Reservoir railway station

Reservoir railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern suburb of Reservoir, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Reservoir is an elevated premium station, featuring an island platform with two faces. It opened on 8 October 1889, with the current station provided in 2019.^[5]

Reservoir
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, July 2024
General information
Location	High Street, Reservoir, Victoria 3073 City of Darebin Australia
Coordinates	37°43′00″S 145°00′26″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Mernda
Distance	14.94 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	380
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	RES
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	8 October 1889; 135 years ago (1889-10-08)
Rebuilt	1967 16 December 2019 (LXRP)
Electrified	July 1921 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Preston – Reservoir (1889–1909)
Passengers
2005–2006	850,907[1]
2006–2007	931,894[1]  9.51%
2007–2008	1,072,476[1]  15.08%
2008–2009	1,236,817[2]  15.32%
2009–2010	1,316,708[2]  6.45%
2010–2011	1,272,669[2]  3.34%
2011–2012	1,157,335[2]  9.06%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	1,181,322[2]  2.07%
2014–2015	1,099,944[1]  6.88%
2015–2016	1,103,946[2]  0.36%
2016–2017	1,108,520[2]  0.41%
2017–2018	1,121,719[2]  1.19%
2018–2019	959,063[2]  14.5%
2019–2020	517,550[2]  46.03%
2020–2021	349,200[2]  32.52%
2021–2022	473,200[3]  35.51%
2022–2023	672,750[4]  42.17%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Regent towards Flinders Street Mernda line Ruthven towards Mernda
Track layout Legend to Regent 1 2 to Ruthven

Initially opened as Preston-Reservoir, the station was given its current name of Reservoir on 1 December 1909.^[5][6]

History

Reservoir station opened when the Inner Circle line was extended from North Fitzroy station.^[5] On 23 December of the same year, the line was further extended to Epping.^[5] Like the suburb, the station was named after the three reservoirs that were built south-east of the station, in 1864, 1909 and 1913 respectively.^[7][8] The reservoirs were constructed to hold Melbourne's water supply from the Yan Yean Reservoir.^[7]

The station was originally the terminus for suburban services on the Whittlesea line. The line was duplicated in December 1910 and, in July 1921, Reservoir became the terminus for suburban electric trains. In 1924, an eighth-metre-long turntable was provided at the station, to turn the AEC railmotor which operated between Reservoir and Whittlesea, making two trips a day.^[6] In December 1929, electric train services were extended from Reservoir to Thomastown and, in 1940, the turntable was abolished.^[5]

In 1959, duplication of the line to Keonpark station was provided.^[5] In 1963, manually operated boom barriers replaced hand-operated gates at the former High Street level crossing, which was at the down end of the station.^[9] In 1967, the former ground-level station buildings were provided, replacing the original structures.^[10]

In the early hours of 13 July 1975, a deliberately-lit fire damaged Harris motor 567M and Tait motor 345M, both of which were stabled at the station.^[11][12] On 29 December 1980, Harris backing trailer 533BT, which was in a consist operating the 23:15 down service to Epping, was damaged by fire as it arrived at the station.^[13]

On 18 December 1986, a number of sidings and signals were abolished.^[5] On 1 April 1987, further sidings were abolished.^[5] On 8 May 1988, the former signal box and interlocked frame were abolished. Also abolished were two crossovers at the up and down ends of the station,^[14] as well as the double line block signalling system between Reservoir and Keon Park, which was replaced with automatic three-position signalling.^[14] Pedestrian gates were also installed at the former station pedestrian crossing, which was at the down end, and at the former High Street level crossing.^[14] Two months earlier, the double line block system between Bell and Reservoir had been abolished.^[14]

In 1991, a reconfigured High Street level crossing was opened,^[15] with that arrangement existing until the grade separation of the level crossing in 2019. On 25 June 1996, Reservoir was upgraded to a premium station.^[16]

In January 2016, the Level Crossing Removal Authority announced that the High Street level crossing would be removed by grade separation.^[17][18] In September 2018, preliminary designs were released, showing that the grade separation would be achieved by elevating the railway, with a new station to be built at the existing location.^[19] The winning station design was produced by local architecture firm Genton.^[20] Plans for grade separation have dated as far back as the early to mid 1970s.^[21][22]

On 2 December 2019, the ground-level station was closed for demolition, and the new station, above a multi-road intersection, was opened on 16 December of that year.^[23] As part of the work, crossovers were reinstated at both the up and down ends of the new station.^[5]

Platforms and services

A station PID on Platform 1 displaying a Mernda-bound service

Reservoir has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Mernda line trains.^[24]

Platform 1:

•  Mernda line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Mernda line  all stations services to Mernda

Transport links

Dysons operates seven bus routes via Reservoir station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  301 : to La Trobe University Bundoora campus^[25]
•  552 : North East Reservoir to Northcote Plaza^[26]
•  553 : Preston to West Preston^[27]
•  555 : Pacific Epping to Northland Shopping Centre^[28]
•  556 : Pacific Epping to Northland Shopping Centre^[29]
•  558 : to North West Reservoir^[30]
•  561 : Macleod to Pascoe Vale station^[31]

Gallery

• 
  Northbound view from the former ground level Platform 2, November 2013
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 2, February 2020
• 
  The new elevated station viewed from Edwardes and Spring Streets, December 2020
• 
  The station's forecourt, landscaping and concourse, July 2024
• 
  The customer service, Myki readers and concourse, July 2024
• 
  The northern side Myki readers, lifts and stairs from the main concourse, July 2024
• 
  Southbound view of the station car park and partial views of Melbourne CBD, July 2024
• 
  The southern end concourse at Reservoir station seen from the southern end stairs, July 2024
• 
  The High Street bus bays at Reservoir station,
  July 2024
• 
  The western side view of Reservoir station,
  July 2024
• 
  The southern end safety zone at Reservoir station, July 2024
• 
  The forecourt facing towards Spring Street,
  July 2024
• 
  The southern end stairs leading to the platforms, July 2024
• 
  The built in wall station signage feature at Reservoir, July 2024
• 
  Station signage at Platform 2, July 2024

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. Annual metropolitan train station entries 2022-23 Data Vic
5. "Reservoir". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
6. Jack McLean (November 1995). "Reservoir – Whittlesea: Signalling and Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 333–337.
7. "Reservoir". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
8. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
9. John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
10. "New Works, Closures". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). May 1967. p. 12.
11. "A bad weekend for the railways". The Age. 14 July 1975. p. 2.
12. "Rollingstock & Locomotives". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). September 1975. p. 201.
13. "Delays, Derailments, etc". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). March 1981. p. 49.
14. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). July 1988. p. 220.
15. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). October 1991. p. 338.
16. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). October 1997. pp. 303–315.
17. Carey, Adam (31 January 2016). "End of the line for older Melbourne stations being torn down and rebuilt". The Age. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
18. High Street, Reservoir Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Level Crossing Removal Authority
19. "Reservoir level crossing project design announced". Level Crossing Removal Authority. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
20. cheng, Linda (28 March 2017). "'Light, ephemeral' beach-inspired design wins Frankston station competition". ArchitectureAU. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
21. "New Works and Re-Arrangements". Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. August 1970. p. 5.
22. "Works & Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. January 1976. p. 19.
23. "New Reservoir Station open in time for the holidays". Victoria's Big Build. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
24. "Mernda Line". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "301 Reservoir Station - La Trobe University (Bundoora Campus)". Public Transport Victoria.
26. "552 North East Reservoir – Northcote Plaza via High Street". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 29 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
27. "553 Preston - West Preston via Reservoir". Public Transport Victoria.
28. "555 Epping - Northland via Lalor & Thomastown & Reservoir". Public Transport Victoria.
29. "556 Epping Plaza SC - Northland SC via Keon Park". Public Transport Victoria.
30. "558 Reservoir via North West Reservoir". Public Transport Victoria.
31. "561 Macleod - Pascoe Vale via La Trobe University". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au