railroad.wikisort.org - Station

Sunshine railway station is located on the Sunbury line in Victoria, Australia. Originally named Braybrook Junction for the convergence of the major railways from central Melbourne to Ballarat and Bendigo, it was renamed when the suburb of Sunshine, which it serves, took its name from the nearby Sunshine Harvester Works. With the expansion of the railway network in Melbourne's west, Sunshine grew in importance, with cross-suburban goods routes constructed to Newport and from the adjacent Albion to Jacana line. From the mid-20th century, it became an interchange for the main interstate routes to South Australia and New South Wales, when the through line from Melbourne to Sydney was completed, although the main line to Adelaide was later diverted. In the early 21st century, the station was demolished and reconstructed to serve the diversion of the main passenger route to Geelong and beyond. It has been identified as a possible route for a future line to Melbourne Airport and as an interchange for the orbital Suburban Rail Loop.

Sunshine
PTV commuter and regional station
North-west bound view from Platform 2 in May 2014
General information
Location	Station Place, Sunshine, Victoria 3020 City of Brimbank Australia
Coordinates	37°47′17″S 144°49′57″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Sunbury Ballarat Geelong
Distance	12.25 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	4 (1 island, 2 side)
Tracks	5
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	250
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, Premium Station
Station code	SUN
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1/2 Overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	7 September 1885; 137 years ago (1885-09-07)
Rebuilt	2012-2014
Electrified	1500 V DC overhead (October 1921)
Previous names	Braybrook Junction (1885-1907)
Passengers
2014-2015	Not measured[1]
2015-2016	1.96 million[1]  23.6%
2016-2017	2.31 million[1]  16.69%
2017-2018	2.08 million[1]  9.96%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Tottenham towards Flinders Street Sunbury line Albion towards Sunbury or Watergardens West Footscray towards Flinders Street St Albans towards Sunbury or Watergardens Tottenham towards Pakenham or Cranbourne Sunshine–Dandenong corridor (under construction) Albion towards Sunbury or Watergardens Footscray towards Pakenham or Cranbourne Melbourne Airport (under construction) Keilor East towards Melbourne Airport Preceding station V/Line Following station Footscray towards Southern Cross Ballarat line Ardeer towards Wendouree Ballarat line (Melton line) Ardeer towards Melton or Bacchus Marsh Ararat line Ardeer towards Ararat Geelong line Deer Park towards Geelong or Waurn Ponds Ardeer towards Wyndham Vale

Today, Sunshine is served by Metro Trains' services on the Sunbury line, and V/Line services on the Geelong and Ballarat lines. Bendigo services and freight trains to northern Victoria and towards Sydney also pass through the station. A large bus interchange at the station is a hub for surrounding suburbs.

History

Sunshine station opened on 7 September 1885 as Braybrook Junction. It was renamed Sunshine on 15 July 1907.[2]

19th century

The Melbourne & Murray River Railway (now named the Bendigo line), originating from Spencer Street station, was built in the late 1850s, from Footscray station to Sunbury and Bendigo, however, no station was built at that time on the current site; the closest station was Albion and Darlington, on the site of the current Albion station.[3]

In 1885, the Serviceton line from Melbourne to Ballarat, via Bacchus Marsh, was built, branching off from the Bendigo line, and a station at the junction of the two lines was built. The station opened on 7 September 1885 as Braybrook Junction, named such as it was at the junction of the two lines, and was within the Shire of Braybrook.

In 1887, the Sunshine – Newport line, connecting the new station at Braybrook Junction to Newport and Williamstown, Victoria's major cargo port at the time, was opened.

20th century

In 1907, Braybrook Junction station was renamed Sunshine, when Hugh McKay moved his Sunshine Harvester Works adjacent to the station.[2] On 20 April 1908, Sunshine was the scene of the worst train crash in Victorian railway history, the Sunshine train disaster.

The Albion – Jacana line opened in 1929, connecting Sunshine station with the North East line, allowing freight trains to avoid the steeper grades and suburban traffic on the suburban line between North Melbourne, Essendon and Broadmeadows.

The road level crossing at Sunshine was removed when grade separation was carried out in 1961.[4] The works took place as part of the project to construct a standard gauge line from Sydney to Melbourne.[5] Boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Bendigo line, in the same year.[6]

A fourth platform was opened in January 1963, on the adjacent Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line, to enable passengers to transfer between the interstate Sydney and Adelaide expresses.[4] In 1965, control of signals at Albion station was transferred to the signal box at Sunshine.[4] Also in 1965, the Grain Elevator Board sidings, that serve the nearby grail silos, opened for traffic.[2] In 1976, a signal panel was provided to replace an existing panel,[2] and in 1977, boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Ballarat line.[6]

Demolished station White City was located between Sunshine and Tottenham. It closed on 4 October 1981.[7]

On 5 February 1985, Harris trailer carriage 830T was destroyed by fire in a vandalism attack, whist stabled in the former Down end siding.[8]

The sidings leading to Massey Ferguson were booked out of use in 1988. The lead to the sidings, which crossed the standard gauge line, was removed in February of the same year.[9]

The former station underpass, which connected the platforms to nearby City Place, was completed in 1994,[10] replacing an earlier underpass.[11] It was removed during the station upgrades between 2012 and 2014. Also in 1994, the track leading to the former goods shed was removed,[11] and a number of semaphore signals were replaced with automatic colour signals.[12]

Sunshine was upgraded to a Premium Station on 26 July 1996.[13]

21st century

In mid 2004, the platform on the standard gauge line was removed.[14] The waiting room on the platform was demolished five years earlier, in 1999.[15]

From 2012 to 2014, the station was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project.[16] Works included:

• a new bus interchange, completed in September 2013;[17]
• construction of a new footbridge and concourse, completed in January 2014;[18]
• upgrading Platforms 1 and 2 with new canopies;
• rebuilding Platform 3 and a new Platform 4, both completed in April 2014;[19][20]

The completed station was opened to the public on 28 April 2014.^{[citation needed]}

The standalone signal box to the north of the station, commissioned in 1914, was closed in 2016, and its control of the Sunshine and Albion areas transferred to Metrol.[21] The former signal box is one of the largest surviving examples of a tappet and lever frame box on the Victorian network, having once housed 80 levers. Although mechanical signalling was replaced with electronic interlocking before the box was finally taken out of service, it remains relatively intact as an example of Victorian Railways signal box architecture.[22]

On 22 July 2018, the Victorian state government announced that the Melbourne Airport rail link will be funded with state and commonwealth money, and that it will run from the Melbourne CBD to Melbourne Airport via Sunshine station.[23]

Construction commenced in early 2020 on a new signal control centre south of the station, which will share control of the Sunshine–Dandenong corridor with an existing facility at Dandenong, after completion of the Metro Tunnel.[24] As part of this project, a new "super hub" will be built at Sunshine for passengers transferring between V/Line services and the airport trains. Construction is planned to begin by 2022.[25]

Facilities, platforms and services

Sunshine has two side platforms and a centre island platform with two faces. Access is provided to the platforms using stairs, lifts and ramps from an overhead footbridge and concourse, which features a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room and toilets.

It is serviced by Metro Trains' Sunbury line and V/Line Ballarat and Geelong services.[26][27][28]

Platform 1:

•  Sunbury line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sunbury line  all stations services to Watergardens and Sunbury

It is planned to connect the Sunbury line to the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, via the new Metro Tunnel, in late 2025.

Platform 3:

•  Ballarat line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Geelong line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 4:

•  Ballarat line  V/Line services to Melton, Bacchus Marsh, Wendouree and Ararat (pick up only)
•  Geelong line  V/Line services to Wyndham Vale, Geelong and Waurn Ponds (pick up only)

Transport links

There are 14 bus services that use the bus interchange at Sunshine station.

CDC Melbourne operates three routes via Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  400 : to Laverton station (via Robinsons Road, shared with Transit Systems Victoria)[29]
•  408 : St Albans station – Highpoint Shopping Centre[30]
•  410 : to Footscray (via Ballarat Road)[31]

Kinetic Melbourne operates four routes via Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  216 : to Melbourne CBD (Queen Street) (via Dynon Road)[32]
•  220 : to Melbourne CBD (Queen Street) via (Footscray Road)[33]
•  429 : to Sunshine South (Loop Service)[34]
•  SmartBus   903 : Altona station – Mordialloc[35]

Transit Systems Victoria operates eight routes to and from Sunshine station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  400 : to Laverton station (via Robinsons Road, shared with CDC Melbourne)[29]
•  420 : to Watergardens station (via Deer Park)[36]
•  422 : to Brimbank Central Shopping Centre[37]
•  427 : to Sunshine West (via Forrest Street)[38]
•  428 : to Sunshine West[39]
•  456 : to Woodgrove Shopping Centre (Melton) (via Rockbank)[40]
•  471 : to Williamstown (via Newport and Altona Gate Shopping Centre)[41]
•  Night Bus   941 : to Watergardens station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)[42]

Gallery

• 
  Westrans Volgren bodied Volvo B7L at Sunshine station in December 2013
• 
  South-east bound view from Platform 3 in May 2014

References

External links

• Media related to Sunshine railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Rail Geelong gallery
• Melway map

---