Altona railway station

Altona
Location Railway Street South, Altona
Coordinates 37°52′02″S 144°49′48″E / 37.8672°S 144.8301°E / -37.8672; 144.8301Coordinates: 37°52′02″S 144°49′48″E / 37.8672°S 144.8301°E / -37.8672; 144.8301
Owned by VicTrack
Operated by Metro Trains
Line(s) Werribee
Distance 17.15 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms 1
Tracks 1
Connections Bus
Construction
Structure type Ground
Parking 70
Other information
Status Unstaffed station
Station code ALT
Fare zone Myki zone 1/2 overlap
Website Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened 1 December 1917
Electrified 2 October 1926
Services
Preceding station   Metro Trains   Following station
towards Newport
Werribee line
(Altona loop)
towards Laverton

Altona railway station is located on the Werribee line in Victoria, and serves the western Melbourne suburb of Altona. The station opened on 1 December 1917 as the terminus of the line from Newport.[1][2]

History

The railway to Altona was constructed by the Altona Bay Estate Company, a private land developer, and opened on 9 November 1888 to a station named Altona Beach, which was about a kilometre to the east of the current station.[3] As a result of the collapse of the 1880s Land Boom, regular services to Altona Beach ceased after August 1890, and the Victorian government declined the offer of the owners to gift it the line. In the 1890s, the company opened a brown coal mine near the terminus of the line, and in 1907, a siding was built in the same area to enable sand to be despatched by rail. In 1910, the Altona Brown Coal Colliery Company began railing quantities of brown coal, using a siding which was a north-west extension of the Altona line.[4]

In 1917, the owners of the railway entered into an agreement with the Victorian Railways (VR) to provide a regular passenger service, having guaranteed to cover any operating losses.[4] On 1 December 1917, the VR opened a new Altona Beach station on the present site.[1] For a period of time, de-motored McKeen railmotors were used as carriages on steam-hauled passenger services.

By 1924, the private owner of the Altona line owed the VR £7,289, being the accumulated deficit on operating passenger services, so the VR took full control of the line on 1 October 1924.[3] The track was electrified in 1926, and the station was renamed Altona in 1938. Apart from a few direct trains between Altona and Melbourne in peak periods, all trains were run as shuttle services between Newport and Altona.

By the early 1980s, the station, and the line itself, was under threat of closure, as recommended in the Lonie Report.[5] In October 1981, the rail service was drastically cut, with all shuttle services withdrawn, and only two morning and evening trains being run to and from Melbourne.[4] However, a change of state government in 1982 saw the restitution of many services in July that year.[4] The line was subsequently extended to Westona on 21 January 1985, and to Laverton, on 14 April 1985.[2][6][7]

Platforms and services

Altona has one platform. It is served by Metro Trains' Werribee line trains.[8]

Platform 1:

CDC Melbourne operates three routes via Altona station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria (PTV):

Dyson's Bus Services operates one route via Altona station, under contract to PTV:

Transdev Melbourne operates one SmartBus route to and from Altona station, under contract to PTV:

References

  1. 1 2 Altona Vicsig
  2. 1 2 Altona Station Rail Geelong
  3. 1 2 Harrigan, Leo J (1962). Victorian Railways to ‘62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways Public Relations and Betterment Board.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Guiney, Michael (1988). The Altona Bay Railway. self-published.
  5. ↑ "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. September 1981. p. 212.
  6. ↑ "Victoria" Railway Digest March 1985 page 97
  7. ↑ "Victoria" Railway Digest May 1985 page 151
  8. ↑ Werribee Line timetable Public Transport Victoria
  9. ↑ Route 411 Laverton - Footscray timetable Archived 13 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Public Transport Victoria
  10. ↑ Route 412 Laverton - Footscray timetable Archived 13 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Public Transport Victoria
  11. ↑ Route 415 Laverton - Williamstown timetable Public Transport Victoria
  12. ↑ Route 944 City - Point Cook timetable Public Transport Victoria
  13. ↑ Route 903 Altona - Mordialloc timetable Archived 26 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Public Transport Victoria
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