Marshall railway station, Victoria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marshall
Station information

Code	MSL
Distance from Southern Cross	81.60
Lines	Geelong, Warrnambool
# Platforms	1
# Tracks	2
Status	Staffed part time
Viclink profile	Link

Marshall railway station is located in Marshall, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The station opened on 26 April 2005. The station is the terminus of V/Line Geelong line services.

[edit] History

Marshall station first opened in 1879 on the up side of the Marshalltown Road level crossing. The year previous had seen the opening of the Geelong Racecourse branch, which closed in 1909 when the racecourse was relocated. In 1912 a pipe making factory was opened at the down end, for works on Geelong's sewer outfall. A narrow gauge tramway was used during construction.

The station was renamed Marshall in 1907. The passenger platform was removed in 1958, and Marshall was closed to all traffic in 1964.

[edit] Reopening

Marshall railway station during re-construction

The Regional Fast Rail project announced an upgrade of the line between Melbourne and Geelong, as well as a new station at Grovedale to service its growing population.

It was eventually decided to construct the new terminus on the site of the demolished Marshall station. This decision was controversial, as a significant portion of the local community had demanded that the station be built in Grovedale itself whilst others are pushing for the extension to continue to Waurn Ponds to service nearby Deakin University. Grovedale is not a suitable location due to the grade of the track at Surf Coast Highway being too steep. While an extension to Waurn Ponds is feasible, extending the line into Deakin University would be very diffucilt given the terrain and the extensive existing residential development. An extension would probably realistically stop near Ghazepoore Road, necessitating a 2km bus link to Deakin University.