Diggers Rest 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

Sunbury line The Sunbury line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's fifth longest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street railway station, Fl ...

, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-western suburb of Diggers Rest, 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. Diggers Rest station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 2 October 1859, with the current station provided in 2012.

History

Diggers Rest opened on 2 October 1859, eight months after the railway line from

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

was extended to Sunbury. Like the suburb itself, the station was named after the fact that the area was used as a resting place for

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

s travelling to

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

during the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

. At the time of opening, a small

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before, after, and during loading to and unloading from a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, althou ...

and

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...

were provided. In 1928, interlocked gates were provided at the

Calder Highway Calder Highway is a rural highway in Australia, linking Mildura and the Victoria/New South Wales border to Bendigo, in North Central Victoria. South of Bendigo, where the former highway has been upgraded to freeway-standard, Calder Freeway li ...

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 at the down end of the station, and were replaced with

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 in 1982. In 1989, the goods siding was abolished and, in 1992, the remaining

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was removed. The waiting room and booking lobby inside the building on Platform 1 were also provided in that year and, along with the

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

, was restored in 2002, after being damaged by fire during the previous year. On 16 April 2005, the signal box was abolished, as part of the

Regional Fast Rail project The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the Government of Victoria (Australia), State Government of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail servi ...

. On 18 November 2012, the station was added to the metropolitan network, when the line between Watergardens and Sunbury 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. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

. As part of those works, the station was refurbished, with both platforms extended at the up ( Flinders Street) end. The

car park A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...

was also enlarged. On 21 October 2022, the

Level Crossing Removal Project The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) is an infrastructure upgrade project by the Government of Victoria, Australia, to remove and grade-separate 110 level crossings and to rebuild 51 railway stations on the metropolitan and regional r ...

announced that the Old Calder Highway level crossing was to 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 tr ...

with a road over rail design. Also in that year, both platforms were extended in length, from 159m to 163m.

Platforms and services

Diggers Rest 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 served by

trains. Platform 1: * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street Platform 2: * all stations services to Sunbury In 2025, it is planned that trains on the Sunbury line will be through-routed with those on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, via the new

Metro Tunnel The Metro Tunnel, formerly known as Melbourne Metro Rail (MMR), is an underground rapid transit project currently under construction in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It involves the construction of twin rail tunnels between South Kensington ...

Transport links

Sunbury Bus Service operates two routes via Diggers Rest 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 Sunbury station * : Sunbury station –

Moonee Ponds Junction Moonee Ponds Junction is a bus and tram interchange on the junction of Ascot Vale Road / Pascoe Vale Road and Mount Alexander Road in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne (Puckle Street / Dean Street also meets at the same point). It is located approximate ...

Gallery

File:Diggers Rest railway station.JPG, Northbound view from Platform 2, January 2010, prior to the electrification of the line

References

External links

Rail Geelong gallery

Melway map
at street-directory.com.au {{Public Transport Victoria railway stations, Sunbury=y, state=collapsed Railway stations in the City of Melton Railway stations in Australia opened in 1859