Ashburton railway station, Melbourne

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Ashburton

Station information
Code	ASH
Distance from Flinders St	14.2 km (8.8 mi)
Lines	Alamein
# Platforms	1
# Tracks	1
Status	Premium station
Metlink profile	Link
Google map	Link
Metcard Zone	1

Ashburton is a railway station on the Alamein line in Melbourne, Australia. It is located between Welfare Parade and Kelvin Grove, Ashburton. It also lies adjacent to High Street, where it connects with several bus routes. It is located 14.2 kilometres (8.8 mi) from Flinders Street Station in the centre of Melbourne and is in Metcard Zone 1.

The Alamein train line splits from one track to two just before Ashburton station, and as such the station only features a single bi-directional platform. A railway siding lies adjacent to the station, but this has been largely unused in recent years, due to lack of security, highlighted by a vandal attack on a train there in the 1990s.

Ashburton is the only Premium Station on the Alamein line. This means that it is staffed from first to last train and has open toilet facilities.

[edit] History

The first station on the Ashburton site opened on May 30, 1890, as part of the short-lived Outer Circle line. At the time, the railway station was called "Norwood", named after Norwood Road, the old name for Toorak Road. The station only had this name for a few months, and on December 12, 1890, the station was renamed Ashburton, named for Ashburton Terrace in County Cork, Ireland.

Ashburton was part of the first section of the line to be opened. However, by 1893, the opposite end of the circle had closed, and on December 9, 1895, the stretch beyond Ashburton, connecting with Oakleigh closed. For a short period, this left the line to Ashburton (from Camberwell station) as the last remaining stretch.

On May 1, 1897, Ashburton station closed, along with the line from Camberwell. However, after an outcry from the local community, it reopened, becoming the Ashburton line once again. It was electrified on October 30, 1924. It continued as the Ashburton line until June 28, 1948, when the line was extended 600 metres to Alamein, and became the Alamein line.

A walking trail has also been constructed along part of the old Outer Circle reservation called the Anniversary trail, which allows people to follow part of the route through to Alamein station, and then several hundred metres beyond.

[edit] References

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Station Navigation
Metropolitan service
Alamein line
← Previous Station	Burwood	|	Alamein	Next Station →
Closed line
Continued beyond Alamein as the Outer Circle line
← Previous Station	Burwood	|	Waverley Road	Next Station →
Entire metropolitan network
Closed stations