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Kensington railway station, Melbourne

Coordinates: 37°47′38″S 144°55′51″E / 37.7939°S 144.9307°E / -37.7939; 144.9307
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kensington
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, December 2021
General information
LocationBelair Street,
Kensington, Victoria 3031
City of Melbourne
Australia
Coordinates37°47′38″S 144°55′51″E / 37.7939°S 144.9307°E / -37.7939; 144.9307
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Craigieburn
Distance3.58 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side
Tracks2
ConnectionsList of bus routes in Melbourne Bus
Construction
Structure typeGround
AccessibleNo—steep ramp
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeKEN
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened1 November 1860; 164 years ago (1860-11-01)
Closed1 July 1864 (1864-07-01)
Rebuilt9 October 1871 (1871-10-09)
ElectrifiedMay 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006453,280[1]
2006–2007489,745[1] Increase 8.04%
2007–2008515,166[1] Increase 5.19%
2008–2009556,954[2] Increase 8.11%
2009–2010566,692[2] Increase 1.74%
2010–2011577,507[2] Increase 1.9%
2011–2012526,695[2] Decrease 8.79%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014553,078[2] Increase 5%
2014–2015540,515[1] Decrease 2.27%
2015–2016563,789[2] Increase 4.3%
2016–2017550,677[2] Decrease 2.32%
2017–2018546,510[2] Decrease 0.75%
2018–2019533,050[2] Decrease 2.46%
2019–2020424,600[2] Decrease 20.34%
2020–2021211,900[2] Decrease 50.09%
2021–2022242,300[3] Increase 14.34%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
North Melbourne
towards Flinders Street
 Craigieburn line Newmarket
towards Craigieburn
     Flemington Racecourse line does not stop here
Track layout
Legend
to North Melbourne
Macaulay Road
1
2
to Newmarket
Electrified
Non-electrified

Kensington railway station is a commuter railway station on the Craigieburn line, part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Kensington in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Kensington station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 1 November 1860, with the current station provided in 1871. It initially closed on 1 July 1864, then reopened on 9 October 1871.[4]

Special services to Flemington Racecourse and Showgrounds pass through the station, but do not stop, with signs on Platform 2 advising passengers of this.

Description

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The most obvious difference between the two station buildings is the cantilever verandah with its scalloped ripple-iron valance and the elegant post-supported one opposite. Similar to the Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale stations, the station has a hipped roof profile, convex verandah with trellis end filling and numerous eaves brackets completing the Italian influence here and in most other station buildings in the State. Coloured brickwork and the pointed arch at openings lend a Medieval time scale. Elevated siting has provided scope for an extensive wall and a piered iron fence to face the plantation reserve below; this appears to be from the 1905 improvements to the complex. The down side station is simply a deep masonry wall, with stone quoining, similar fenestration and domed pylons at each end, injecting the contemporary Edwardian Free-Style element into what was otherwise a matching design to the 1889 station. Basalt rubble garden borders, pepper trees, pitosporum and acanthus are plantings probably synonymous with the 1905 improvements. Similar landscaped track margins occur to the south. The up platform is likely to be the original 1860 basalt coping and walls, whilst the down side probably dates from the 1880s. The signal box has an unusual design and is built in the manner of the nearby station buildings, with polychrome brickwork and a hipped roof form. Three sides of glazing at the upper level are accessed by a cantilevered wrought-iron walkway cum terrace, linked with ground by a timber stair. Detail includes a scalloped eaves valance and saltire-cross panels above the windows. Nearby, a pepper tree adds period to the site. The upside, downside and signal box buildings all form a group and collectively complement the Victorian era buildings in the Bellair Street shopping precinct.[5]

History

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Kensington station opened on 1 November 1860, just over a week after the railway line to Essendon opened as part of the private Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company. The station closed with the line on 1 July 1864, due to failure to make a profit. The needs of the Newmarket Saleyards and Racecourse, and the increasing difficulties in driving cattle mustered in the north and west of the Colony overland from North Melbourne station, inspired the line's purchase by the Government and its reopening on 9 October 1871.[6] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Kensington, in central London.[7][8]

Increasing population in the Flemington-Kensington area resulted in new station facilities being built on the up (Melbourne-bound) side in 1888. Campbell and Gray were the contractors for the station, while A. Challingsworth built the down (west) side in 1905, together with improvements at Moonee Ponds and Essendon 1908. This also was the first line to run electric trains in Australia. Presumably as a mark of the increasing traffic on the now duplicated line, contractor A. T. Taylor built the signal box in 1887 during the reign of R. Watson as Engineer in Chief of the railways.[5] In 1965, the interlocked gates at the Macaulay Road level crossing were replaced with boom barriers.[6] The signal box is located at the up end of the station, just past the level crossing. A siding is also located at the up end, used for the nearby grain silos.[9]

On 5 November 1986, a collision between a Broadmeadows-bound Comeng train and locomotive H4 occurred near the station.[10][11][12][13] Also in that year, a number of goods lines to the south of the station were booked out of use.[4] The overhead wires for these lines were also removed around this time.[4]

Platforms and services

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Kensington has two side platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Craigieburn line services.[14]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

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Transit Systems Victoria operates one route via Kensington station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

  •  402 : Footscray station – East Melbourne[15]
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  • Southbound view from Platform 1, October 2005
    Southbound view from Platform 1, October 2005

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Department of Transport
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Philip Mallis
  3. ^ Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
  4. ^ a b c "Kensington". vicsig.net. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Place Details: Kensington Railway Station, Bellair St, Kensington, VIC, Australia". Australian Heritage Database. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b Turton, Keith W (1973). Six And A Half Inches From Destiny. The first hundred years of the Melbourne-Wodonga Railway 1873-1973. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 23, 86. ISBN 0-85849-012-9.
  7. ^ "Place Names". Essendon Historical Society. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  8. ^ First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Kensington Interlocking Information". vicsig.net. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. ^ Yates, Michael (6 November 1986). "Trains collide on suburban line". The Herald. p. 1.
  11. ^ Harrington, Tony (7 November 1986). "Points failure is blamed for train crash". The Age. p. 16.
  12. ^ Flickr – High Bicyclist Photostream
  13. ^ Flickr – High Bicyclist Photostream
  14. ^ "Craigieburn Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  15. ^ "402 Footscray Station - East Melbourne via North Melbourne". Public Transport Victoria.
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Attribution

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This Wikipedia article was originally based on Kensington Railway Station, Bellair St, Kensington, VIC, Australia, entry number 16898 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2024 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 27 March 2024.

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