Merlynston railway station

Merlynston railway station is a commuter railway station on the Upfield line, 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