Oakleigh railway station

Not to be confused with Oakleigh Racecourse railway station or Oakleigh Park railway station.

Oakleigh railway station is a commuter railway station in the suburb of Oakleigh in the south-east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station opened in 1877 as the up end of the Gippsland line, with the station being electrified in 1922.^[4][5] The station consists of two sides that are connected to each other via the adjacent roads, and both platforms are connected to each other via a pedestrian subway.^[6]

Oakleigh
PTV commuter rail station
South-east bound view from Platform 1 (formerly Platform 2), January 2021
General information
Location	Haughton Road, Oakleigh, Victoria 3166 City of Monash Australia
Coordinates	37°54′02″S 145°05′18″E / 37.9005°S 145.0883°E / -37.9005; 145.0883
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Pakenham Cranbourne
Distance	16.59 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (excluding one removed)
Tracks	2 (excluding one removed)
Train operators	Metro Trains
Connections	13 bus routes
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	400 spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	OAK
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	8 October 1877; 146 years ago (1877-10-08)
Electrified	March 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	1,230,782^[1]
2006–2007	1,334,312^[1]  8.41%
2007–2008	1,488,092^[1]  11.52%
2008–2009	1,601,218^[2]  7.6%
2009–2010	1,736,247^[2]  8.43%
2010–2011	1,817,162^[2]  4.66%
2011–2012	1,760,183^[2]  3.13%
2012–2013	Not measured^[2]
2013–2014	2,044,879^[2]  16.17%
2014–2015	1,926,482^[1]  5.78%
2015–2016	2,067,254^[2]  7.3%
2016–2017	2,063,917^[2]  0.161%
2017–2018	1,812,286^[2]  12.19%
2018–2019	1,733,101^[2]  4.36%
2019–2020	1,215,300^[2]  29.87%
2020–2021	765,050^[2]  37.04%
2021–2022	836,350^[3]  9.31%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Hughesdale towards Flinders Street Pakenham line Huntingdale towards Cranbourne or Pakenham Cranbourne line
Former services Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station Waverley Road towards Fairfield   Outer Circle line   Junction Sugar Beet Mill towards Elsternwick   Rosstown Railway   Junction
Track layout Legend to Hughesdale 1 2 to Huntingdale

Oakleigh station is currently served by the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which are both part of the Melbourne Railway Network.^[7] The station is further served by 11 bus routes, including two SmartBus services. The station is approximately 15 kilometres (9.4 mi) or around a 27-minute train ride away from Flinders Street.^[8]

Description

 

The heritage listed building on platform 1 being used as a ticket office

Oakleigh railway station the main station in the suburb of Oakleigh. On the north side of the station is Portman Street, and Haughton Road is on the south. The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency, and is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne.^[6] The station is approximately 15 kilometres (9.4 mi) or around a 27-minute train ride away from Flinders Street.^[8]

Oakleigh station consists of two side platforms that are connected by a pedestrian subway, previously, platform 1 was an island platform, and the station consisted of three platforms.^[9] The two platforms have direct station entrances on their adjacent roads, with platform 1 having an entrance on Haughton Road and platform 2 having an entrance on Portman Street.

There are three car parks at the station.^[8] Oakleigh station is fully accessible as the subway features lift access and both platform entrances feature ramps.^[10]

History

19th century

In 1877, the station opened as the western end of the Gippsland railway line, it received its current location in 1879, when the line was extended to South Yarra railway station.^[11]

In 1883, the track was duplicated from Caulfield to Oakleigh, and in 1891, the line was duplicated to Dandenong.^[12]

In 1888, the Rosstown line opened, with Oakleigh being the eastern terminus.^[13] Two years later, the outer circle line opened from Oakleigh to Waverley Road station.^[14]

20th century

 

Oakleigh station in 1910 prior to electrification

Circa 1910, the station featured two side platforms with an additional centre track. By this time, the station was controlled by two signal boxes; "A" at the city end, controlling the Warrigal Road level crossing and interlocked gates, and "B", between the station and yard, controlling the latter. In 1915, a new station building had been constructed to the same style as Box Hill, Caulfield, Essendon, Heidelberg and Spotswood in the Melbourne area, and Castlemaine and Warragul in the country.^[15] A new platform was provided on the south side, plus a fifth track for engines to run around their consists.^[16][17]

In March 1922, electrification was extended from Caulfield to Oakleigh, and this was extended to Dandenong during December of that same year.^[12] Around the same time, the Hanover Street bridge was built across the Dandenong end of the goods yard, with alterations to the passenger sidings and the run-around loop south of the station was abolished.^[18]

Three-position signalling was extended from Carnegie to the city end of Oakleigh (exclusive) in December 1940.^[19][12] Extension of the signalling to Huntingdale and Clayton, in lieu of Winters Double Line Block safeworking, did not occur until 1970, in conjunction with the North Road (Huntingdale) grade separation project.

In 1968, the Warrigal Road level crossing was closed, and, in conjunction with the demolition of shops, a new road overpass was provided. The original Warrigal Road surface was partially retained as a slip lane to serve a handful of shops along the western boundary. The road bridge piers were spaced to allow extension of the track from the southernmost platform in the citybound direction.^[20]

In 1975, the track layout was drastically simplified, and both signal boxes were abolished and demolished, being replaced with a new, experimental route-setting power interlocking system located in the middle of the southern station building.^[21][22]

The new signal panel included a "switch out" feature, allowing the station's signalling to operate automatically during periods of reduced traffic. To facilitate this, the island platform was used for most trains, with high-speed (65 km/h, 40 mph) turnouts provided at either end to avoid trains slowing down significantly for the diverging movements. Station staff operated the signal panel during busier times to allow access to or from the goods yard, terminating trains, or overtaking moves in either direction.^[23]

In May 1984, the goods yard was officially closed to traffic, with the exception of briquette traffic, which was still being received. Way and Works waggon HD205, which had been parked at the city end of the through siding for years, was transferred to the Caulfield depot on 22 June 1984.^[24] By October that year, the briquette traffic had also shifted to Westall.^[25] The overhead in siding "A" was removed by December of that year, along with the points and the majority of the sidings.^[25]

In March 1987, a guards' indicator light was provided for signal post 16, controlling citybound moves from Platform 1.^[26]

As of April 1988, suburban timetables specified an overtaking move between outbound suburban and country trains, where the 16:53 and 17:36 departures from Flinders Street to Dandenong were each scheduled to wait 3 minutes at Oakleigh, for a Traralgon and Warragul service, respectively.^[27]

Since 1989, the station has featured over 40 plywood cut-outs on its walls and surrounding the station. These illustrate the life stories of Oakleigh residents, who were aged between 15 and 70, when the murals were unveiled in September of that year. In 2002, they underwent restoration.^[28] About half of these have since been restored, and glue can still be seen on the walls of the station building where the remainder had previously been placed.

On 12 December 1995, Oakleigh was upgraded to a premium station.^[29]

When the Cranbourne line was electrified in 1995, trains that had previously terminated at Oakleigh were extended, and the passenger train stabling sidings fell into disuse. The extended goods siding that was along the north side fell out of use and was abolished around the same time, although the shell of the citybound dwarf signal at the down end remained in place until 2018. As a result, the signal panel was generally only used when the underpass flooded, as all trains in both directions could be diverted to the north-side platform (by then renamed Platform 3). The suburban sidings were restored to service in late 2004, but were only used occasionally after that, with further periods out of service.^[30]

21st century

In 2018, the former platform 1 was removed. As a result, the island platform on the southern end of the station was converted into a side platform, and the former platforms 2 and 3 were renumbered to platforms 1 and 2.^[31]

Throughout 2018–2019, Oakleigh was upgraded and modernised. Two concourses were built, lifts were installed, and the underpass was refurbished. Two heritage-listed buildings were maintained as originally built.^[31][32]

Platforms and services

 

Citybound High Capacity Metro Train arriving at Oakleigh

The station is currently served by both the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which are both operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. Services to Pakenham and Cranbourne travel together south-east towards Dandenong before splitting into two separate lines. Services to the city run express from Caulfield (Malvern during off-peak) to South Yarra before stopping at all stations to Flinders Street via the City Loop.^[7]

Platform 1:

•  Pakenham line  express services to Flinders Street
•  Cranbourne line  express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Pakenham line  all stations and limited express services to Pakenham
•  Cranbourne line  all stations services to Cranbourne

Future services:

In addition to the current services, the Network Development Plan – Metropolitan Rail proposes linking the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines to both the Sunbury line and under-construction Melbourne Airport rail link via the Metro Tunnel.^[33]

•  Sunbury line  express services to Sunbury (2025 onwards)
•  Airport line  express services to Melbourne Airport (2029 onwards)

Transport links

Oakleigh Station is served by a total of eleven bus connections, including two Smartbus routes. Most routes (624, 693, 704, 742, 800, 802, 804, 862, and Smartbus Routes 900 and 903) serve the bus interchange on Portman Street just north of the railway station.^[34] Whereas bus routes 625, 701, and 733 serve the bus stop on Johnson Street.^[35] On Haughton Road there is a rail replacement bus stop used during rail works on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines mainly along the Westall to Caulfield section.

Portman Street

•  624 : to Kew^[36]
•  693 : to Belgrave station^[37]
•  704 : to Westall station^[38]
•  742 : Ringwood station to Chadstone Shopping Centre^[39]
•  800 : Dandenong station to Chadstone Shopping Centre^[40]
•  802 : Dandenong station to Chadstone Shopping Centre^[41]
•  804 : Dandenong station to Chadstone Shopping Centre^[42]
•  862 : Dandenong station to Chadstone Shopping Centre^[43]
• SmartBus  900 : Rowville to Caulfield station^[44]
• SmartBus  903 : Mordialloc to Altona station^[45]

Johnson Street

•  625 : Elsternwick – Chadstone Shopping Centre^[46]
•  701 : to Bentleigh station^[47]
•  733 : to Box Hill station^[48]

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. "4. The Gippsland Railway". Monash City Council. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
5. "Report upon the Application of electric traction to the Melbourne suburban railway system". Trove. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
6. "Oakleigh". www.metrotrains.com.au. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
7. "Oakleigh Station". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
8. "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
9. "VICSIG". vicsig.net. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
10. "Access Guide". www.metrotrains.com.au. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
11. "4. The Gippsland Railway". City of Monash. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
12. "Oakleigh". Vicsig.
13. "Rosstown rail trail". City of Glen Eira. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
14. "Outer Circle Railway". www.onlymelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
15. Ward, Andrew; Donelly, Alister (March 1982). Victoria's Railway Stations, An Architectural Survey. Vol. 4 - The Twentieth Century, 1900 - 1930 (including Portable Station Buildings). Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 20-27.
16. "Victorian Railways diagram 18'15". VictorianRailways.net.
17. Jungwirth, A.N.; Lambert, K.L. (1996). Weekly Notice Extracts 1894-1994. Weekly Notice Productions. p. 265-266, WN 22/1915. ISBN 0646300105.
18. Victorian Railways diagram 4'22^{[full citation needed]}
19. "Victorian Railways diagram 13'40". VictorianRailways.net.
20. "Negative – Oakleigh Railway Station Crossing, Warrigal Road, Oakleigh, Victoria, 06 Aug 1959". Museums Victoria Collections. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
21. Winter, Vincent Adams (1990). VR and VicRail: 1962–1983. p. 106. ISBN 0-9592069-3-0.
22. "Works & Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. January 1976. p. 18.
23. "VICSIG". vicsig.net. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
24. "Newsrail August 1984". Newsrail. August 1984. p. 245.
25. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). March 1985. p. 90. ISSN 0310-7477.
26. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). March 1987. p. 88.
27. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). April 1988. p. 120.
28. . City of Monash. 7 February 2002. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004.
29. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
30. "VICSIG". vicsig.net. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
31. "Oakleigh's station precinct plans open for public consultation". Urban.com.au. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
32. Andrews, Daniel. "Oakleigh Station Upgrade Underway To Benefit Commuters | Premier of Victoria". Premier of Victoria. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
33. "Network Development Plan Metropolitan Rail Overview" (PDF). Public Transport Victoria. December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
34. "Oakleigh Station/Portman St". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
35. "Oakleigh Station/Johnson St". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
36. "624 Kew - Oakleigh via Caulfield & Carnegie & Darling and Chadstone (From 4-11-2018)". Public Transport Victoria.
37. "693 Belgrave - Oakleigh via Ferntree Gully & Brandon Park". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
38. "704 Oakleigh Station - Westall Station via Clayton". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
39. "742 Eastland - Chadstone via Vermont South & Glen Waverley & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
40. "800 Dandenong - Chadstone via Princes Highway & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
41. "802 Dandenong - Chadstone via Mulgrave & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
42. "804 Dandenong - Chadstone via Wheelers Hill & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
43. "862 Dandenong - Chadstone via North Dandenong & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
44. "900 Stud Park SC (Rowville) - Caulfield via Monash University & Chadstone (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria.
45. "903 Altona - Mordialloc (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
46. "625 Elsternwick - Chadstone via Ormond & Oakleigh". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
47. "701 Oakleigh - Bentleigh via Mackie Road & Brady Road". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
48. "733 Oakleigh - Box Hill via Clayton & Monash University & Mt Waverley". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 10 March 2019.

External links

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