Richmond railway station, Melbourne

Richmond railway station is located on the Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Richmond opening on 12 December 1859 as Swan Street, being renamed Richmond on 1 January 1867.[3] As of 2018/19, it is the ninth-busiest station in metropolitan Melbourne with 4.17 million boardings per year.[2]

Richmond
Commuter and regional rail station
Westbound view from Platform 6 in March 2008
Location	Punt Road, Richmond
Coordinates	37°49′25″S 144°59′20″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Alamein (weekday peaks only) Belgrave Cranbourne Frankston Glen Waverley Lilydale Pakenham Sandringham Gippsland
Distance	3.80 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	10 (5 island)
Tracks	10
Connections	Tram route 70 Bus routes 246 & 605
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Other information
Status	Premium station
Station code	RMD
Fare zone	1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	12 December 1859
Electrified	Yes
Traffic
Passengers (2008-2009)	2.052 million[1]
Passengers (2009-2010)	2.124 million[1]  3.51%
Passengers (2010-2011)	2.230 million[1]  5%
Passengers (2011-2012)	2.070 million[1]  7.17%
Passengers (2012-2013)	Not measured[1]
Passengers (2013-2014)	3.336 million[1]  61.16%
Passengers (2014-2015)	Not measured[2]
Passengers (2015-2016)	3.70 million[2]  10.72%
Passengers (2016-2017)	3.80 million[2]  2.99%
Passengers (2017-2018)	4.17 million[2]  9.51%
Services
Preceding station   Metro Trains   Following station Flinders Street or Parliament towards Flinders Street Lilydale line East Richmond towards Lilydale Belgrave line East Richmond towards Belgrave Alamein line East Richmond towards Alamein Glen Waverley line East Richmond towards Glen Waverley Pakenham line South Yarra towards Pakenham Cranbourne line South Yarra towards Cranbourne Frankston line South Yarra towards Frankston Sandringham line South Yarra towards Sandringham V/Line Flinders Street towards Southern Cross Bairnsdale line Caulfield towards Bairnsdale Traralgon line Caulfield towards Traralgon

Station overview

Facilities

Richmond station has no elevators.

Richmond station is built on an embankment immediately east of Punt Road with platforms extending west across the Punt Road railway bridge.

The station has ten platforms connected by three subways, and is the junction of all of Melbourne's eastern and south eastern rail lines, with trains on the Alamein, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham lines serving the station.

Richmond station is located in Melbourne's sporting precinct. A special events entrance at the western end is opened during events at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Park and AAMI Park.

Tram route 70 runs past Richmond station along Swan Street. Punt Road underpasses directly under the station via a major interchange with Swan Street and Brunton Avenue.

In 2025, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will cease stopping at Richmond station as part of the new Metro Tunnel Project.

History

Richmond station has been relocated and rebuilt four times. The first station in Punt Road was at ground level and opened on 8 February 1859. It closed the same year on 12 December 1859. On the same day the new station, also at ground level, opened in Swan Street. In 1885, an elevated station just north of Swan Street was opened with six platforms.

By the 1930s the station was struggling with the patronage, with the 1940 Ashworth Improvement Plan recommending that it be rebuilt but funding issues during World War II prevented it from happening.[4] The station had also deteriorated to the point that it was condemned by the local council, and so work begun in the 1950s on a replacement. Part of Operation Phoenix, the postwar rebuilding of Victorian Railways,[5] it was not until 26 March 1960 that the present station was completed. Located slightly west of the previous station, the bridges at each end of the station across Punt Road and Swan Street were also rebuilt to accommodate the ten tracks. For a period, platforms at both the old and new stations operated, before the original station finally closed and was demolished.

It was upgraded to a Premium station on 4 December 1996.[6]

Richmond station was the filming location for the opening scene of the 1992 Australian film Romper Stomper. In the film's story the location was named as Footscray station.

Platforms and services

Richmond has ten platforms.

Platform 1:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Sandringham

Platform 3:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 4:

•  Frankston line  all stations and limited stop services to Frankston
•  Gippsland line  V/Line services to Bairnsdale (pick up only)

Platform 5:

•  Pakenham line  all stations services to Flinders Street
•  Cranbourne line  all stations services to Flinders Street
•  Gippsland line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 6:

•  Pakenham line  all stations and limited stop services to Pakenham
•  Cranbourne line  all stations and limited stop services to Cranbourne
•  Gippsland line  V/Line services to Traralgon (pick up only)

Platform 7 & 8:

•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited stop services to Flinders Street
•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited stop services to Flinders Street
•  Glen Waverley line  all stations and limited stop services to Flinders Street
•  Alamein line  weekday all stations and limited stop services to Flinders Street

Platform 9 & 10:

•  Belgrave line  all stations and limited stop services to Belgrave
•  Lilydale line  all stations and limited stop services to Lilydale
•  Glen Waverley line  all stations and limited stop services to Glen Waverley
•  Alamein line  weekday all stations and limited stop services to Alamein

Transport links

Transdev Melbourne operates one route via Richmond station:

• 246 Elsternwick station - Clifton Hill station[7]

Yarra Trams operates one route via Richmond station:

• 70: Docklands - Wattle Park[8]

Schematic diagram of the station

References

1. "Train Station Patronage FY2008-2014" (XLS). Public Transport Victoria. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016. (access from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link))
2. "Station Patronage Data 2013-2018". Philip Mallis. Transport for Victoria. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
3. Richmond Vicsig
4. Lee, Robert (2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2.
5. Public Relations and Betterment Board (1952). Phoenix Pauses. Victorian Railway Commissioners. (VR publicity brochure)
6. "Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. October 1997. p. 310.
7. "246 Elsternwick - Clifton Hill via St Kilda". Public Transport Victoria.
8. "70 Waterfront City Docklands - Wattle Park". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Media related to Richmond railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au