Macleod railway station
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox station
Macleod railway station is a commuter railway station on the Hurstbridge line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern suburb of Macleod, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Macleod station is a ground level premium station, featuring three platforms, an island platform with two faces and one side platform. It opened on 1 March 1911, with the current station provided in 1979.<ref name="VicsigMacleod">Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Macleod station was completed by November 1910,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and was opened to traffic on 1 March 1911.<ref name=VicsigMacleod/>
The station is named after Malcolm Anderson Macleod, a prominent local resident, whose wife Edith Jessie Macleod purchased land in the area.<ref>Argus, 19 February 1910, p. 20</ref> The press of the time credited Edith Macleod's husband with owning the land but this was not the case.<ref>Refer to Victorian Certificate of Titles vol. 3321 fol. 664092 and vol. 3321 fol. 664093</ref> A thin strip of Macleod's land measuring 31.51 hectares was sold to the State Government to enable the construction of a branch line for the Mont Park Psychiatric Hospital. The timing and methods by which the strip of land was acquired for the railway line was likely corrupt.<ref name="Dimech 2023">Template:Cite book</ref> The land transfer was examined as part of the 1909 Royal Commission on the Acquisition of Certain Estates by Sir Thomas Bent<ref>Royal Commission on the Acquisition of Certain Estates by Sir Thomas Bent, as a Minister of the Crown [1] Access date 5 November 2023</ref> which found that the Crown had paid too much for it.
After the land acquisition, engineers discovered that the acquired land was too steep to accommodate the proposed railway line, so a land swap had to be arranged between Edith Macleod and the Crown for some of her remaining land holdings nearby. The land swap was enabled by the Mont Park Land Act 1910 (Vic.),<ref>Mont Park Land Act 1910 https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/vic/hist_act/mpla1910148/ Access date: 5 November 2023</ref> which finally enabled the construction of the freight-only Mont Park branch line from Macleod station to the asylum in a north-westerly direction. From 1911 to 1964, Macleod was the junction of the Mont Park branch line.
Newspaper articles from the time claim that Malcolm Macleod conceived of the idea of the railway station at Macleod by stipulating that it had to be built at that location and under his name in return for the land transfer,<ref>Argus, 19 February 1910, p.20</ref> however a reservation for the railway station had been in place since the Board of Land and Works had acquired land for a railway line in 1894<ref>Land Titles Office Victoria, Certificate of Title vol. 2529, fol. 505601</ref> and it has been demonstrated that the railway station was not his idea.<ref name="Dimech 2023"/> The original proposal was to name the station "Mont Park".<ref>Argus, 13 January 1911, p.9</ref>
In 1979, the present day Platform 3 was provided on an alignment near the former branch line alignment, as were three stabling sidings immediately to the south of the station, both coinciding with the duplication of the railway line between Macleod and Greensborough.<ref name=VicsigMacleod/> A number of train services terminate at Macleod, before proceeding to the sidings to stable.
In 2001, Macleod was upgraded to a premium station.<ref name="newsrailjul2001">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
On 25 October 2022, the Level Crossing Removal Project announced that the Ruthven Street level crossing, located nearby in the up direction of the station, will be grade separated by 2027, with the railway line to be rebuilt over the road.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Facilities, platforms and services
Macleod has one island platform with two faces and one side platform. Platform 1 has an enclosed waiting area, ticket facilities, a Protective Services Officer pod and toilets.
It is serviced by Metro Trains' Hurstbridge line services.<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
Current
| colspan="5" style="background:#Template:Rcr;background-image: linear-gradient(to right, #Template:Rcr); " |Macleod platform arrangement | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Line | Destination | Service Type | Notes |
| 1 | Template:RouteBox | Flinders Street | All stations and limited express services | |
| 2 | Template:RouteBox | Greensborough, Eltham, Hurstbridge | All stations and limited express services | |
| 3 | Template:RouteBox | Flinders Street | All stations and limited express services | Terminating platform for Macleod services |
Transport links
Dysons operates one route via Macleod station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:
Gallery
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Southbound view of the station platforms, May 2014
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Southbound view from Platform 1, May 2018
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Station shelter on Platforms 2 and 3, May 2018
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A Victorian Railways signal key attached to the Platform 1 building, May 2018
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Northbound view from Platform 3, November 2018
