Fawkner railway station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

way station on the Upfield line, part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Hadfield in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Australia. Fawkner station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 8 October 1889, with the current station provided in 1998. It initially closed on 13 July 1903, then reopened on 12 December 1906. Initially opened as Fawkner, the station was renamed two times. It was renamed to Fawkner Cemetery upon its reopening on 12 December 1906, then was given its current name of Fawkner in 1914.

History

Fawkner station originally opened on 8 October 1889, when the railway line from

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

was extended to Somerton. Like the suburb itself, the station was named after

John Pascoe Fawkner John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early Australian pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail ...

, one of the founders of Melbourne. It is located adjacent to the Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park, which opened in 1906, and from then until 1939, special mortuary trains operated. From October 1914, only seven trains operated to Fawkner daily, as well as the daily mortuary train to the cemetery. A former mortuary van is located near the entrance to Platform 2. From 1920, Fawkner was the extent of suburban electrified services. From 1928 until 1959, an

AEC railmotor The AEC railmotor was the first generally successful railmotor built for the Victorian Railways. 19 vehicles were constructed from 1922 to 1925, along with 24 trailer vehicles built to a similar design. Design Four different internal layout ...

was used to provide a connecting service north to Somerton. In that year,

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

services were extended to Upfield. Also in 1959, flashing light signals were provided at the Cemetery Entrance

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

, located nearby in the down direction of the station, and the line from Coburg was duplicated. However, the duplicated line converged at the up end of the station and, until 1998, the station had one platform (present day Platform 2). The second track and Platform 1 were added as part of the duplication of the line to

Gowrie Gowrie () is a region in central Scotland and one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It covered the eastern part of what became Perthshire. It was located to the immediate east of Atholl, and originally included the area aroun ...

. Also in that year,

boom barrier A bar, post, pole, beam, or boom gate, also known as a boom or a boom barrier, is a beam or bar on a pivot used as a gate. The boom is lowered to block vehicular or pedestrian access through a controlled point or raised to permit such traffic. ...

s were provided at the Cemetery Entrance level crossing.

Platforms and services

Fawkner has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

s. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Upfield line services. Platform 1: * all stations services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Upfield

Transport links

Broadmeadows Bus Service operates two routes via Fawkner station, under contract to

Public Transport Victoria Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was previously the trading name of the Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victo ...

: * : Campbellfield Plaza Shopping Centre –

* : Upfield station – North Coburg

References

External links

*
Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Upfield=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in Australia opened in 1889 Railway stations in the City of Merri-bek