Ashburton railway station, Melbourne
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Ashburton railway station (station code: ASH) is on the Alamein line in Melbourne, Australia. It is located between Welfare Parade and Kelvin Grove, Ashburton. It also lies adjacent to the thoroughfare of High Street, where it connects with several bus routes. It is located 14km from Flinders Street Station in the centre of Melbourne.
The Alamein train line splits from one track to two just before Ashburton station, and as such the station only features a single bi-directional platform.
The first station on the Ashburton site opened on May 30, 1890, as part of the short-lived Outer Circle line. At the time, the railway station was called "Norwood", named after Norwood Road, the old name for Toorak Road. The station only had this name for a few months, and on December 12, 1890, the station was renamed Ashburton, named for Ashburton Terrace in County Cork, Ireland.
Ashburton was part of the first section of the line to be opened. However, by 1893, the opposite end of the circle had closed, and on December 9, 1895, the stretch beyond Ashburton, connecting with Oakleigh closed. For a short period, this left the line to Ashburton (from Camberwell station) as the last remaining stretch.
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On May 1, 1897, Ashburton station closed, along with the line from Camberwell. However, after an outcry from the local community, it reopened, becoming the Ashburton line once again. It was electrified on October 30, 1924. It continued as the Ashburton line until June 28, 1948, when the line was extended 600m to Alamein, and became the Alamein line.
Today, Ashburton is the only premium station on the Alamein line. This means that it is staffed from first to last train, has an enclosed waiting area, open toilet facilities and electronic, up-to-the-minute next train information. A walking trail has also been constructed along part of the old Outer Circle reservation, which allows people to follow part of the route through to Alamein station, and then several hundred metres beyond.
A railway siding lies adjacent to the station, but this has been largely unused in recent years, due to lack of security, highlighted by a vandal attack on a train there in the 1990s.