year that the overpass over Elgar Road was opened, located in the up direction from the station, replacing a level crossing.^[4]

On 29 December 1976, goods services to and from the station ceased.^[6]

In 1979, the station was one of three used as trial sites for new bike lockers under the Melbourne Bicycle Strategy, either for occasional, monthly or quarterly hire.^[7]

Beginning in early 1983, construction started on rebuilding the station below ground, as part of the project to eliminate the level crossing at Station Street, which was at the down end of the station.^[4] Box Hill Central Shopping Centre and the bus terminus were built over the top of the station, with the complex being completed in 1985.^[4] Platform 1 was used between 24 April 1983 and 9 June 1984,^[4] while the rest of the new station was being built, and has been retained for possible future use. The platform has no track or lighting, and a McDonald's restaurant has been built over the ramp from the station concourse.

On 18 July 1996, Box Hill was upgraded to a premium station.^[8]

During January 2007, the line was closed between Box Hill and Blackburn, to facilitate grade separation works at the Middleborough Road level crossing, near Laburnum. A rail replacement bus service operated between the two stations for the duration and, to cater for that, a temporary bus interchange was constructed at Box Hill. The interchange was built directly on top of the tracks, which had been paved between the rails to the east of the station, and was connected to Platforms 2 and 3 via a raised walkway.^[9] With the completion of the major works at the end of January 2007, the bus interchange was removed.

During the 2017/2018 financial year, with 3.254 million passenger movements, Box Hill was the tenth-busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, as well as being the busiest non-interchange station outside of the Melbourne CBD.^[10]

Box Hill will be the northern terminus of stage one of the Suburban Rail Loop project.^[11] Construction began in 2022, with the project scheduled for completion by 2032. It will connect Box Hill to the Frankston, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Glen Waverley lines, as well as other new intermediate stations. Stage two of the project will involve the line extending northwards to Doncaster, and eventually to Bundoora, Reservoir, Fawkner, Broadmeadows, Melbourne Airport, Sunshine and Werribee.

Platforms and services

Box Hill has one island platform with two faces and two side platforms, but Platform 1 is not in use. The station is served by Lilydale and Belgrave line trains.^[12][13]

Platform 1:

• Unused and has no track, with a McDonald's Restaurant built over its entrance.

Platform 2:

•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 3:

•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Belgrave
•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 4:

•  Lilydale line  weekday all stations and limited express services to Lilydale; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn
•  Belgrave line  weekday all stations and limited express services to Belgrave; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn

Transport links

Bus services

A sheltered thirteen-bay bus terminus is located on the rooftop of the Box Hill Central Shopping Centre, two levels above the station. The terminus serves 20 bus routes operated by CDC Melbourne, Kinetic Melbourne and Ventura Bus Lines. The bus deck originally had 14 bus bays, but bay 12 was removed around 2015 to enable safer access to the elevator in the office suites. In 2018, the position of bays 2 and 3 were swapped so that passengers queuing to board SmartBus route 903 southbound would not be in the way of the food kiosk.^{[citation needed]}

Bus routes serving Box Hill station:

Bay	Route	To	Via	Ref
1	SmartBus  903	Altona station	Westfield Doncaster, Heidelberg station, Preston station, Coburg station, Essendon station and Sunshine station	^[14]
2	SmartBus  903	Mordialloc	Chadstone Shopping Centre, Oakleigh station and Mentone station
3	271	Ringwood station	Park Orchards	^[15]
4	279	Westfield Doncaster/ Templestowe	Middleborough Road	^[16]
	284	Doncaster Park and Ride	Union Road	^[17]
5	281	Templestowe	Westfield Doncaster	^[18]
	293	Greensborough station	Westfield Doncaster	^[19]
6	302	Melbourne CBD (Lonsdale Street)	Belmore Road and Eastern Freeway	^[20]
7	612	Chadstone Shopping Centre	Union station, Camberwell station and Glen Iris station	^[21]
8	270	Mitcham station	Blackburn North	^[22]
9	735	Nunawading station	Station Street, Eley Road and Fulton Road	^[23]
10	765	Mitcham station	Blackburn station, Forest Hill Chase and Brentford Square	^[24]
	766	Burwood	Union station	^[25]
11	733	Oakleigh station	Mount Waverley station, Monash University Clayton Campus and Clayton station	^[26]
13	201	Deakin University Burwood Campus	Station Street and Elgar Road	^[27]
	732	Upper Ferntree Gully station	Vermont South, Westfield Knox and Mountain Gate Shopping Centre	^[28]
14	281	Deakin University Burwood Campus	Elgar Road	^[18]
	767	Westfield Southland	Deakin University and Chadstone Shopping Centre	^[29]
	768	Deakin University Burwood Campus	Station Street and Canterbury Road	^[30]

Tram services

Yarra Trams operates one route via Box Hill station:

•  : Box Hill – Port Melbourne^[31]

V/Line coach service

A V/Line coach stop is located at Whitehorse Road near Watts Street, with services to:

• Mansfield, Victoria (with connection to Mount Buller during snow season)

Gallery

•  

  Frederick McCubbin's 1887 painting, Morning Train, shows a train leaving Box Hill station

•  

  Entrance from Box Hill Central Shopping Centre, July 2004

•  

  Ventura buses at the bus interchange, January 2013

•  

  Entrance from Box Hill Central Shopping Centre, July 2016

•  

  Eastern side of the bus interchange, September 2017

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005–2006 to 2018–19 Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008–2021 Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
4. "Box Hill". vicsig.net. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
5. "Box Hill and Box Hill City". Victorian Places. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
6. "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. January 1977. p. 12.
7. Network, Railways of Australia, September 1979, Vol.16 No.7 p. 28
8. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
9. "Middleborough Road Project". vicsig.net. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
10. "Station Patronage Data 2013–2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
11. "Stage one rail tunnel alignment". Suburban rail loop. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
12. "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria.
13. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "903 Altona – Mordialloc (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
15. "271 Box Hill - Ringwood via Park Orchards". Public Transport Victoria.
16. "279 Box Hill - Doncaster SC via Middleborough Rd". Public Transport Victoria.
17. "284 Doncaster Park & Ride - Box Hill via Union Road". Public Transport Victoria.
18. "281 Templestowe - Deakin University". Public Transport Victoria.
19. "293 Box Hill - Greensborough via Doncaster SC". Public Transport Victoria.
20. "302 City – Box Hill Station via Belmore Rd and Eastern Fwy". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
21. "612 Box Hill - Chadstone via Surrey Hills & Camberwell & Glen Iris". Public Transport Victoria.
22. "270 Box Hill - Mitcham via Blackburn North". Public Transport Victoria.
23. "735 Box Hill to Nunawading". Public Transport Victoria.
24. "765 Mitcham - Box Hill via Brentford Square & Forest Hill & Blackburn". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "766 Box Hill – Burwood via Surrey Hills". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
26. "733 Oakleigh - Box Hill via Clayton & Monash University & Mt Waverley". Public Transport Victoria.
27. "201 Box Hill Station - Deakin University". Public Transport Victoria.
28. "732 Box Hill - Upper Ferntree Gully via Vermont South & Knox City & Mountain Gate". Public Transport Victoria.
29. "767 Southland – Box Hill via Chadstone & Jordanville & Deakin University". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
30. "768 Box Hill – Deakin University via Canterbury Rd". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
31. "109 Box Hill - Port Melbourne". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

•   Media related to Box Hill railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au