Camberwell railway station, Melbourne
|
|
- For other uses of the name Camberwell, see Camberwell (disambiguation).
Camberwell railway station (station code: CAM) serves the Belgrave, Lilydale and Alamein railway lines in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located on the corner of Burke Road and Cookson Street, Camberwell, and is 10.2 km by rail from Flinders Street Station, the centre of the city's suburban train network.
The station connects with tram route 72, which goes from Camberwell to the University of Melbourne.
| Contents |
Layout and services
The station has three platforms; platforms 1 (the southernmost) and 2 form an island platform, with platform 3 to the north. The Edwardian-style booking office is located above the island platform, with a footbridge connecting it to platform 3 and the northern exit, and to the southern exit over the adjacent railway yard. A late-1940s signal box is located on the island platform, to the east of the main building.
Platform 1 is used for city-bound services all day, as well as terminating shuttle trains from Alamein. Depending on the frequency of the shuttle service (which varies according to the time of the week), these shuttles return to Alamein from platform 1, or shunt to platform 3 (by a siding at the west end) to return to Alamein from there.
Platform 2 is used for city-bound express services in the morning, express services towards Belgrave and Lilydale in the evening, and stopping services to the city and towards Belgrave and Lilydale at times when the Alamein shuttle service is departing from platform 1. It is also used by terminating shuttle trains from Alamein as an alternative to platform 1.
Platform 3 is used by all services towards Belgrave, Lilydale, and Alamein during the morning peak period, by stopping services to destinations on those lines during the evening peak period, by Alamein shuttle services when the frequency of the shuttle requires it, and by all services towards Belgrave and Lilydale when the Alamein shuttle services are using platform 3.
All but a handful of shuttle services are operated by 3-carriage trains, and due to the length of the west-end siding (siding A), only 3-carriage trains can run Alamein shuttles when using this siding (otherwise trains are 6 cars in length, formed by coupling 2 3-car sets together).
Camberwell also has four stabling roads, each able to accommodate one 6 car Electric Multiple Unit.
History
Camberwell station was first opened in 1882. It was the terminus of its own line for one year, before the railway was extended to Lilydale. When the first section of the Outer Circle line opened in 1891, a new station was built at East Camberwell to provide an interchange. However, as the line slowly failed, with more and more sections closing, until only the Alamein line remained, trains to the remnants of the Outer Circle began to depart from Camberwell.
The station was demolished and the current station opened in 1919, when the railway lines were placed in a cutting. This was done so as to remove the steep gradient from Auburn station to the west. This length of track was so steep that steam locomotives could not pull a fully-laden train between the two stations, requiring peak hour trains to be separated. The locomotive would bring one set of carriages to Camberwell, then return for the other set, causing significant delays. The other reason for the grade-separation was the extension of tram route 72 (then route 7) to Camberwell in 1910 – removal of the level crossing at Burke Road was a government stipulation.
Electrification of the Lilydale line was completed in 1922.
Redevelopment controversy
In March 2004, VicTrack, the state government body that owns the station, announced plans to sell the airspace over the site. It was believed that this would involve the construction of a mid- to high-rise development above the station, leaving it essentially underground, and possibly involving the demolition of the station. This was an early consideration, and was soon dropped. Later plans involved building over the adjacent railway yards, leaving the station untouched, and involved buildings no higher than those already adjacent to the station.
The original plans involving the station's demolition led to a vocal outcry from the local community, receiving a significant amount of media attention. Actors Geoffrey Rush (local resident and self-proclaimed user of the station), and Barry Humphries (not a resident, yet claiming Camberwell as his "spiritual home"), publicly backed the campaign, with Humphries appearing as Dame Edna Everage during a protest up Burke Road from Camberwell Junction to the station.
To those supporting development of the station, the actions of the protesters are taken as an example of NIMBYism (from "Not In My Back Yard").
Although the station is historic, it is not actually protected by any of the state's heritage listings for any architectural or cultural reasons, and failed to gain this protection after the community outrage at the development plans.
As of early 2005, it is unclear whether any development will now proceed.
External link
- Camberwell railway station urban design framework (http://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/yoursay/yoursay.asp?PageId=431)
| Lilydale, Belgrave lines | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | → | Camberwell | → | East Camberwell |
| Alamein line | ||||
| Auburn | → | Camberwell | → | Riversdale |
| Entire network | ||||