Epping railway station, Melbourne

This article is about Epping station in Melbourne, Australia. For other stations that have the same name, see Epping station.

Epping railway station is located on the Mernda line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Epping, and it opened on 23 December 1889.^[5]

Epping
PTV commuter rail station
Station front and entrance in May 2014
General information
Location	Cooper Street, Epping, Victoria 3076 City of Whittlesea Australia
Coordinates	37°39′08″S 145°01′51″E / 37.6521°S 145.0308°E / -37.6521; 145.0308
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Mernda
Distance	22.82 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Below ground
Parking	54
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	EPP
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	23 December 1889; 134 years ago (1889-12-23)
Closed	28 November 1959
Rebuilt	29 November 1964 1987–1988 28 November 2011
Electrified	November 1964 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	608,802^[1]
2006–2007	699,741^[1]  14.93%
2007–2008	787,541^[1]  12.54%
2008–2009	891,140^[2]  13.15%
2009–2010	949,144^[2]  6.5%
2010–2011	856,720^[2]  9.74%
2011–2012	626,006^[2]  26.93%
2012–2013	Not measured^[2]
2013–2014	720,619^[2]  15.1%
2014–2015	702,644^[1]  2.49%
2015–2016	797,360^[2]  13.48%
2016–2017	822,977^[2]  3.21%
2017–2018	861,078^[2]  4.63%
2018–2019	887,650^[2]  3.08%
2019–2020	690,350^[2]  22.23%
2020–2021	417,650^[2]  39.5%
2021–2022	434,500^[3]  4.03%
2022–2023	672,900^[4]  54.87%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Lalor towards Flinders Street Mernda line South Morang towards Mernda
Track layout Legend to Lalor to Epping Train Maintenance Depot 1 2 Darebin Creek Henderson Creek to South Morang

History

Epping originally opened as a station on the line to Whittlesea, with services to the station operating as country services. From 1924, an AEC railmotor shuttle service operated from Reservoir to Whittlesea, until the line was closed north of Lalor on 29 November 1959.^[6]

On 30 November 1964, a new station opened a little further down the line,^[5] as part of the electrification of the line from Lalor to Epping. The station building was relocated from Glen Waverley, which was being rebuilt at the time.^[5][7] On 1 January 1971, the building was damaged by a deliberately lit fire.^[8][9]

During the late 1980s, the station was rebuilt, in conjunction with the construction of the adjacent train depot, with the north face of the former ground level island platform brought into use in July 1987, along with temporary station buildings. The new platform was built on a new alignment, with 200 metres of new track needed to link to the existing line. By the end of that month, the former platform and station building from 1964 were demolished, along with the former alignment of the track and overhead wiring.^[10][11] The south face of the former ground level island platform (Platform 1) was brought into use nine months later, in April 1988.^[12] In 1989, a new Solid State Interlocking was commissioned,^[13] and was the first fully computerised system in Melbourne.^[11]

In 1990, the suburban train depot opened,^[14] and was built as a replacement for the Jolimont Workshops in central Melbourne. The depot covers 10.8 hectares, and can accommodate 31 trains, with the facility including a main workshop building, four elevated tracks, two lifting tracks and a train wash.^[15] On 23 July 1998, Epping was upgraded to a premium station.^[5][16]

At around 09:14 on 18 June 2002, two Comeng train sets collided approximately 1 km south of the station.^{[17][18][19][20]}

In 2010, construction commenced on a new island platform north of Cooper Street, built below ground level, as part of a grade separation project and in conjunction with the duplication of the line from Keon Park and its extension to South Morang. On 28 November 2011, the rebuilt station opened.^[21][22] The former ground level island platform and building was demolished soon after and, in early 2012, a number of stabling sidings built on its site.^[23]

Platforms, facilities and services

Epping has one island platform with two faces. Access to the platforms is provided by stairs and a lift. The station concourse contains a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room, toilets and a kiosk.

It is serviced by Metro Trains' Mernda line services.^[24]

Platform 1:

•  Mernda line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Mernda line  all stations services to Mernda

Transport links

Dysons operates six bus routes via Epping station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  356 : to Wollert East^[25]
•  357 : Wollert West – Thomastown station^[26]
•  358 : to Wollert^[27]
•  556 : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre^[28]
•  569 : Pacific Epping – South Morang station^[29]
•  577 : Pacific Epping – South Morang station^[30]

Kinetic Melbourne operates one SmartBus route via Epping station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• SmartBus  901 : Frankston station – Melbourne Airport^[31]

Gallery

•  
  Westbound view from Platform 2 in May 2014

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. Annual metropolitan train station entries 2022-23 Data Vic
5. "Epping". vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
6. Jack McLean (November 1995). "Reservoir-Whittlesea: Signalling and Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 333–337.
7. SE Dornan & RG Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. pp. 67, 83. ISBN 0-909459-06-1.
8. "Fire-and station number six goes". The Herald. 1 January 1971. p. 7.
9. "New Works, Alterations, etc". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. February 1971. p. 5.
10. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. September 1987. p. 283.
11. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1987. p. 314.
12. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. July 1988. p. 220.
13. "Epping Signal Box". vicsig.net. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
14. . The Northcote History Group. home.vicnet.net.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
15. Hugo Van Den Berghe (June 1989). "New Epping electric train depot". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 168–169.
16. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
17. "Suburban – Epping Crash". vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
18. "Collision Between Suburban Electric Passenger Train 1648 and Suburban Electric Empty Train 1025" (PDF). vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
19. Murphy, Padraic (19 June 2002). "Connex train drivers stood down after crash". The Age. p. 8.
20. Gould, Russell (19 June 2002). "Driver in hospital after train crash". Herald Sun. p. 7.
21. Rail line boost already on track Herald Sun 28 November 2011
22. South Morang Rail Alliance 9 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine John Holland
23. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. March 2012. p. 89.
24. "Mernda Line". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "356 Epping Station - Wollert East via Hayston Bvd". Public Transport Victoria.
26. "357 Wollert West – Thomastown Station via Epping Station". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
27. "358 Epping Station - Wollert via Epping Plaza SC". Public Transport Victoria.
28. "556 Epping Plaza SC - Northland SC via Keon Park". Public Transport Victoria.
29. "569 Epping Plaza SC - South Morang". Public Transport Victoria.
30. "577 Epping Plaza SC - South Morang Station via Findon Rd". Public Transport Victoria.
31. "901 Frankston - Melbourne Airport (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

•   Media related to Epping railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons
• South Morang extension project gallery
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au
• Station Information at Vicsig