South Yarra railway station

South Yarra railway station is the junction for the Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham and Sandringham lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, and opened on 22 December 1860 as Gardiners Creek Road. It was renamed South Yarra on 1 January 1867.[4]

South Yarra
PTV commuter rail station
Station facade and entrance, May 2011
General information
LocationToorak Road,
South Yarra, Victoria 3141
City of Stonnington
Australia
Coordinates37°50′20″S 144°59′32″E
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)
Distance5.41 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms6 (2 side, 2 island)
Tracks6
ConnectionsMelbourne tram route 58 Tram
Construction
Structure typeGround
AccessibleNo—steep ramp
Other information
StatusOperational, premium station
Station codeSYR
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened22 December 1860 (1860-12-22)
ElectrifiedMay 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous namesGardiner's Creek Road (1860–1866)
Passengers
2005–20062,364,291[1]
2006–20072,407,609[1]Increase 1.83%
2007–20082,592,897[1]Increase 7.69%
2008–20092,704,803[2]Increase 4.31%
2009–20102,518,300[2]Decrease 6.89%
2010–20112,638,309[2]Increase 4.76%
2011–20122,399,395[2]Decrease 9.05%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–20143,939,044[2]Increase 64.16%
2014–20153,926,437[1]Decrease 0.32%
2015–20164,199,696[2]Increase 6.95%
2016–20174,529,872[2]Increase 7.86%
2017–20184,592,881[2]Increase 1.39%
2018–20194,367,158[2]Decrease 4.91%
2019–20203,151,600[2]Decrease 27.83%
2020–20211,669,900[2]Decrease 47.01%
2021–20221,997,050[3]Increase 19.59%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Richmond Pakenham line Malvern
Limited service
towards Pakenham
Caulfield
towards Pakenham
Cranbourne line Malvern
Limited service
towards Cranbourne
Caulfield
towards Cranbourne
Richmond Frankston line Hawksburn
towards Frankston
Frankston line
Weekday peak express services
Malvern
Citybound express services
towards Frankston
Caulfield
towards Frankston
Richmond Sandringham line Prahran
towards Sandringham
Track layout
End CBTC
1
2
4
6
3
5
Start CBTC

History

South Yarra station opened on 22 December 1860 by the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company as Gardiners Creek Road. Initially, it served the Brighton line, on what was called the "Prahran Branch". On 1 January 1867, the station was renamed South Yarra.[4] The private railway company, by then the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United Railway Company, was taken over by the Government of Victoria in 1878, and its network became part of the Victorian Railways.

John Cooper (1924) notes that when the South Yarra to Oakleigh line was first constructed, a set of points connected the line to the existing Brighton line. However, it was found that a high embankment obscured the vision of the drivers of approaching trains on both lines. To solve that problem, it was decided that the Oakleigh line should have its own tracks into Melbourne and, soon after, a second bridge, spanning the Yarra River, was built to facilitate that (p. 307). The opening of the South Yarra to Oakleigh line in 1879 made the proposed Outer Circle line largely redundant, but it was constructed anyway, a decade later.

In 1914, the line between South Yarra and Caulfield was completely rebuilt. The works included the quadruplication of the line, and rebuilt stations at Hawksburn, Toorak, Armadale and Malvern.[5]

In 1946, the current bridge over the Yarra River was provided.[4] In 1947, a works siding opened and, in 1955, was disconnected.[4]

Even after the laying of six tracks from Richmond to South Yarra, and the abolition of the signal box, the station retained three emergency crossovers at the up end of Platforms 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. The latter set was removed in 1983, followed by the middle pair by 23 June 1984,[6] and the final set in August 1986.[7] The crossovers were originally provided in 1945 and 1960.[4] Also occurring in 1960, the "local lines", used by Pakenham and Cranbourne line services, were extended to Richmond, and the signal box, located at the up end of Platforms 4 and 5, was abolished.[4] The signal box still remains in a disused state.

In 1993, major re-signalling works occurred between South Yarra and Toorak,[4] with similar works occurring between South Yarra and Richmond in 1994.[4] In 1997, South Yarra was upgraded to a premium station.[8] As such, the station is staffed from the first to the last service each day.

According to Public Transport Victoria data, it is the eighth-busiest station on the Melbourne metropolitan network, with 4.59 million boardings per year during the 2017/2018 financial year.[9]

In early 2020, South Yarra was scheduled for a $12 million refurbishment. The entrance to the station on Toorak Road was to be widened, and the layout changed to make the station larger.[10][11]

Services on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will no longer stop at South Yarra when the Metro Tunnel opens, which is scheduled to take place in 2025. The entrance portal to the Metro Tunnel is located near the station, but South Yarra will not be integrated into the new tunnel, which has led to some criticism.[12][13]

Platforms and services

South Yarra station has six platforms: two side platforms and two island platforms with four faces. It is served by Cranbourne,[14] Frankston,[15] Pakenham[16] and Sandringham[17] line trains. V/Line's Bairnsdale rail services (Gippsland line) pass non-stop through the station.

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Platform 3:

Platform 4:

Platform 5:

Platform 6:

From 2025, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will no longer service this station as they route through the Metro Tunnel to Sunbury.

Yarra Trams operates one route via South Yarra station:

References

  1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005–2006 to 2018–19 Department of Transport
  2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008–2021 Philip Mallis
  3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
  4. "South Yarra". vicsig.net. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  5. "Report of the Victorian Railways Commissioners for the Year Ending 30th June, 1916" (PDF). Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. August 1984. p. 252.
  7. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. March 1987. p. 91.
  8. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
  9. "Station Patronage Data 2013–2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  10. Jacks, Timna (17 April 2018). "South Yarra station set for a $12 million makeover". The Age. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  11. "South Yarra Station upgrade". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  12. Carey, Adam (15 May 2015). "New underground station for South Yarra ruled out in rail tunnel plans". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  13. Gordon, Josh; Willingham, Richard; Preiss, Benjamin (22 October 2015). "Federal rail cash under a cloud over South Yarra station stoush". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  14. "Cranbourne Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  15. "Frankston Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  16. "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  17. "Sandringham Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  18. "58 West Coburg - Toorak". Public Transport Victoria.
  19. PROV

Further reading

Cooper, John Butler (1924). The history of Prahran 1836–1924 : from its first settlement to a city. Melbourne, Vic: Modern Printing Co.

Media related to South Yarra railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons

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