Roxburgh Park railway station

Roxburgh Park railway station is a commuter railway station on the Craigieburn line, part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Roxburgh Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Roxburgh Park station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform. It opened on 21 September 2007.^[4][5]

Roxburgh Park
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 1, January 2023
General information
Location	Thomas Brunton Parade, Roxburgh Park, Victoria 3064 City of Hume Australia
Coordinates	37°38′18″S 144°56′07″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Craigieburn
Distance	22.00 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	6
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	275
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	RXP
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	21 September 2007; 17 years ago (2007-09-21)
Electrified	July 2007 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2007–2008	259,688[1]
2008–2009	427,300[2]  64.54%
2009–2010	451,815[2]  5.73%
2010–2011	482,477[2]  6.78%
2011–2012	462,696[2]  4.09%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	450,133[2]  2.71%
2014–2015	482,660[1]  7.22%
2015–2016	510,786[2]  5.82%
2016–2017	535,412[2]  4.82%
2017–2018	573,396[2]  7.09%
2018–2019	574,990[2]  0.27%
2019–2020	488,650[2]  15.01%
2020–2021	240,050[2]  50.87%
2021–2022	280,200[3]  16.72%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Coolaroo towards Flinders Street Craigieburn line Craigieburn Terminus
Former services Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station Upfield   Upfield – Somerton link   Junction
Track layout Legend to Coolaroo to Upfield to Clyde Industries Sidings 1 2 to Bright Steel Siding to Austrack Siding to One Steel Sidings to Cement Sidings to Craigieburn Broad gauge, electrified Broad gauge, non-electrified Standard gauge, non-electrified Dual gauge, non-electrified This diagram: view talk edit

It was built just north of the site of the former Somerton station, which was closed to passengers in 1960.^[6] However, the adjacent goods yard and standard gauge crossing loop retain the Somerton name.

Roxburgh Park station was provided as part of the extension of electrified services from Broadmeadows to Craigieburn.^[7] The Craigieburn-bound (down) line was slewed to the west, to permit an island platform to be built between the two tracks of the broad gauge main line.

History

Somerton

Somerton opened to traffic as a single platform on 15 May 1881.^[6] In 1886, it gained an additional platform, when the line between Broadmeadows and Donnybrook was duplicated.^[8] On 8 October 1889, Somerton became a junction, when what is now the Upfield line was opened from North Melbourne northwards through Coburg.^[8] The station's first signal box, with a 38 lever frame, was also provided.^[8] That line was closed to traffic from the Somerton end on 13 July 1903.^[6][8]

The line through Coburg, then terminating at Fawkner, was reopened on 5 March 1928,^[8] but no junction was provided at Somerton.^[8] Instead, the AEC railmotor that operated the service was turned using a turntable to the south of the station.^[6] This situation remained until 5 May 1956, when the line from Fawkner was again closed.^[8]

On 19 July 1959, the line from Somerton to Upfield was reopened for freight traffic,^[8] to serve the then newly built Ford Motor Company factory.^[6] A new signal box with a 25 lever frame was provided,^[8] working a facing crossover and the connection between the main line and the sidings.^[8] On 17 August of that year, suburban services were extended to Upfield from the city side.^[8][9] On 6 December 1960, Somerton was closed to passengers, although the city-bound platform was abolished in October of that year.^[6][8] However, additional freight sidings were provided in the Somerton area throughout the 1960s.^[6]

Construction of the Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line also commenced at that time, opening for traffic in 1962, with the freight line from Somerton to Upfield converted to dual gauge in early 1963.^[6][8] Occurring in that year, parts of the out-bound platform were demolished, leaving the platform face remaining.^[6][8] In 1988, a dual-gauge siding was provided to serve nearby cement silos^[6] and, in 1989, the platform face of the out-bound platform was removed.^[8]

In 1998, Austrak commenced development of a container terminal, as part of a larger "freight village", with a number of major companies entered into long-term tenancies for warehouses at the site. In 2000, the crossing loop on the standard gauge line was extended at the down end^[10] and, in 2004, Austrak entered into a lease with P&O Trans Australia to operate the terminal. The Somerton terminal has four 750-metre dual-gauge rail sidings, with connections northwards on both gauges.^[11]

Today, the area to the east of the main line contains a complicated arrangement of broad, standard, and dual-gauge tracks.

Roxburgh Park

Roxburgh Park officially opened on 21 September 2007,^[4] but services to and from the station did not commence until 30 September of that year.^[4] The station was opened by the then Victorian Premier John Brumby, the then Minister for Public Transport Lynne Kosky, and the then MLA for Yuroke, Liz Beattie.^[4][5]

On 4 May 2010, a collision between a Comeng train set and a quarry train going to Kilmore East, led by Pacific National locomotive G524, occurred between Roxburgh Park and Craigieburn.^[12][13]

Platforms and services

A Comeng train on a Craigieburn-bound service arrives at Platform 2,
January 2015

Roxburgh Park has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Craigieburn line trains.^[14]

Platform 1:

•  Craigieburn line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Craigieburn line  all stations services to Craigieburn

Transport links

CDC Melbourne operates two bus routes to and from Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  484 : to Broadmeadows station^[15]
•  543 : to Greenvale Gardens^[16]

Dysons operates two bus routes via Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  541 : Broadmeadows station – Craigieburn North^[17]
•  542 : to Pascoe Vale station^[18]

Kastoria Bus Lines operates one route to and from Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  544 : to Craigieburn station^[19]

Kinetic Melbourne operates one SmartBus route via Roxburgh Park station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• SmartBus  901 : Frankston station – Melbourne Airport^[20]

Gallery

• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, September 2007
• 
  Station forecourt and bus interchange,
  September 2007

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. "Roxburgh Park". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
5. "Operations". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. November 2007. p. 381.
6. "Somerton" (PDF). Victorian Signalling Histories. Andrew Waugh. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
7. "Craigieburn Rail Project – News and publications". Department of Transport, Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
8. David Langley (September 1991). "Somerton". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 94–104.
9. SE Dornan & RG Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. p. 62. ISBN 0-909459-06-1.
10. Banger, Chris (May 2014). "The Standard Way to Albury – Part 7". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 134–137.
11. "Proposals for an intermodal solution to service Melbourne's growing containerised freight task" (PDF). Shaping Melbourne's Freight Futures. www.transport.vic.gov.au. April 2010. pp. 33–34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
12. "Craigieburn Suburban Train rear end Quarry Train". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
13. "Operations". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 2010. p. 178.
14. "Craigieburn Line". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "484 Broadmeadows – Roxburgh Park via Greenvale". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
16. "543 Greenvale Gardens - Roxburgh Park via Greenvale Village SC". Public Transport Victoria.
17. "541 Broadmeadows Station - Craigieburn North (Mt Ridley Rd)". Public Transport Victoria.
18. "542 Roxburgh Park - Pascoe Vale via Meadow Heights & Broadmeadows & Glenroy". Public Transport Victoria.
19. "544 Craigieburn Station – Roxburgh Park Station". Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
20. "901 Frankston - Melbourne Airport (SMARTBUS Service)". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

Media related to Roxburgh Park railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au