Werribee 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 and the terminus of the Werribee line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the western suburb of Werribee, 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. Werribee station is a ground level

premium station The Melbourne rail network is a metropolitan Commuter rail, suburban and Rail freight transport, freight rail system serving the city of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan rail network is centred around th ...

, featuring three platforms, an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

with two faces and one

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, ...

. It opened on 25 June 1857, with the current station provided in 1983. The Western standard gauge line, which operates between Melbourne and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, passes to the north of Platform 1.

History

Werribee station opened on 25 June 1857 by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company, as part of the railway line between those two cities. It was designed by Frederick Kawerau, in partnership with Edward Snell, the engineer for the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company. In May 1927, the station building was heavily damaged by fire. As part of the rebuilding, a new, low-pitched roof was provided, and the surviving

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...

walls were

cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

ed. A stone plaque, embossed with "G.&M.R. 1857", was once located on the south

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

, but was lost after the fire. It has since been found, and has been built into the wall of the former

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

printing works in Laurens Street,

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

. In 1963, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Cherry Street

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 ...

, which was located at the up end of the station. In 1968, the line between Werribee and Laverton was duplicated, with duplication to Little River occurring in 1970. In 1973, all

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...

at the station was abolished, with a signal panel provided. In 1976, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Werribee Street level crossing, which was located nearby in the down direction of the station. On 11 October 1979, a Seymour-

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

goods train derailed at the station, causing extensive damage to both platforms and the station building on Platform 2 (now Platform 3). In April 1983, the current

and

underpass A subway, also known as an underpass, is a grade-separated pedestrian crossing running underneath a road or railway in order to entirely separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor or train traffic. Terminology In the United States, as ...

was provided. In November of that year, the line from Newport to Werribee was electrified. In 1987, sidings "B", "E" and "F" were abolished. In 1997, Werribee was upgraded to a

. Under the Level Crossing Removal Project, the Cherry Street level crossing was

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

, with a road overpass built approximately east of the station, connecting Tarneit Road with the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

. Construction began in February 2020 and, on 11 March 2021, the overpass was opened to traffic. The Cherry Street level crossing was closed to traffic on the same day, and was replaced with a pedestrian and cyclist underpass, which opened on 1 April of that year. As part of stage 1 of the Western Rail Plan's Geelong Fast Rail project, Werribee is scheduled to be upgraded. Construction is set to begin in 2023.

Platforms and services

Werribee has one

and one

with two faces. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Werribee line services. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston Platform 2: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston Platform 3: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston Until June 2015,

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates Regional rail, regional passenger rail and Intercity bus service, coach services in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five Commuter rail, ...

and

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

line services operated via Werribee, with many of the services stopping at the station. The Melbourne-bound services used Platform 2, while Geelong-bound services used Platform 3. These services now operate via the

Regional Rail Link Regional Rail Link (RRL) is the name of a project to build a length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The name is also colloquially used to refer to the rail alignment constructed as part of the project. The pro ...

Transport links

CDC Melbourne operates twelve bus routes to and from Werribee 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 ...

: * : to Williams Landing station * : to Hoppers Crossing station * : to Tarneit station * : to Tarneit station * : to Hoppers Crossing station * : to Tarneit station * : to Wyndham Vale station * : to Jubilee Estate ( Wyndham Vale) * : to Wyndham Vale station * : to Werribee South * : to Riverwalk Estate ( Werribee) * : to Werribee station (loop service via South Werribee)

Gallery

File:Platform 3 at Werribee.jpg, South-west bound view from Platform 2, September 2005

References

External links

*
Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Werribee=y, state=collapsed Premium Melbourne railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1857 Werribee, Victoria Listed railway stations in Australia Railway stations in the City of Wyndham