Highett railway station

Highett railway station is located on the Frankston line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Highett, and opened on 19 December 1881 as Highett Road. It was renamed Highett on 14 December 1885.[4]

Highett
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 1, with a Williamstown bound X'Trapolis train arriving, November 2021
General information
LocationRailway Parade,
Highett, Victoria 3190
City of Bayside
City of Kingston
Australia
Coordinates37°56′55″S 145°02′30″E
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Frankston
Distance20.06 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side
Tracks2
ConnectionsList of bus routes in Melbourne Bus
Construction
Structure typeGround
Parking116
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeHIG
Fare zoneMyki Zone 2
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened19 December 1881
Rebuilt1966
1986
ElectrifiedJune 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous namesHighett Road (1881-1885)
Passengers
2005–2006359,708[1]
2006–2007387,204[1] Increase 7.64%
2007–2008431,772[1] Increase 11.51%
2008–2009488,272[2] Increase 13.08%
2009–2010492,722[2] Increase 0.91%
2010–2011524,427[2] Increase 6.43%
2011–2012503,689[2] Decrease 3.95%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014452,990[2] Decrease 10.06%
2014–2015480,980[1] Increase 6.17%
2015–2016477,108[2] Decrease 0.8%
2016–2017477,313[2] Increase 0.04%
2017–2018520,790[2] Increase 9.1%
2018–2019508,406[2] Decrease 2.37%
2019–2020328,050[2] Decrease 35.47%
2020–2021194,000[2] Decrease 40.86%
2021–2022212,700[3] Increase 9.63%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Moorabbin
towards Werribee or Williamstown via Flinders Street
 Frankston line Southland
towards Frankston
Track layout
to Moorabbin
Wickham Road
(Removing by 2029)
1
2
Highett Road
(Removing by 2029)
to Southland

History

Highett station opened when the railway line from Caulfield was extended to Mordialloc.[4] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after William Highett, a local landowner and a member of the Victorian Legislative Council.[5][6]

The station was built with the endorsement of Victorian Premier Thomas Bent, who ordered the railway line be redirected through Highett, and also demanded a higher standard of departmental residences there than elsewhere.[7] The current station building was erected in 1883 and 1884, and was refurbished in 1966.[7] It was refurbished again in 1986, after it had been damaged by fire during the previous year.[8]

In 1925, a railway parcels van hit a car at the nearby Wickham Road level crossing, killing eight people in the car. The gatekeeper was found not guilty of a charge of manslaughter, the jury finding the incident was due to the fault of the system, and not human negligence.[9] In 1932, there was a shootout between a policeman and a burglar, who was killed.[10]

In 1973, a former wood yard and a lamp room were demolished.[11]

In 1985, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Highett Road level crossing, located at the down end of the station. The signal box for the level crossing was also abolished during that time.[4]

On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Highett to a premium station, along with nineteen others.[12][13] However, in March 2011, that was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.[14]

In 2014, the Victorian State Government launched a public safety initiative which involved Protective Services Officers (PSOs) patrolling railway stations at certain times of the day. On 1 June of that year, Highett was added to the list of patrolled stations.[15] A PSO "pod" to provide an office and holding cell was also added to the station.

In October 2017, two PSOs patrolling the station were shot at by a disgruntled 22-year-old, using a battery-powered mechanical handgun filled with gel pellets. One officer was struck in the temple, but was not seriously injured. The shooter, who fired from the balcony of an apartment overlooking the station, was arrested by police and charged with a variety of offences.[16]

It was announced in October 2022 that Highett would be elevated as part of a project to remove seven level crossings on the line. Further details, designs and a construction timeline were to be released closer to the opening of the new station in 2029.[17]

Platforms and services

Highett has two side platforms. It is served by Frankston line trains.[18]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Ventura Bus Lines operates two routes via Highett station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

  •  708 : Hampton station – Carrum station[19]
  •  828 : Hampton station – Berwick station[20]
  • Northbound view from Platform 2, September 2021
    Northbound view from Platform 2, September 2021

See also

References
  1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
  2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
  3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
  4. "Highett". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  5. "Highett". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  6. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  7. "Highett Railway Station, Highett, Vic Profile". www.aussieheritage.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 August 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  8. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. November 1986. p. 347.
  9. "The Highett Railway Disaster". Kingston Local History. City of Kingston. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  10. "Events in the Past: Shooting at Highett: Man Dies". localhistory.kingston.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  11. "Way and Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1973. p. 195.
  12. "New premium stations for Metro". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  13. "General News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 2010. p. 165.
  14. Gardiner, Ashley; Wright, Anne (25 March 2011). "Premier Ted Baillieu says armed guards will create 'culture of safety'". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  15. "Public Safety on Victoria's Train System" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  16. "Man admits to 'firing at PSOs with water gun' because he was angry, court told". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  17. Tribune, The National (8 October 2022). "Making Frankston Line Level Crossing Free". The National Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  18. "Frankston Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  19. "708 Carrum - Hampton via Southland". Public Transport Victoria.
  20. "828 Hampton - Berwick Station via Southland SC & Dandenong". Public Transport Victoria.

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