Heathcote Junction railway station

Heathcote Junction is a railway station on the North East railway in the town of Heathcote Junction, Victoria, Australia. It is only two kilometres from Wandong station, an oddity on the Victorian country railway network. The railway crests the Great Dividing Range through a cutting on the Melbourne side of the station, which is the highest point on the line.

Platforms and services

The station has two side platforms linked by a lever crossing at the Melbourne end, with a small shelter on each platform. Heathcote Junction is primarily served by V/Line trains on the Seymour line, with no long distance trains to Shepparton and Albury stopping at the station.^[1]

Platform 1:

• Seymour and Shepparton lines - intercity services to Southern Cross

Platform 2:

• Seymour and Shepparton lines - intercity services to Kilmore East, Seymour and Shepparton

History

The station initially opened as a crossing loop named Summit in November 1885, and was closed in January 1886 after duplication works were completed. Soon after surveyors planning the route of a branch railway to Kilmore and Heathcote selected the site to be the junction of the new line.^[2] The branch line branched off to the west of the station, passing behind the down platform, the points facing Melbourne.

In 1887 the station was reopened for construction trains on the branch, and in 1888 a signal box named Kilmore Junction was opened. The branch line was extended northwest to Heathcote and thence to Bendigo in 1890, but the name Heathcote Junction was not adopted until 1922.^[2] The station did not open to passengers until 1890,^[3] but no goods facilities were provided, only small passenger shelters and the signal box on the eastern side.

With the construction of the parallel standard gauge line in 1961 the signal box was demolished and replaced by a new structure in the vee between the down and branch lines. The branch line closed in 1968,^[2] with the signal box following in 1970,^[3] but the foundations can still be seen today. The pedestrian crossing between platforms at the up end of the station was upgraded in 2006-07.^[4]

References