Clarkefield railway station

Clarkefield railway station is a regional railway station on the Deniliquin line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the north-western suburb and town of Clarkefield, in Victoria, Australia. Clarkefield station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened in December 1862.<ref name="VicsigClarkefield">Clarkefield Vicsig</ref><ref name="VRHistory">Clarkefield VR History</ref>

The station had various names. It initially opened as Lancefield Road, then it was renamed to Lancefield Junction in 1881. Then it had two various names of the same pronunciation, but different spelling. It was renamed to Clarkfield on 11 January 1926, then finally was given its current name of Clarkefield on 23 February 1926.<ref name="VicsigClarkefield">Clarkefield Vicsig</ref><ref name="VRHistory">Clarkefield VR History</ref>

History

Clarkefield opened in December 1862, a year after the line opened between Sunbury and Woodend. The station, like the township itself, was named after local pastoralist, businessman and philanthropist, Sir William Clarke.<ref name="VictorianPlacesClarkefield">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Clarke later became a member of the Victorian Legislative Council.

The station was the junction for the Lancefield branch line, which operated between 1881 and 1956.<ref name=VicsigClarkefield/><ref name=VRHistory/> The station was historically known as Lancefield Junction for this reason.

Catch points were in use at Clarkefield in 1929. By 1935, they were abolished.<ref name=VicsigClarkefield/><ref name=VRHistory/> In 1947, the signal box at the station was replaced with a signal bay.<ref name=VRHistory/>

After the closure of the Lancefield line in 1956, a small remnant of the line became a refuge siding.<ref name=VRHistory/> Around 1958/1959, a siding that operated between the up mainline track and the former dock platform was abolished,<ref name=VRHistory/> and the siding leading to the turntable was removed by 1959.<ref name=VRHistory/>

In 1977, the connections from the refuge siding to the up line was spiked out of use, with the auxiliary frame also abolished around this time.<ref name=VicsigClarkefield/><ref name=VRHistory/>

On 17 January 2005, the signal bay at the station was abolished.<ref name="SignalBox">Clarkefield Signal Box (CFD) VR History</ref>

Disused station Rupertswood is located between Clarkefield and Sunbury stations.

Platforms and services

Clarkefield has two side platforms. In the morning, trains to Melbourne depart from Platform 2, and trains to Bendigo depart from Platform 1, with this arrangement reversing in the afternoon. This is to allow services in the peak direction of travel to use the single 160 km/h track that was upgraded in 2006, as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.

It is serviced by V/Line Bendigo and Echuca line services.<ref>Bendigo - Melbourne timetable Public Transport Victoria</ref><ref>Echuca/Moama - Melbourne timetable Public Transport Victoria</ref>

colspan="5" style="background:#Template:Rcr;background-image: linear-gradient(to right, #Template:Rcr); " |Clarkefield platform arrangement
Platform	Line	Destination	Service Type	Notes
1	Template:RouteBox Template:RouteBox	Southern Cross, Kyneton, Bendigo, Epsom, Eaglehawk, Echuca	All stations and limited express services	Services towards Bendigo depart from this platform in the morning. Services towards Melbourne depart from this platform in the afternoon.
2	Template:RouteBox Template:RouteBox	Southern Cross, Kyneton, Bendigo, Epsom, Eaglehawk, Echuca	All stations and limited express services	Services towards Melbourne depart from this platform in the morning. Services towards Bendigo depart from this platform in the afternoon.

Transport links

Dysons operates one route via Clarkefield station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• Lancefield – Sunbury station<ref>Lancefield - Sunbury-Clarkefield via Romsey & Monegeeta Public Transport Victoria</ref>

Gallery

• 
  Lancefield Junction station platform and building, 1890

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Victorian Railway Stations gallery
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au