Werribee railway station is the terminus of the electrified suburban Werribee line in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It serves the western

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government a ...

, and it opened on 25 June 1857.Werribee
Vicsig The

Western standard gauge line The Western standard gauge railway line is a standard-gauge railway line in western Victoria, Australia. Completed in 1995, it forms part of the Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor and serves as the principal interstate rail link between Vict ...

, which runs between Melbourne and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, passes to the north of Platform 1.

History

Werribee station was opened by the

Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company ...

, as part of the railway line between those two cities.Werribee Station
Rail Geelong It was designed by

Frederick Kawerau Frederick (German: Friedrich) Ferdinand Kawerau was a German-born architect and surveyor, who worked in Geelong, Victoria, Australia between about 1849 and 1854. Kawerau was born on 1 October 1817 in Bolesławiec, in Lower Silesia, and was prob ...

, 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 dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * fe ...

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 on the south gable, 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, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

. In 1968, the line between Werribee and Laverton was duplicated, with duplication to

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

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. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...

at the station was abolished, with a signal panel provided. In 1976, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Werribee Street

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

, which was located nearby in the Down direction of the station. On 11 October 1979, a Seymour- Geelong goods train derailed at the station, causing extensive damage to both platforms and the station building on Platform 2 (now Platform 3). The line from Newport to Werribee was

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. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in November 1983, with the current

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

and underpass opening earlier in April of that year. In 1987, sidings "B", "E" and "F" were abolished. In 1997, Werribee was upgraded to a

Premium Station The Melbourne rail network is a passenger and freight train system in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan passenger rail network is centred on the Melbourne CBD and consists of 222 stations across 16 lines, which s ...

. Boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Cherry Street level crossing, which was located at the Up end of the station, in 1963. On 27 June 2019, the

Level Crossing Removal Project The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) is a program of the Government of Victoria, Australia, to remove 110 level crossings and rebuild 51 railway stations in Melbourne. After pledging the removal of 50 level crossings at the 2014 Victor ...

announced that the level crossing will be

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 tra ...

, with a road overpass built approximately 1km east of the station, connecting Tarneit Road with the Princes Highway. Construction began in February 2020, and the overpass was opened to traffic on 11 March 2021. 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 the same year. Werribee station will be upgraded as part of Stage 1 of the

Western Rail Plan The Western Rail Plan is a metropolitan rail infrastructure project being planned in Melbourne, Australia. The project was initially announced during the 2018 Victorian State Election by the State Government. It includes the electrification of two ...

's Geelong Fast Rail project. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023.

Platforms and services

Werribee has 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 platform ...

and one

with two faces. It is serviced by

Metro Trains Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the franchise operator of the electrified suburban passenger service on the Melbourne rail network. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (6 ...

' Werribee line services. Platform 1: * services to Flinders Street and Frankston Platform 2: * services to Flinders Street and Frankston Platform 3: * services to Flinders Street and Frankston Until June 2015,

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...

Geelong and

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

line services ran 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 The Regional Rail Link (RRL) was a project to build a 47.5 kilometre length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, the main aim of which was to separate regional V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services from the el ...

Transport links

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As at 2018, CDC Melbourne was the third-largest commuter b ...

operates twelve routes to and from Werribee station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: * : 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 Wyndham Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Wyndham Vale recorded a population of 20,518 at the . The suburb of Ma ...

) * : to Wyndham Vale station * : to

Werribee South Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee is ...

* : to Riverwalk Estate (

) * : to Werribee station (loop service via South Werribee)

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 Melbourne Railway stations in Australia opened in 1857 Werribee, Victoria Listed railway stations in Australia Railway stations in the City of Wyndham