Williamstown railway station

Williamstown railway station is the terminus of the electrified suburban Williamstown line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Williamstown, and it opened on 17 January 1859.[4]

For the closed station in East Lothian, Scotland, see Williamstown railway station (East Lothian).

Williamstown
PTV commuter rail station
Northbound view in June 2014
General information
LocationHanmer Street,
Williamstown, Victoria 3016
City of Hobsons Bay
Australia
Coordinates37°52′04″S 144°54′19″E
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Williamstown
Distance14.20 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms1
Tracks1
ConnectionsList of bus routes in Melbourne Bus
Construction
Structure typeGround
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, premium station
Station codeWIL
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened17 January 1859 (1859-01-17)
Electrified1500 V DC overhead (August 1920)
Passengers
2005–2006108,142[1]
2006–2007124,239[1] Increase 14.88%
2007–2008129,762[1] Increase 4.44%
2008–2009244,128[2] Increase 88.13%
2009–2010246,207[2] Increase 0.85%
2010–2011231,888[2] Decrease 5.81%
2011–2012223,411[2] Decrease 3.65%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014163,532[2] Decrease 26.8%
2014–2015157,057[1] Decrease 3.96%
2015–2016159,531[2] Increase 1.57%
2016–2017153,809[2] Decrease 3.58%
2017–2018165,314[2] Increase 7.48%
2018–2019202,950[2] Increase 22.76%
2019–2020162,050[2] Decrease 20.15%
2020–202178,150[2] Decrease 51.77%
2021–202260,150[3] Decrease 23.03%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Terminus Williamstown line Williamstown Beach
towards Frankston via Flinders Street
Williamstown line
Shuttle services
 Williamstown Beach
towards Newport
Former Services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Williamstown Pier   Williamstown line   Williamstown Beach
towards Newport
Track layout
to Williamstown Beach
1
Former Williamstown Pier station

The station building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and is the second oldest railway station in Victoria, after St Kilda. It is also the oldest timber railway station building to survive in the state, and one of the earliest surviving timber public buildings in Victoria.[5]

At the up end of the station platform, the double track railway converges into single track.

History

Work on the line started under the Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company, but were taken over by the government in 1856, after work faltered. Builders Kerr, Hodgson & Billings commenced work on the timber station building in 1858, with the station opening to traffic on 17 January 1859.[4] Arched bluestone road bridges were built over the cutting at Thompson and Cole Streets. Until 1987, the line continued around the bend to the now closed and demolished Williamstown Pier.

The central section of the station building remains today, but was originally flanked by two pavilions: one for the stationmasters residence, and the other pavilion was refreshment rooms. A now removed timber and iron verandah lined the street side of the station, while on the rail side, the original platform canopy extended along the platform much further.

The Ann Street footbridge was installed c1883, and on electrification in 1916, the Thompson Street overpass arch was removed and replaced with girder spans, to provide increased clearance.

Railway sidings, a signal box and weighbridge were once located opposite the station, but have been since removed,[5] with a portion of the goods yard out of use by 1965.[4] By June 1988, the majority of the sidings were removed.[6] By October of that year, all rails, sleepers, overhead wires and signals between Williamstown and Williamstown Pier were removed,[7] along with a further two electrified sidings, next to the platform track.[7] The track now currently ends just under the Ann Street footbridge, at the down end of the station.

On 18 June 1996, Williamstown was upgraded to a premium station.[8]

During the 2013/2014 financial year, it was the 13th least used station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, with 164,000 passenger movements.[9]

Platforms and services

Williamstown has one platform. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Williamstown line services.[10]

Platform 1:

Transit Systems Victoria operates one route via Williamstown station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

  •  471 : Williamstown – Sunshine station[11]
  • Southbound view in April 2011
    Southbound view in April 2011

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. "Williamstown". vicsig.net. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  5. "Williamstown railway station (listing VICH1599)". Australia Heritage Places Inventory. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  6. "Operations". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. August 1988. p. 250.
  7. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1988. p. 314.
  8. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. pp. 303–315.
  9. Station Patronage Research Public Transport Victoria
  10. "Williamstown Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  11. "471 Williamstown - Sunshine Station via Newport & Altona Gate SC". Public Transport Victoria.
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