St Kilda railway station, Melbourne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

Station information
St Kilda

Line	St Kilda
Distance from Flinders St	4.6km
Number of Platforms	2
Number of Tracks	2
Station Status	Closed
Station opened	May 13, 1857
Station closed	August, 1987
Google map of station	Link

St Kilda railway station was the terminus of the line of the same name of the Melbourne suburban rail system. The station was located in St. Kilda, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. Until its closure, it was one of the oldest stations on the Melbourne railway network, having opened on 13 May 1857. The building is currently used as retail premises.

[edit] History

In the 1980s, the state government looked at the possibility of closing several lines, or converting them to light rail services, which were perceived to be cheaper. After several inquiries, it was decided to close both the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines, and convert them both to light rail. The last trains ran to St Kilda in August 1987, as the first of the two to be converted.

The decision was made to retain the station buildings from the St Kilda line intact, and to use them for other purposes. The St Kilda station was ideal for commercial use, as it is situated on busy Fitzroy Street, and was subsequently sold off.

In the late 1990s, developers announced a planned redevelopment of the station site, involving large-scale changes. Despite several protests from the National Trust of Australia and other heritage groups, the development went ahead. The station building was converted into a number of different shops, and the entire platform space was removed. While some resemblance of its former use can still be seen today in the facade of the building, little else remains.

A large portion of the station building was used in the reality television series My Restaurant Rules as the site of the Melbourne restaurant, Seven Stones.