Richmond railway station, Melbourne

Richmond railway station is the junction for the Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Richmond, and it opened on 8 February 1859 as Punt Road. It was renamed Swan Street on 12 December 1859, and renamed Richmond on 1 January 1867.^[4]

Richmond
PTV commuter and regional rail station
Westbound view from Platform 6 in March 2008
General information
Location	Punt Road, Richmond, Victoria 3121 City of Melbourne City of Yarra Australia
Coordinates	37°49′25″S 144°59′20″E / 37.82361°S 144.98889°E / -37.82361; 144.98889Coordinates: 37°49′25″S 144°59′20″E / 37.82361°S 144.98889°E / -37.82361; 144.98889
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Alamein (Weekday Peak Hours only) Belgrave Cranbourne Frankston Glen Waverley Lilydale Pakenham Sandringham Gippsland
Distance	3.80 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	10 (5 island)
Tracks	10
Connections	Tram route 70 Bus route 246
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Disabled access	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, Premium Station
Station code	RMD
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	8 February 1859; 163 years ago (1859-02-08)
Rebuilt	December 1859 Mid 1880s Late 1950s
Electrified	1500 V DC overhead (May 1919)
Previous names	Punt Road (1859) Swan Street (1859-1866)
Passengers
2008-2009	2.052 million^[1]
2009-2010	2.124 million^[1]  3.51%
2010-2011	2.230 million^[1]  5%
2011-2012	2.070 million^[1]  7.17%
2012-2013	Not measured^[1]
2013-2014	3.336 million^[1]  61.16%
2014-2015	Not measured^[2]
2015-2016	3.70 million^[2]  10.72%
2016-2017	3.80 million^[2]  2.99%
2017-2018	4.17 million^[2]  9.51%
2018-2019	4.22 million^[3]  1.2%
2019-2020	2.96 million^[3]  29.86%
2020-2021	1.29 million^[3]  56.4%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Flinders Street or Parliament towards Flinders Street Lilydale line East Richmond towards Lilydale Belgrave line East Richmond towards Belgrave Alamein line Weekday peaks only East Richmond towards Alamein Glen Waverley line East Richmond towards Glen Waverley Darling Weekday peak express services towards Glen Waverley Pakenham line South Yarra towards Pakenham Cranbourne line South Yarra towards Cranbourne Flinders Street towards Werribee or Williamstown Frankston line South Yarra towards Frankston Flinders Street Terminus Sandringham line South Yarra towards Sandringham Preceding station V/Line Following station Flinders Street towards Southern Cross Gippsland line Caulfield towards Traralgon or Bairnsdale

History

Richmond station has been relocated and rebuilt four times. The first station was at ground level, and opened on 8 February 1859 as Punt Road. It closed in the same year, on 12 December 1859. On the same day, a new station called Swan Street, also at ground level, opened. It was re-named Richmond on 1 January 1867.^[4] In 1885, an elevated station was opened just north of Swan Street, with six platforms.

By the 1930s, the station was struggling to cope with patronage. The 1940 Ashworth Improvement Plan recommended that it be rebuilt, but funding problems during World War II prevented that from happening.^[5] The station had also deteriorated to the point that it was condemned by the local council, and work began in the 1950s on a replacement, as part of Operation Phoenix, the postwar rebuilding of the Victorian Railways.^[6] However, it was not until 26 March 1960 that the present station was completed. Located slightly west of the previous station, the bridges at each end of the station, across Punt Road and Swan Street, were also rebuilt to accommodate the ten tracks. For a time, platforms at both the old and new stations were used, before the original station was closed and demolished.

In 1973, the flyover for the Down Burnley local line was built at the Up end of Platforms 9 and 10,^[4] with the junction to the east of Platforms 7, 8, 9 and 10 abolished in the same year.^[4]

The station was the filming location for the opening scene of the 1992 Australian film Romper Stomper. In the film's story, it was named Footscray station.

In 1994, major re-signalling works occurred between Richmond and South Yarra stations.^[4] On 4 December 1996, Richmond was upgraded to a Premium Station.^[7]

In 2018/2019, it was the ninth-busiest station in metropolitan Melbourne, with 4.17 million boardings per year.^[2]

Platforms, facilities and services

Richmond has ten platforms; five island platforms with ten faces. It is built on an embankment immediately east of Punt Road, with platforms extending west across the Punt Road railway bridge. The station is connected by three subways, with access to the platforms by ramps. There are no lifts at the station.

The station is located in Melbourne's sporting precinct. A special-events entrance at the western end is opened during events at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Park and AAMI Park.

It is serviced by Metro Trains' Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham line services.

Platform 1:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Sandringham

Platform 3:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Flinders Street, Werribee and Williamstown

Platform 4:

•  Frankston line  all stations and limited express services to Frankston

Platform 5:

•  Pakenham line  all stations services to Flinders Street
•  Cranbourne line  all stations services to Flinders Street
•  Gippsland line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 6:

•  Pakenham line  express services to Pakenham
•  Cranbourne line  express services to Cranbourne
•  Gippsland line  V/Line services to Traralgon and Bairnsdale (pick up only)

Platform 7 and 8:

•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•  Glen Waverley line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
•  Alamein line  weekday all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 9 and 10:

•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited express services to Belgrave
•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
•  Glen Waverley line  all stations and limited express services to Glen Waverley
•  Alamein line  weekday all stations and limited express services to Alamein

 

Schematic diagram of the station

Transport links

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

•  246 : Elsternwick station – Clifton Hill^[8]

Yarra Trams operates one route via Richmond station:

•  : Waterfront City – Wattle Park^[9]

Track layout

v t e Richmond station track layout
Legend
to Flinders Street                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           to Parliament                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   1     3     5     7     9                                         Punt Road   2     4     6     8   1   0                                                       to South Yarra                         to East Richmond

Gallery

•  

  Westbound view from Platform 1 in January 2021. The junction of Punt Road and Olympic Boulevard is to the left, with AMMI Park in the distance.

References

1. "Train Station Patronage FY2008-2014" (XLS). Public Transport Victoria. 14 May 2015. from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016. (access from . Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.)
2. "Station Patronage Data 2013-2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
4. "Richmond". Vicsig. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
5. Lee, Robert (2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2.
6. Public Relations and Betterment Board (1952). Phoenix Pauses. Victorian Railway Commissioners. (VR publicity brochure)
7. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. p. 310.
8. "246 Elsternwick - Clifton Hill via St Kilda". Public Transport Victoria.
9. "70 Waterfront City Docklands - Wattle Park". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

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