Jacana railway station

Jacana railway station is a commuter railway station on the Craigieburn line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Glenroy, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Jacana station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform. It opened on 15 February 1959.^[4]

Jacana
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, with two Siemens Nexas trains occupying both platforms, December 2023
General information
Location	Pascoe Vale Road, Glenroy, Victoria 3046 City of Merri-bek Australia
Coordinates	37°41′42″S 144°54′57″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Craigieburn
Distance	15.43 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Accessible	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	JAC
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	15 February 1959; 65 years ago (1959-02-15)
Electrified	September 1921 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006	84,247[1]
2006–2007	91,548[1]  8.66%
2007–2008	96,753[1]  5.68%
2008–2009	137,596[2]  42.21%
2009–2010	148,646[2]  8.03%
2010–2011	145,636[2]  2.02%
2011–2012	123,092[2]  15.48%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	80,120[2]  34.91%
2014–2015	104,141[1]  29.98%
2015–2016	139,307[2]  33.76%
2016–2017	160,140[2]  14.95%
2017–2018	197,118[2]  23.09%
2018–2019	226,809[2]  15.06%
2019–2020	221,650[2]  2.27%
2020–2021	129,500[2]  41.57%
2021–2022	133,250[3]  2.89%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Glenroy towards Flinders Street Craigieburn line Broadmeadows towards Craigieburn
Track layout Legend to Glenroy 1 2 Western Ring Road to Broadmeadows

The North East standard gauge line is located to the west of the station, crossing the broad gauge suburban lines via a flyover at the Craigieburn (down) end of the station. The Albion-Jacana freight line joins the main suburban line after the flyover, and the Western Ring Road passes under the station via a short tunnel.

History

Jacana station opened on 15 February 1959, a number of years before the Housing Commission started construction of its nearby Jacana estate.^[5] The station, like the suburb itself, appears to get its name from a nearby street in neighbouring Broadmeadows.^[5]

The railway past the site of Jacana originally opened in 1872, as part of the North East line to School House Lane.^[4] In July 1958, construction of the station began,^[6] with the slewing of the down line occurring on 13 September of that year^[7] to make room for the island platform, as well as the flyover for the standard gauge line, which was under construction at the same time.^[8]

On 17 December 1972, the station was damaged by fire.^[9] Three days later, on 20 December, 10 wagons on a Sydney-bound freight train on the standard gauge line derailed immediately west of the station.^[9] The pedestrian overpass at the station was damaged during the derailment, but was repaired by 24 December.^[10] Much of the debris resulting from the derailment was also cleared by that date.^[10]

In 1975, the current overpass on Pascoe Vale Road, to the west of the station, was provided, replacing an earlier overpass.^[11]

On 14 November 1996, two Comeng train sets collided between Broadmeadows and Jacana, injuring 13 people.^[12][13][14] A city-bound train collided with a stationary Broadmeadows-bound train, and two carriages derailed.^[12][13]

Platforms and services

Jacana has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Craigieburn line trains.^[15]

Platform 1:

•  Craigieburn line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Craigieburn line  all stations services to Craigieburn

Gallery

• 
  Northbound view from Platform 2, September 2007
• 
  Southbound view of Platform 2, December 2018

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. "Jacana". Vicsig. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
5. "Jacana", Victorian Places, Victorian Places, retrieved 27 September 2022
6. "Works, Etc". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. July 1958. p. 43.
7. "Tenders, Works, Etc". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1958. p. 60.
8. Turton, Keith W (1973). Six And A Half Inches From Destiny. The first hundred years of the Melbourne-Wodonga Railway 1873-1973. Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 87. ISBN 0-85849-012-9.
9. Heinrichs, Paul (21 December 1972). "Cars destroyed as train derailed". The Age. p. 3.
10. "Jacana Derailment". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. February 1973. p. 26.
11. "Way & Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. February 1975. p. 44.
12. Binnie, Craig (15 November 1996). "Head-on train crash leaves 13 injured". Herald Sun. p. 3.
13. Costa, Gabrielle (15 November 1996). "Suburban train collision injures 13". The Age. p. A3.
14. Brammall, Bruce (6 August 1997). "Rail crash torment". Herald Sun. p. 13.
15. "Craigieburn Line". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au