Elsternwick railway station

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox station

Elsternwick railway station is a commuter railway station on the Sandringham line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Elsternwick, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Elsternwick station is a ground level premium station, featuring an island platform. It opened on 19 December 1859, with the current station provided in 1960.<ref name="vicsigelsternwick">Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Elsternwick station was originally part of the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay United Railway Company's network. The company and network was taken over by the Government of Victoria in 1878, to become part of Victorian Railways. As with the nearby suburb of Ripponlea, which had been named after the adjacent Rippon Lea Estate of Frederick Sargood, Elsternwick had been named after the largest property in the district, Charles Ebden's Elster.<ref>Elster was German for "magpie". The creek nearby became known as the Elster Creek and, when a village grew up on the creek, the Anglo-Saxon suffix ‘wick’, meaning village, was added.[1] Template:Webarchive</ref>

In the 1880s, Elsternwick also functioned as the western end of the cross-suburban Rosstown Railway, which was built by entrepreneur William Murray Ross, mainly to serve the sugar beet processing mill that he had established, along with an adjoining residential estate in the locality he called Rosstown, now known as Carnegie. The railway was seldom used and it was officially closed in 1916.

In 1915, an electric tramline between Elsternwick and Point Ormond opened. It closed on 22 October 1960, after which the tram route became part of an extended 246 bus route. In February 1959, a project commenced to eliminate the Glen Huntly Road level crossing, where a tramway also crossed the rail line. A temporary two-track station was provided in a side street parallel with the station, which allowed rail services to continue uninterrupted. In October 1960, the work was completed, which was when the present railway buildings were provided.<ref>"Grade Separation Scheme" Railway Gazette 19 February 1960 page 216</ref><ref>"Grade Separation Scheme" Railway Gazette 11 November 1960 page 560</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1992, the station was the first in Melbourne to receive the former Public Transport Corporation's teal, sunflower and white coloured station signage,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which has since been replaced with Public Transport Victoria branded blue signage. On 13 November 1995, Elsternwick was upgraded to a premium station.<ref name="newsrailoct97">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During 2002–2003, the ground-level station car-park was closed, with a residential/retail development built on it, as part of a deal under which a developer was given the land with the condition that a multi-storey car park, including a lift, was provided for passengers. In 2004, the station underwent a refurbishment.<ref name=vicsigelsternwick/>

Platforms and services

Elsternwick has one island platform with two faces. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Sandringham line services.<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>

Current

colspan="5" style="background:#Template:Rcr;background-image: linear-gradient(to right, #Template:Rcr); " \|Elsternwick platform arrangement
Platform	Line	Destination	Service Type
1	Template:RouteBox	Flinders Street	All stations
2	Template:RouteBox	Sandringham	All stations

After 29 April 2026

colspan="5" style="background:#Template:Rcr;background-image: linear-gradient(to right, #Template:Rcr); " \|Elsternwick platform arrangement
Platform	Line	Destination	Via	Service Type
1	Template:RouteBox	Flinders Street, Williamstown, Laverton, Werribee	Flinders Street	All stations
2	Template:RouteBox	Sandringham		All stations