Watergardens railway station

Watergardens (formerly known as Sydenham) is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Sydenham, on the Sydenham railway line. Watergardens is classed as a premium station and is in Metcard Zone 2. The station is the terminus for the Sydenham railway line.

Facilities

Watergardens has a footbridge that houses an enclosed waiting area, ticket facilities, toilets and stairs and lift access to all platforms, while the platforms have a medium to large shelter. A large Metcard ticket machine sits next to the booking office that has most ticketing options, notes and coins.

Platforms and services

Platform 1:

• Bendigo line — V/Line services to Southern Cross
• Sydenham line — terminating services; peak hour limited stops services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

• Sydenham line — terminating services; returning as limited stops services to Flinders Street
• Bendigo line — V/Line services to Southern Cross

Platform 3:

• Bendigo line — V/Line services to Sunbury, Kyneton, Bendigo (1 service per day extends to Echuca, 1 service per day extends to Swan Hill)

History

The original station opened on 1 March 1859 as Keilor Road.^[1] It was renamed Sydenham in 1887. Interlock gates and wickets were provided at Melton Highway in 1926, and were replaced with boom barriers in 1987.^[2]

The station was relocated in the up direction, and was renamed Watergardens in 2002, as part of the Sydenham line electrification project.^[1] V/Line services to Sunbury and Bendigo continue past Sydenham. Prior to the electrification, metropolitan electric services terminated at St Albans. The station was built as a replacement for the former Sydenham station, and was to be named Sydenham, which name was built into the brickwork of the station building. However, naming rights were sold to the adjacent shopping centre, so the station is known as Watergardens. Operationally, the railway line is referred to as either Sydenham or Watergardens or occasionally Sydenham/Watergardens.

References

The former Holden Station was located between Watergardens and Diggers Rest stations.