Elsternwick railway station, Melbourne

MelbourneRailwayStation1
NAME=Elsternwick
IMAGELINK=Elsternwick Station Platform.jpg
CAPTION=Overview of the station in the cutting, looking towards Glen Huntly Road and the city
CODE=ELS
DISTANCE=9.8 km
LINES=Sandringham
PLATFORMS=2
TRACKS=2
STATUS=Premium Station
FACILITIES= [http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/stop/view/19955 Link]
TIMETABLES= [http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/stop/view/19955#lineInformation Link]
MELWAY=
ZONE=1

Elsternwick is a railway station on the Sandringham line in Melbourne, Australia. It is located 9.8 km from Flinders Street Station, on Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick, and is in Metcard Zone 1. It is a Premium Station and is staffed from first to last train.

Facilities

The ticket office is located above the island platform, as is a ticket machine, toilets and indoor seating. The station consists of an island platform accessible via a pedestrian walkway from the station building on Glen Huntly Road. The carpark is multistorey with a lift and holds around 200 vehicles; on weekdays it fills up by about 08:30. Citybound trains normally arrive on the western side of the island platform, while southbound trains normally arrive on the eastern side of the island platform. A pair of crossovers are located at the down end of the station.

Nearby attractions are the Elsternwick Golf Course, the Elsternwick Hotel, the ABC's Ripponlea studios, the Elsternwick Classic Cinema, the Jewish Holocaust Museum, the Elsternwick Shopping Centre, the Daily Planet brothel and the National Trust of Australia-listed Rippon Lea Estate.

History

The first station was opened in 1859, as part of the Melbourne and Hobsons 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 suburb Ripponlea, which had been named after the adjacent "Rippon Lea Estate" of Sir Frederick Sargood, Elsternwick had been named after the largest property in the district, Charles Hotson Ebden's "Elster"; [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. [http://www.anps.mq.edu.au/documents/Sept_2004.pdf] ] .

In the 1880s, the Elsternwick station also functioned as the Melbourne end of the railway line to the large scale sugar beet processing mill that had been established at Rosstown (see Rosstown Railway) — now known as Carnegie [Its name was changed from Rosstown (after William Murray Ross, a developer) to Carnegie in 1909 in an unsuccessful attempt to secure funds for a "Carnegie library" from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.] — and beyond. This railway was seldom used and it ceased to function in 1916.

An electric tramline between Elsternwick and Point Ormond opened in 1915; it closed on 22 October 1960. [The tram had no "route number".] The tram terminated at the railway station, with the route becoming part of the extended 246 bus route. The current station and grade separation of the Glen Huntly Road / tramway / railway level crossing was completed in October 1960.cite book
last = S.E. Doorman and R.G. Henderson
first =
title = Electric Railways of Victoria
publisher = Australian Electric Traction Society
page = page 50
isbn = 0 909459 06 1 ] The station was upgraded to Premium Station status on November 13 1995.cite journal
year = 1997
month = October
title = Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station
journal = Newsrail
publisher = Australian Railway Heritage Society (Victorian Division)
pages = page 310 ] The station ground level carpark was closed in 2002 and 2003 while a residential/retail development was built on it in a deal where the developer got the land and built a multistorey carpark with lift access for commuters. The station was refurbished in 2004.

Connecting services

A number of bus lines connect with Elsternwick station.

The 246 departs from Horne Street on the west side of the station. The 246 is a frequent service that runs west from the station towards the beach, then up Barkly Street.

The 216 and 219 also depart from Horne Street, but services are not as frequent.

The 627 terminates at Elsternwick station in Riddell Street.

The number 67 tram stops in front of Elsternwick station.

Notes

MetlinkAndClosedStations
Line1=Sandringham line
Previous1=Ripponlea
Next1=Gardenvale
ClosedLine = Rosstown Railway
ClosedNext = Garden Vale
ClosedPreviousplain = Junction
VICORMELB=Melbourne