Epping railway station, Melbourne

Epping railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network, and serves the northern suburb of the same name in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It opened on 23 December 1889 and, since 2011, it has been a below-ground, premium station, with an island platform.<ref name=vicsigepping>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Epping station opened as a stop on the line to Whittlesea, with trains designated as country services. From 1924, an AEC railmotor shuttle service operated from Reservoir to Whittlesea, until the line was closed north of Lalor on 29 November 1959.<ref name="newsrailnov95">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

On 30 November 1964, a new station opened a little further down the line,<ref name=vicsigepping/> as part of the electrification of the line from Lalor to Epping. The station building was relocated from Glen Waverley, which was being rebuilt at the time.<ref name=vicsigepping/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> On 1 January 1971, the building was damaged by a deliberately lit fire.<ref name="theherald">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During the late 1980s, the station was rebuilt, in conjunction with the construction of the adjacent train depot, with the north face of the former ground level island platform brought into use in July 1987, along with temporary station buildings. The new platform was built on a new alignment, with 200 metres of new track needed to link to the existing line. By the end of that month, the former platform and station building, dating from 1964, were demolished, along with the former alignment of the track and overhead wiring.<ref name="newsrailsep87">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="newsrailoct87">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The south face of the former ground level island platform (Platform 1) was brought into use nine months later, in April 1988.<ref name="newsrailjul88">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 1989, new Solid State Interlocking was commissioned,<ref name="signalbox">Template:Cite web</ref> which was the first fully computerised system in Melbourne.<ref name=newsrailoct87/>

In 1990, the suburban train depot opened,<ref name=ext>Template:Cite web</ref> which was a replacement for the Jolimont Workshops in central Melbourne. The depot covers 10.8 hectares, and can accommodate 31 trains, with the facility including a main workshop building, four elevated tracks, two lifting tracks and a train wash.<ref name="newsrailjun89">Template:Cite magazine</ref> On 23 July 1998, Epping was upgraded to a premium station.<ref name=vicsigepping/><ref name="newsrailoct97">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

At about 0914 on 18 June 2002, two Comeng train sets collided approximately 1 km south of the station.<ref name="collision">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="atsb">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="theage">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="heraldsun">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2010, construction commenced on a new, below-ground island platform north of Cooper Street, as part of a grade separation project in conjunction with the duplication of the line from Keon Park and its extension to South Morang station. The rebuilt station opened on 28 November 2011.<ref>Rail line boost already on track Herald Sun 28 November 2011 Template:Dead link</ref><ref>South Morang Rail Alliance Template:Webarchive John Holland Template:Dead link</ref> The former ground level island platform and building were demolished soon after and, in early 2012, a number of stabling sidings were built on that site.<ref name="newsrailmar12">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Platforms, facilities and services

Epping has one island platform with two faces and is served by Mernda line trains.<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref> Access to the platforms is provided by stairs and a lift. The station concourse contains a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room, toilets and a kiosk.

Current

colspan="5" style="background:#Template:Rcr;background-image: linear-gradient(to right, #Template:Rcr); " |Epping platform arrangement
Platform	Line	Destination	Service Type
1	Template:RouteBox	Flinders Street	All stations and limited express services
2	Template:RouteBox	Mernda	All stations

Transport links

Dysons operates six bus routes via Epping station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• Template:Color box: to Wollert East<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
• Template:Color box: Wollert West – Thomastown station<ref name="ptv357">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Template:Color box: to Wollert<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
• Template:Color box: Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
• Template:Color box: Pacific Epping – South Morang station<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
• Template:Color box: Pacific Epping – South Morang station<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>

Kinetic Melbourne operates one SmartBus route via Epping station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

• SmartBus Template:Color box: Frankston station – Melbourne Airport<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>

Gallery

• 
  Westbound view from Platform 2, May 2014

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• South Morang extension project gallery
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au
• Station Information at Vicsig