Footscray railway station facts for kids

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Footscray

Regional and commuter rail station

Looking south from platform 6 in April 2010, with disused signal box on platform 5 in the foreground

Location

Irving Street, Footscray
Australia

Coordinates

37°48′06″S 144°54′09″E / 37.8016°S 144.9024°E

Owned by

VicTrack

Operated by

Metro Trains

Line(s)

Sunbury
Werribee
Williamstown
Serviceton
Warrnambool

Distance

5.62 kilometres from Southern Cross

Platforms

6 (2 side, 2 island)

Tracks

Construction

Structure type

Ground

Disabled access

Yes

Other information

Status

Premium station

Station code

FSY

Fare zone

Website

Public Transport Victoria

History

Opened

17 January 1859

Rebuilt

2012-2014

Electrified

Yes

Traffic

Passengers (2008-2009)

3.705 million

Passengers (2009-2010)

3.648 million

1.54%

Passengers (2010-2011)

3.856 million

5.7%

Passengers (2011-2012)

4.199 million

8.9%

Passengers (2012-2013)

Not measured

Passengers (2013-2014)

3.767 million

10.29%

Passengers (2014-2015)

Not measured

Passengers (2015-2016)

5.01 million

32.99%

Passengers (2016-2017)

5.10 million

1.81%

Passengers (2017-2018)

5.26 million

3.08%

Services

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Footscray railway station is located on the Sunbury, Werribee and Williamstown lines, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Footscray, and opened on 17 January 1859.

It is also serviced by V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services. In 2017/18, it was the sixth busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, with 5.26 million passenger movements recorded.

A disused signal box is located on the island platform at the Up (Flinders Street) end of Platform 5, while a pair of dual gauge tracks form the mainly freight only South Kensington-West Footscray line under the station, running in a cutting before entering the Bunbury Street tunnel, providing a rail link to the Port of Melbourne and other freight terminals, as well as access to Southern Cross for the NSW TrainLink XPT, The Overland, and V/Line Albury services.

History
- Regional Rail Link upgrade
Platforms & services
Transport links
Gallery

History

On 17 January 1859, the railways arrived in Footscray, when the new Williamstown line opened, with trains running from Spencer Street in Melbourne to the important cargo port of Williamstown. This railway line connected to the 18-month-old Geelong railway at the junction near where the current Newport station lies. The line between Melbourne and Footscray, via the new station at North Melbourne, had been made possible with the construction of a railway bridge over the Maribyrnong River. The first station to open in Footscray opened on this line on the opening day of service; it was not, however, where the current Footscray station lies, but was located on Napier Street.

Shortly afterwards, Footscray became a junction station, when a second railway line, branching at Footscray, was opened to Sunbury. By 1862, this railway line had been extended to Sandhurst (later renamed Bendigo). Therefore, on 1 March 1859, less than two months after the first, Footscray's second railway station opened on Nicholson Street, not far from the original Napier Street location, for services on the new railway line. A signal box was provided at the junction from 1879.

On 16 September 1900, the current station opened, located at the precise point of junction of the two lines. The two original stations were then closed.

A number of sidings once existed at the station, now covered by car parking on the eastern side of the Newport bound lines.

The dual gauge tracks under the station were opened on 21 October 1928, as part of the South Kensington-West Footscray line, and were dual-gauged in the early 1960s, as part of the construction of the Melbourne-Albury standard gauge line. Quadruplication of the tracks towards Melbourne in November 1976 put an end to the junction and closed the signal box. The building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

It was upgraded to a Premium station on 31 May 1996, although the enclosed waiting area and ticket facilities were built in 1993, as part of the 'Travel Safe' program in the early 1990s.

On 5 June 2001, at around 08:30, two suburban Comeng trains collided on Platform 4. An out of service train heading to Newport collided with a Williamstown bound train, carrying around 20 passengers, with 3 injuries reported.

In 2010, as a part of the Brumby State Government's Footscray renewal program, the existing footbridge over the platforms, which was accessed by ramps, was replaced with a $15 million footbridge. The bridge, named after indigenous activist William Cooper, has stairs and associated lifts. Complaints have been made that the new footbridge is less usable than the one it replaced. It has a roof, but that has not been designed to be weatherproof, and the lifts are prone to breakdown.

Regional Rail Link upgrade

From 2012-2014, Footscray station underwent major upgrade and conservation works as part of the Regional Rail Link project.

An additional two platforms were built to the north of the existing platforms, to separate Metro Trains Sunbury services from V/Line services to Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. On 20 January 2014, co-inciding with the opening of the new platforms and a new ticket office and waiting area adjacent to Platform 1 on Irving St, Platforms 1 to 4 were renumbered 3 to 6, with the new platforms commissioned as Platforms 1 and 2. At the same time, Platforms 3 and 4 were closed to be rebuilt as dedicated platforms for V/Line services, reopening along with the commissioning of new Regional Rail Link tracks between Sunshine and Southern Cross on 16 July 2014. A new waiting area and toilet facility for regional services was also opened between Platform's 4 and 5.

The existing footbridge, erected in 2010 at a cost of $15 million, was also partially demolished in 2013 to help accommodate the works. New canopies, stairs and escalators were erected at the Irving and Hyde St ends of the footbridge, and new wide ramps were built from the footbridge to the platforms and street level, to help people access the platforms with greater ease. New lifts were also added to the structure.

The carpark that used to be on Irving St was relocated to McNab Av, and a new forecourt with greenery and seating areas along with 2 new kiosks were opened close to the Irving St entrance to the station. The most famous of these was the former Olympic Hot Doughnuts kiosk, which had a public opening day on 9 July 2014. Former premier Denis Napthine was in attendance.

All works at the station were complete by November 2014.

Platforms & services

Footscray has six platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Sunbury, Werribee and Williamstown services and V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services.

Platform 1:

Sunbury line all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

Sunbury line all stations and limited stop services to Watergardens & Sunbury

Platform 3:

Ballarat line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Ararat line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Bendigo line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Echuca line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Swan Hill line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Geelong line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
Warrnambool line V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 4:

Ballarat line V/Line services to Ballarat (pick up only)
Ararat line V/Line services to Ararat (pick up only)
Bendigo line V/Line services to Bendigo, Epsom and Eaglehawk (pick up only)
Echuca line V/Line services to Echuca (pick up only)
Swan Hill line V/Line services to Swan Hill (pick up only)
Geelong line V/Line services to Wyndham Vale, Geelong & Waurn Ponds (pick up only)
Warrnambool line V/Line services to Warrnambool (pick up only)

Platform 5:

Werribee line all stations services to Flinders Street
Williamstown line weekday all stations and limited stops services to Flinders Street

Platform 6:

Werribee line all stations and limited stops services to Laverton & Werribee
Williamstown line weekday all stations and limited stops services to Williamstown

Transport links

CDC Melbourne operates six routes via Footscray station:

406: to Keilor East
409: Yarraville – Highpoint Shopping Centre
410: to Sunshine station
411: to Laverton station
412: to Laverton station
414: to Laverton station

Dysons operates three routes via Flinders Street:

Night Bus 941: City – Watergardens station
Night Bus 942: City – St Albans station
Night Bus 952: City – Broadmeadows station

Sita Buslines operates four routes via Footscray station:

402: to East Melbourne
403: to University of Melbourne Parkville Campus
404: to Moonee Ponds Junction
472: Williamstown – Moonee Ponds Junction

Transdev Melbourne operates four routes via Footscray station:

216: Sunshine station – City via Dynon Road
220: Sunshine station – City via Footscray Road
223: Yarraville – Highpoint Shopping Centre

Yarra Trams operates one route to and from Footscray station:

to Moonee Ponds Junction

Gallery

Footbridge that links all platforms taken from Irving Street in December 2011
The same view from Irving Street in May 2014
Westbound view from Platform 2 in May 2014
The South Kensington - West Footscray railway line cutting runs beneath the south-western end of Platforms 5 and 6 in September 2008

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Footscray railway station Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.

Footscray railway station facts for kids

Contents

History

Regional Rail Link upgrade

Platforms & services

Transport links

Gallery