Surrey Hills railway station

Surrey Hills railway station was located on the Lilydale and Belgrave lines in Victoria, Australia, serving the eastern Melbourne suburb of Surrey Hills. Located between Chatham and Mont Albert, it opened on 13 August 1883 and closed on 17 February 2023, due to project works associated with the Level Crossing Removal Project.^[4]

Surrey Hills
Closed PTV commuter rail station
Eastbound view from Platform 3, May 2014
General information
Location	Bedford Avenue, Surrey Hills, Victoria Australia
Coordinates	37°49′26″S 145°05′56″E / 37.8239°S 145.0990°E / -37.8239; 145.0990
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Lilydale Belgrave
Distance	13.84 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	3 (1 island, 1 side)
Tracks	3
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	350
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Demolished, premium station
Station code	SHL
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	13 August 1883 (1883-08-13)
Closed	17 February 2023
Rebuilt	1966 19 December 1971
Electrified	December 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	584,899^[1]
2006–2007	624,194^[1]  6.71%
2007–2008	680,472^[1]  9.01%
2008–2009	725,658^[2]  6.64%
2009–2010	771,549^[2]  6.32%
2010–2011	764,161^[2]  0.95%
2011–2012	690,201^[2]  9.67%
2012–2013	Not measured^[2]
2013–2014	822,824^[2]  19.21%
2014–2015	779,991^[1]  5.2%
2015–2016	762,911^[2]  2.18%
2016–2017	753,815^[2]  1.19%
2017–2018	733,618^[2]  2.67%
2018–2019	725,221^[2]  1.14%
2019–2020	568,250^[2]  21.64%
2020–2021	245,900^[2]  56.72%
2021–2022	241,750^[3]  1.68%
2022–2023	175,650^[3]  27.34%
Former services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Chatham towards Flinders Street Lilydale line Mont Albert towards Lilydale or Belgrave Belgrave line List of closed railway stations in Melbourne
Track layout Before station closure (February 2023) Legend to Chatham Union Road (Removed in 2023) 1 3 2 to Mont Albert

History

Initially, two trains ran to Lilydale each day and five only to Box Hill. At the time, engineers were unwilling to allow trains to stop at Surrey Hills, claiming potential difficulties with re-starting the gradient, and also that there was not enough traffic to warrant the stop.^[4]

In April 1883, a deputation asked for Surrey Hills to be a flag station, so that passengers wishing to alight could inform the guard of that at the previous station, while those wishing to join the train could show a red flag, or a red lamp at night. By August of that year, trains would stop on request. On 1 September of that year, Surrey Hills was brought into regular service. The station first appeared in the Victorian Railways working timetable on 15 October of that year.^[4]

On 9 December 1888, a second track opened, combined with a new platform on the north side of the line. By the 1930s, a small goods yard had been provided to the south of the station, in what later became a car-park. The connection to the mainline was at the Box Hill (down) end of the station.^[5]

In 1962, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the former Union Road level crossing, which was located at the up end of the station.^[4] In 1966, the goods yard, a signal box, a number of sidings and a crossover were removed to allow work on a third track to be carried out.^[4] At that time, the current station buildings were provided, and the former city-bound platform was converted to an island platform. In December 1971, services on the third track from East Camberwell were extended though the station to Box Hill.^[6]

In June 2001, Surrey Hills was upgraded to a premium station.^[4]

On 14 September 2016, two people were killed when a motor vehicle and an express X'Trapolis train set collided at the Union Road level crossing. Severe damage resulted to the train, and the vehicle was dragged 150 metres (490 ft) before coming to a mangled rest between the station platform and train. The station underpass was also damaged.^[7]

In 2020, it was announced by the Level Crossing Removal Authority that the level crossings at Union and Mont Albert roads would be removed by 2023. The project will involve the closure of both Surrey Hills and nearby Mont Albert, with a brand new railway station, named Union, to be provided between the two current stations.^[8] Plans for the grade separation of the Union Road level crossing with a road overpass have dated as far back as the late 1970s.^[9][10]

On 17 February 2023, the station was permanently closed for demolition, alongside Mont Albert.^[11] The replacement new station, Union, opened on 22 May of that year.^[12]

Platforms and services

Surrey Hills had one island platform (Platforms 1 and 2) and a side platform (Platform 3), linked by an underpass. The island platform featured a large brick building with a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room and toilets. There was a small brick building on Platform 3.

It was serviced by Metro Trains' Lilydale and Belgrave line services.^[13][14]

Platform 1:

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

Platform 2:

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

Platform 3:

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

Transport links

At the time of closure, two bus routes serviced Surrey Hills, both under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  612 : Box Hill station – Chadstone Shopping Centre (operated by CDC Melbourne)^[15]
•  766 : Box Hill station - Burwood (operated by Ventura Bus Lines)^[16]

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
4. "Surrey Hills". vicsig.net. from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
5. "Victorian Railways: East Camberwell to Box Hill diagram 5' 30". signaldiagramsandphotos.com. Retrieved 11 March 2008. ^{[dead link]}
6. SE Dornan & RG Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. p. 80. ISBN 0-909459-06-1.
7. Toscano, Nick; Calligeros, Marissa (14 September 2016). "Horror crash: Two killed after car collides with train at Surrey Hills station". The Age. from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
8. "Surrey Hills and Mont Albert crossings removal fast-tracked | Level Crossing Removal Project". levelcrossings.vic.gov.au. from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
9. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 1979. p. 120.
10. Surrey Hills level crossing removal 16 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine City of Boroondara
11. "Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert - construction blitz update February to May". Big Build Victoria. from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
12. "New Union Station to open on 22 May". Victoria's Big Build. from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
13. "Lilydale Line". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "612 Box Hill - Chadstone via Surrey Hills & Camberwell & Glen Iris". Public Transport Victoria.
16. "766 Box Hill - Burwood via Surrey Hills". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 23 April 2023.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au