Highett railway station

Highett railway station is a commuter railway station on the Frankston line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Highett, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Highett station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 19 December 1881, with the current station provided in 1986.^[4]

Highett
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 1, November 2021
General information
Location	Railway Parade, Highett, Victoria 3190 City of Bayside City of Kingston Australia
Coordinates	37°56′55″S 145°02′30″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Frankston
Distance	20.06 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	116
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	HIG
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	19 December 1881; 142 years ago (1881-12-19)
Rebuilt	1966 1986
Electrified	June 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Highett Road (1881-1885)
Passengers
2005–2006	359,708[1]
2006–2007	387,204[1]  7.64%
2007–2008	431,772[1]  11.51%
2008–2009	488,272[2]  13.08%
2009–2010	492,722[2]  0.91%
2010–2011	524,427[2]  6.43%
2011–2012	503,689[2]  3.95%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	452,990[2]  10.06%
2014–2015	480,980[1]  6.17%
2015–2016	477,108[2]  0.8%
2016–2017	477,313[2]  0.04%
2017–2018	520,790[2]  9.1%
2018–2019	508,406[2]  2.37%
2019–2020	328,050[2]  35.47%
2020–2021	194,000[2]  40.86%
2021–2022	212,700[3]  9.63%
2022–2023	292,800[3]  37.65%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Moorabbin towards Werribee or Williamstown via Flinders Street Frankston line Southland towards Frankston
Track layout Legend to Moorabbin Wickham Road (Removing by 2029) 1 2 Highett Road (Removing by 2029) to Southland

Initially opened as Highett Road, the station was given its current name of Highett on 14 December 1885.^[4]

History

Highett station opened when the railway line from Caulfield was extended to Mordialloc.^[4] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after William Highett, a local landowner and a member of the Victorian Legislative Council.^[5][6]

The station was built with the endorsement of Victorian Premier Thomas Bent, who ordered the railway line be redirected through Highett, and also demanded a higher standard of departmental residences there than elsewhere.^[7] The current station building was erected in 1883 and 1884, and was refurbished in 1966.^[7] It was refurbished again in 1986, after it had been damaged by fire during the previous year.^[8]

In 1925, a railway parcels van hit a car at the nearby Wickham Road level crossing, killing eight people in the car. The gatekeeper was found not guilty of a charge of manslaughter, the jury finding the incident was due to the fault of the system, and not human negligence.^[9] In 1932, there was a shootout between a policeman and a burglar, who was killed.^[10]

In 1973, a former wood yard and a lamp room were demolished.^[11]

In 1985, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Highett Road level crossing, located at the down end of the station.^[12] The signal box for the level crossing was also abolished during that time.^[4]

On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Highett to a premium station, along with nineteen others.^[13][14] However, in March 2011, that was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.^[15]

In 2014, the Victorian State Government launched a public safety initiative which involved Protective Services Officers (PSOs) patrolling railway stations at certain times of the day. On 1 June of that year, Highett was added to the list of patrolled stations.^[16] A PSO "pod" to provide an office and holding cell was also added to the station.

In October 2017, two PSOs patrolling the station were shot at by a disgruntled 22-year-old, using a battery-powered mechanical handgun filled with gel pellets. One officer was struck in the temple, but was not seriously injured. The shooter, who fired from the balcony of an apartment overlooking the station, was arrested by police and charged with a variety of offences.^[17]

In October 2022, it was announced that Highett would be elevated as part of a project to remove seven level crossings on the line. Further details, designs and a construction timeline are to be released closer to the opening of the new station in 2029.^[18]

Platforms and services

Highett has two side platforms. It is served by Frankston line trains.^[19]

Platform 1:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Flinders Street, Werribee and Williamstown

Platform 2:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Frankston

Transport links

Ventura Bus Lines operates two routes via Highett station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  708 : Hampton station – Carrum station^[20]
•  828 : Hampton station – Berwick station^[21]

Gallery

• 
  Entrance to Platform 1, September 2005
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 2, July 2010
• 
  Northbound view from Platform 2,
  September 2021
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, with an X'Trapolis train arriving on a Williamstown-bound service, November 2021

See also

• Southland railway station

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
4. "Highett". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
5. "Highett". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
6. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
7. "Highett Railway Station, Highett, Vic Profile". www.aussieheritage.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 August 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
8. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. November 1986. p. 347.
9. "The Highett Railway Disaster". Kingston Local History. City of Kingston. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
10. "Events in the Past: Shooting at Highett: Man Dies". localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
11. "Way and Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1973. p. 195.
12. John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
13. "New premium stations for Metro". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
14. "General News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 2010. p. 165.
15. Gardiner, Ashley; Wright, Anne (25 March 2011). "Premier Ted Baillieu says armed guards will create 'culture of safety'". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
16. "Public Safety on Victoria's Train System" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
17. "Man admits to 'firing at PSOs with water gun' because he was angry, court told". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
18. Tribune, The National (8 October 2022). "Making Frankston Line Level Crossing Free". The National Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
19. "Frankston Line". Public Transport Victoria.
20. "708 Carrum - Hampton via Southland". Public Transport Victoria.
21. "828 Hampton - Berwick Station via Southland SC & Dandenong". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

External links

Media related to Highett railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons