Footscray railway station, Melbourne.html



Footscray

Station information
Code	FSY
Distance from Flinders St	6.1 km
Operator	Connex Melbourne
Lines	Ararat, Echuca, Swan Hill, Sydenham, Warrnambool, Werribee, Williamstown
# Platforms	4
# Tracks	4
Status	Premium station
Metlink profile	Link
Melway map	Link
Google map	Link
Metcard Zone	1

Footscray is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Footscray between Irving Street and Hyde Street, on the Sydenham line where it junctions with the Werribee and Williamstown lines. Footscray is classed as a Premium Station and is in Metcard Zone 1.

Facilities

The South Kensington - West Footscray line cutting runs beneath the station platforms, south-western end

The station consists of 4 platforms, 2 in an island format. Platform 1 (Flinders Street bound) has a small red brick building, platforms 2 & 3 (island platform, Sydenham & Flinders Street bound) has a main station building, built of red brick with an enclosed waiting room, a ticket office and toilets and platform 4 (Werribee bound) has a smaller red brick building. The station can be accessed via Irving Street, Hyde Street, and McNab Avenue, and a footbridge exists at the down end of the station linking all platforms.

A large Metcard machine is located inside the waiting room, which is able to dispense most ticketing options available and also accept notes and coins. Small coin-only Metcard machines are located at the entrances to platforms 1 and 4. Tram route 82 terminates near the station. Car parking facilities are available along McNab Avenue and Hyde Street.

A disused signal box is located on the island platform, and a pair of dual gauge tracks form the mainly goods only South Kensington - West Footscray line under the station, running in a cutting before entering the Bunbury Street tunnel, providing a rail link to the Port of Melbourne and other freight terminals, as well as access to Southern Cross Station for the CountryLink XPT and The Overland.

History

Footscray station opened on January 17, 1859.¹ It was established as a junction on the railway lines to Newport and to Bendigo, and two separate stations were provided - at Nicholson Street (Middle Footscray) for country traffic towards Bendigo, and at Napier Street (Footscray) for suburban traffic. A signal box was provided at the junction from 1879.

In 1901 the original stations were replaced by the current station, located at the junction of the two lines. A number of sidings once existed at the station, now covered by car parking on the eastern side of the Newport bound lines.

The two tracks under the station were opened on October 21, 1928 as part of the South Kensington - West Footscray line, being dual gauged in the 1960s as part of the construction of the Melbourne-Albury standard gauge line. Quadruplication of the tracks towards the city in 1976 put an end to the junction and closed the signal box. The building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

It was upgraded to Premium Station status on May 31, 1996, although the enclosed waiting area and ticket facilities were built in 1993 as part of the 'Travel Safe' program in the early 1990s.²

References

• "Victorian Station Histories - Footscray" (PDF). www.vrhistory.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
• "Rail Geelong - Footscray Station". www.railgeelong.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.