Croydon railway station, Melbourne

Croydon railway station is a commuter railway station on the Lilydale line, part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Croydon in Victoria, Australia. Croydon is an elevated premium station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 1 December 1882, with the current station provided in 2024.^[1]

Croydon
PTV commuter rail station
North-east bound view from Platform 2, August 2024
General information
Location	Wicklow Avenue, Croydon, Victoria 3136 City of Maroondah Australia
Coordinates	37°47′43″S 145°16′50″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Lilydale
Distance	31.03 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	578 (294 multi-level, 284 surface)
Bicycle facilities	8
Accessible	Yes, Lifts to both platforms
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	CDN
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	1 December 1882; 142 years ago (1882-12-01)
Rebuilt	30 June 1984 12 August 2024 (LXRP)[1]
Electrified	November 1924 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Warrandyte (1882–1884)
Passengers
2005–2006	694,405[2]
2006–2007	743,443[2]  7.06%
2007–2008	851,017[2]  14.47%
2008–2009	885,978[3]  4.1%
2009–2010	880,996[3]  0.56%
2010–2011	932,083[3]  5.79%
2011–2012	885,015[3]  5.04%
2012–2013	Not measured[3]
2013–2014	821,534[3]  7.17%
2014–2015	825,557[2]  0.48%
2015–2016	901,997[3]  9.25%
2016–2017	834,840[3]  7.44%
2017–2018	899,751[3]  7.77%
2018–2019	916,319[3]  1.84%
2019–2020	726,050[3]  20.76%
2020–2021	311,100[3]  57.15%
2021–2022	327,150[4]  5.15%
2022–2023	492,650[4]  50.58%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Ringwood East towards Flinders Street or Ringwood Lilydale line Mooroolbark towards Lilydale
Track layout Legend to Ringwood East 1 2 Creek to Mooroolbark

Initially opened as Warrandyte, the station was given its current name of Croydon on 1 August 1884.^[5]

History

Croydon station opened on 1 December 1882 as Warrandyte, when the railway line from Camberwell was extended to Lilydale.^[5] It was renamed Croydon on 1 August 1884, like the suburb itself, the station was named after Croydon in Surrey, England.^[6] The name was suggested by local landowner Gregory Lacey, whose wife was originally from Croydon.^[6] The station was built on parts of land owned by Lacey.^[6]

Electrification was completed from Ringwood to Croydon by November 1924, and from Croydon to Lilydale by November 1925.^[7] A since-removed level crossing in the down direction of the station was provided at Main Street, with automated wig-wag signals installed in June 1928.^[7]

In 1957, the line between Croydon and Mooroolbark was duplicated, with a number of sidings provided at the same time.^[5] In 1978, the goods yard was closed and, in that same year, a number of sidings were abolished.^[5]

In May 1979, the Main Street level crossing was closed to traffic and replaced with a since-removed level crossing at Coolstore Road, located in the down direction of the station and protected with automated boom gate barriers and flashing signals.^[5][8]

On 30 June 1984, the former ground level Platform 1 opened, as part of the duplication of the line between Croydon and Ringwood.^[9] The remaining sidings were also abolished during this time.^[5] On 31 July 1996, Croydon was upgraded to a premium station.^[10]

On 7 February 2019, Michael Sukkar MP announced^[11] on behalf of the Federal Government that $15 million would be spent to provide multistorey commuter car parking facilities at Croydon, as part of the controversial Urban Congestion Fund. Construction of the now-$20 million project located at Devon St was undertaken by Kane Constructions^[12] on behalf of Maroondah City Council.^[13] The building is designed to enable future conversion into transit-oriented development,^[13] and incorporates environmentally sustainable design initiatives including solar PV power generation and rainwater harvesting and re-use, achieving a 5-star NABERS rating. A total of 402 parking spaces opened on 15 December 2021.^[14] The ground floor of the facility provides 83 spaces of general 3-hour time-limited parking, 6 accessible parking spaces, 4 all-day motorcycle parking spaces, bicycle parking (4 outdoor hoops and an indoor cage), 4 electric vehicle charging spaces,^[15] and a 1400m² single-storey commercial office space currently occupied by The Orange Door family and domestic violence support service. Level 1 and 2 of the facility provides a total of 294 all-day general car parking for commuters. This is in addition to surface commuter parking for 284 vehicles and 10 motorcycles in the station precinct, for a total of 578 commuter car parking spaces.^[16]

On 29 July 2021, the Level Crossing Removal Project announced that the Coolstore Road level crossing will be grade separated by 2025, with a 687 metre long rail bridge to be built over the road.^{[17][18][19][20]} The level crossing removal will also involve the construction of a new station. On 6 August 2022, early concept designs were released.^[21] In March 2023, construction on the project began.^[22]

On 30 January 2024, Croydon station closed temporarily to allow construction to take place,^[23] with the station buildings and Platform 2 demolished in the following days.

On 7 May 2024, Coolstore Road level crossing and equipment was eliminated, with a new Croydon station opening to passengers on 12 August 2024.^[24][1] The new station provides entrances at both the western and eastern ends, 4 lifts, stairs, public toilets, a waiting room, and 2 elevated side platforms. A total of 92 bicycle parking spaces are provided at the new station, including 33 open-air bicycle parking hoops and a Parkiteer bicycle parking cage.^[25] A new 14-bay bus interchange opened on 11 November 2024.^[26]

Platforms and services

A PID on Platform 1 displaying a Flinders Street-bound service, October 2024

An X'Trapolis train on a Flinders Street-bound service arrives at Platform 1, October 2024

Croydon has two side platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Lilydale line services.^[27]

Platform 1:

•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street; all stations shuttle services to Ringwood

Platform 2:

•  Lilydale line  all stations services to Lilydale

Transport links

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

•  380 : to Ringwood station (loop service)^[28]

Ventura Bus Lines operates ten routes via Croydon station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  664 : Chirnside Park Shopping Centre – Westfield Knox^[29]
•  670 : Ringwood station – Box Hill Institute Lilydale Lakeside Campus^[30]
•  671 : to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre^[31]
•  672 : to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre^[32]
•  688 : to Upper Ferntree Gully station^[33]
•  689 : to Montrose^[34]
•  690 : to Boronia station^[35]
•  737 : to Monash University Clayton Campus^[36]
• Night Bus  967 : to Glen Waverley station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)^[37]
• FlexiRide Croydon^[38]

Gallery

• 
  South-west bound view from the former ground level Platform 2, March 2009
• 
  South-west bound view from the former ground level Platform 1, November 2023
• 
  Elevated station under construction, July 2024
• 
  North-east view of Platform 1 under construction, July 2024
• 
  Coolstore Road after grade separation—North-east bound train over the Coolstore Road rail bridge, Croydon station, July 2024
• 
  North-east bound view from Platform 1, August 2024
• 
  Eastbound view of the rail bridge on the south side, October 2024
• 
  The western end station building, October 2024
• 
  The western end concourse and Myki barriers, October 2024
• 
  The western end station concourse, showing the station's waiting room and customer service, October 2024
• 
  The station's waiting room at the western end concourse, October 2024
• 
  The station's customer service at the western end concourse, October 2024
• 
  The western end waiting room and Myki barriers from the concourse, October 2024
• 
  Western end shelter on Platform 2, October 2024
• 
  Western end shelter on Platform 1, October 2024
• 
  The stairs leading down to the western end concourse from Platform 2, October 2024
• 
  The stairs leading up to Platform 1 from the western end concourse, October 2024
• 
  The stairs leading up to Platform 1 to mid level from the western end concourse, October 2024
• 
  The help point on Platform 1, October 2024