St Kilda Railway Station - History

History

The line to St Kilda was built by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to serve tourists to the seaside resort, with tenders were called for earthworks and buildings at St Kilda on 3 November 1856 and the line opened on 13 May 1857 with a banquet in the station.

The building was of restrained Italianate design, with face brickwork and stucco mouldings, and originally featured a semicircular portico on the south-western face of the station building. The station had a single platform, with the train shed supported by iron columns trimmed with a timber valence, and a bluestone retaining wall ran along Canterbury Road. An engine depot and carriage shed were built later in 1856.

In 1859, MHBRC paid St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company £5,000 to build a loop line from St Kilda to Windsor, the line being extended to Brighton Beach by 1861 on what is now the Sandringham line. However a more direct route from Windsor to the city was built in 11 months later, and the loop line was dismantled in 1867. In 1878 the private operator of the line was taken over by the Victorian Railways.

Passenger numbers to the station declined by 23 percent when cable cars started operating to Brighton Road in 1888 and then between Windsor and The Esplanade in 1891, so the Victorian Railways opened their 'Electric Street Railway' to Brighton in 1906. The line was unique as it used broad gauge track as used by the railways in Victoria, rather than standard gauge track as used on all other street tramways in the state. The tram terminus was alongside the station building, permitting an easy interchange between modes. The St Kilda line was electrified in 1919, and in the 1920s St Kilda was the second busiest station in Victoria after Flinders Street Station. Facilities at the station during the days of steam operation included a run around road and traverser, coal stage and engine shed, these remaining until at least 1928. An unusual feature of the station was a connection between the railway and the tramway tracks, being used to transfer trams from the 'Electric Street Railway' to the Newport Railway Workshops.

On 21 October 1928 automatic signals worked by trains were provided at St Kilda, allowing the signal box at the station to be closed when freight trains not using the yard. The yard was simplified to a platform road and four sidings by 1952, and the last goods service operated on 18 June 1959. The St Kilda to Brighton street railway was discontinued in 1959, to be replaced by buses. Passenger facilities were also downgraded, with the railway refreshment rooms closed in 1969, the post office closed in 1972, and the booking hall and ladies waiting room closed in 1976. In the final years of the station only two sidings remained, and colour light signals replaced semaphores.