Macleod
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view in May 2014
General information
LocationBirdwood Avenue,
Macleod, Victoria 3085
City of Banyule
Australia
Coordinates37°43′34″S 145°04′09″E / 37.7260°S 145.0693°E / -37.7260; 145.0693
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Hurstbridge
Distance17.71 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms3 (1 island and 1 side)
Tracks3
ConnectionsList of bus routes in Melbourne Bus
Construction
Structure typeGround
Parking102
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, premium station
Station codeMCD
Fare zoneMyki Zone 2
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened1 March 1911; 112 years ago (1911-03-01)
Rebuilt11 August 1979
ElectrifiedApril 1923 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–2006418,132[1]
2006–2007430,743[1] Increase 3.01%
2007–2008485,657[1] Increase 12.74%
2008–2009512,000[2] Increase 5.42%
2009–2010507,000[2] Decrease 0.97%
2010–2011575,000[2] Increase 13.4%
2011–2012622,000[2] Increase 8.17%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014503,000[2] Decrease 19.13%
2014–2015508,092[1] Increase 1.01%
2015–2016588,742[3] Increase 15.87%
2016–2017574,758[3] Decrease 2.37%
2017–2018562,101[3] Decrease 2.2%
2018–2019598,600[4] Increase 6.49%
2019–2020469,500[4] Decrease 21.57%
2020–2021204,450[4] Decrease 56.5%
2021–2022239,150[4] Increase 16.97%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Rosanna
towards Flinders Street
 Hurstbridge line Watsonia
towards Hurstbridge
Former services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Junction   Mont Park branch   Mont Park
  List of closed railway stations in Melbourne  
Track layout
Legend
to Rosanna
Ruthven Street
(Removing by 2027)
1
2
3
to Watsonia

Macleod railway station is located on the Hurstbridge line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Macleod, and it opened on 1 March 1911.[5]

History

Macleod station was completed by November 1910,[6] and was opened to traffic on 1 March 1911.[5]

The station is named after Malcolm Anderson Macleod, a prominent local resident, whose wife Edith Jessie Macleod purchased land in the area.[7] The press of the time credited Edith Macleod's husband with owning the land but this was not the case.[8] 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.[9] The land transfer was examined as part of the 1909 Royal Commission on the Acquisition of Certain Estates by Sir Thomas Bent[10] 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.)[11], 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,[12] 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[13] and it has been demonstrated that the railway station was not his idea.[14] The original proposal was to name the station "Mont Park".[15]

In 1979, the present day Platform 3 was provided on a 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.[5] A number of train services terminate at Macleod, before proceeding to the sidings to stable.

In 2001, Macleod was upgraded to a premium station.[16]

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.[17][18]

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 and toilets.

It is serviced by Metro Trains' Hurstbridge line services.[19]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Platform 3:

Transport links

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

References

  1. ^ a b c d Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Train Station Patronage FY2008-2014". Public Transport Victoria. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original (XLS) on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016. (access from [1] Archived 3 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
  3. ^ a b c Station patronage in Victoria for 2013-2018 Archived 5 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
  4. ^ a b c d Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
  5. ^ a b c "Macleod". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  6. ^ "NORTH HEIDELBERG". The Age (Melbourne). 17 November 1910. p. 10.
  7. ^ Argus, 19 February 1910, p. 20
  8. ^ Refer to Victorian Certificate of Titles vol. 3321 fol. 664092 and vol. 3321 fol. 664093
  9. ^ Dimech, Adam (2023). A History of the Dunvegan Estate, Macleod. Melbourne: Adam Dimech. ISBN 9780645724707.
  10. ^ Royal Commission on the Acquisition of Certain Estates by Sir Thomas Bent, as a Minister of the Crown https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/papers/govpub/VPARL1909-2ndSessionNo22.pdf Access date 5 November 2023
  11. ^ Mont Park Land Act 1910 https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/vic/hist_act/mpla1910148/ Access date: 5 November 2023
  12. ^ Argus, 19 February 1910, p.20
  13. ^ Land Titles Office Victoria, Certificate of Title vol. 2529, fol. 505601
  14. ^ Dimech, Adam (2023). A History of the Dunvegan Estate, Macleod. Melbourne: Adam Dimech. ISBN 9780645724707.
  15. ^ Argus, 13 January 1911, p.9
  16. ^ "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. July 2001. p. 223.
  17. ^ Build, Victoria’s Big (25 October 2022). "Making Macleod level crossing-free". Victoria’s Big Build. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  18. ^ Build, Victoria’s Big (25 October 2022). "Ruthven Street, Macleod". Victoria’s Big Build. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Hurstbridge Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  20. ^ "561 Macleod - Pascoe Vale via La Trobe University". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

Public Transport Victoria railway stations
Categories