Merlynston railway station

Merlynston railway station is a commuter railway station on the Upfield line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Coburg North, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Merlynston station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform. It opened on 8 October 1889, with the current station provided in 1959. It initially closed on 13 July 1903, then reopened on 1 October 1914.^[4]

Merlynston
PTV commuter rail station
Northbound view from Platform 2, October 2024
General information
Location	Bain Avenue, Coburg North, Victoria 3058 City of Merri-bek Australia
Coordinates	37°43′15″S 144°57′41″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Upfield
Distance	12.49 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	218
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step-free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	MYN
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	8 October 1889; 135 years ago (1889-10-08)
Closed	13 July 1903
Rebuilt	1 October 1914 19 July 1959
Electrified	December 1920 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	North Coburg (1889–1922)
Passengers
2005–2006	257,385[1]
2006–2007	283,721[1]  10.23%
2007–2008	321,808[1]  13.42%
2008–2009	391,833[2]  21.76%
2009–2010	420,566[2]  7.33%
2010–2011	420,630[2]  0.01%
2011–2012	387,519[2]  7.87%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	363,901[2]  6.1%
2014–2015	351,291[1]  3.46%
2015–2016	361,922[2]  0.54%
2016–2017	371,447[2]  2.63%
2017–2018	334,983[2]  9.82%
2018–2019	392,850[2]  17.27%
2019–2020	296,300[2]  24.6%
2020–2021	126,950[2]  57.2%
2021–2022	154,400[3]  21.62%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Batman towards Flinders Street Upfield line Fawkner towards Upfield
Track layout Legend to Batman 1 2 Boundary Road to Fawkner

Initially opened as North Coburg, the station was given its current name of Merlynston on 6 February 1922.^[4]

History

Merlynston station opened when the railway line was extended from Coburg to Somerton.^[4] The locality was named by Donald Bain who, in 1919, purchased 31 hectares of land to be subdivided into a housing estate. Bain named the estate after his daughter, Merlyn.^[5][6]

In 1948, flashing light signals were provided at the Boundary Road level crossing, in the down direction from the station.^[4] In 1959, the current island platform was provided when the line was duplicated between Coburg and Fawkner.^[4]

In 1984, boom barriers were provided at the Boundary Road level crossing.^[7]

In November 1998, the level crossing at Shorts Road, south of the station, was closed,^[8] and a dead-end street was created on either side of the railway line. Until the track was duplicated to Gowrie in that year,^[9] the line north of the station had only a single track, apart from the island platform at Gowrie, which had two platforms. However, one of those was a dock platform,^[10] meaning trains couldn't pass each other at Gowrie, and had to do so at Merlynston.

On 9 April 2002, Comeng motor carriage 533M was destroyed by a fire at the station. The fire also damaged part of the station building.^[11][12][13]

Platforms and services

A Comeng train on a Flinders Street-bound service arrives at Platform 1, October 2024

Merlynston has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Metro Trains' Upfield line trains.^[14]

Platform 1:

•  Upfield line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Upfield line  all stations services to Upfield

Transport links

Broadmeadows Bus Service operates two routes via Merlynston station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  530 : Campbellfield Plaza Shopping Centre – Coburg^[15]
•  531 : Upfield station – North Coburg^[16]

Dysons operates one bus route via Merlynston station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  534 : Glenroy station – Coburg^[17]

Gallery

• 
  Station building and entrance to platforms, June 2005
• 
  Platform 1 station signage, December 2005
• 
  North-east bound view of Platform 2 and the station building, November 2006
• 
  Southbound view of Platform 1 and the station building, October 2019
• 
  Southbound view of Platform 2 and the station building, October 2019
• 
  Station building and entrance to the platforms, October 2019
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, October 2019
• 
  A Comeng train on a Flinders Street-bound service approaching near Merlynston station in Coburg North, December 2019
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, October 2024
• 
  The pedestrian crossing gates, adjacent to the station on the northern side, October 2024

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. "Merlynston". vicsig.net. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
5. "Items of interest". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 30 January 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 11 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Merlynston". Victorian Places. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
7. Waugh, Andrew. "SRS Suburban Tour Notes – Coburg Line" (PDF). VR History. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
8. Shiel, Fergus (1 November 1998). "Gates shut on a suburb's quiet boom". The Sunday Age. p. 11.
9. "Upfield Line". vicsig.net. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
10. "Sunday 17-7-1988 Gowrie". Flickr – High Bicyclist Photostream. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
11. Gould, Russell (10 April 2002). "Passengers flee fire". Herald Sun. p. 3.
12. Cullen, Philip (11 April 2002). "Train arsonists sought". Herald Sun. p. 12.
13. "General News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). June 2002. p. 172.
14. "Upfield Line". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "530 Campbellfield - Coburg via Fawkner". Public Transport Victoria.
16. "531 Upfield - North Coburg via Somerset Estate". Public Transport Victoria.
17. "534 Glenroy to Coburg via Boundary Road & Sydney Road". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

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