Gowrie railway station explained

Gowrie
Type:PTV commuter rail station
Style:Melbourne
Address:Sages Road,
Fawkner, Victoria 3060
Borough:City of Merri-bek
Country:Australia
Coordinates:-37.7007°N 144.9588°W
Distance:14.73 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Other: Bus
Structure:Ground
Platform:2 (1 island)
Tracks:2
Parking:100
Bicycle:Yes
Electrified:August 1959 (1500 V DC overhead)
Accessible:Yes—step-free access
Code:GOW
Owned:VicTrack
Operator:Metro Trains
Zone:Myki Zone 2
Status:Operational, premium station
Former:Rail Motor Stopping Place No. 21
(1928–1956)
Website:Public Transport Victoria
Map State:expanded

Gowrie railway station is located on the Upfield line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Fawkner and opened on 17 May 1965.[1] [2]

History

1928–1956

On 16 October 1928, after the reinstatement of a passenger service on the FawknerSomerton line in March of that year, Rail Motor Stopping Place No. 21 opened at the site of the present Gowrie station.[1] It was closed on 5 May 1956, when the passenger service ceased.[1]

1965–present

On 17 May 1965, Gowrie station opened in its current form, on what was by then the Upfield line.[1] [2] The name of the station derives from a former grazing property called Gowrie Park, which the owner named after Gowrie, in the UK.[3] [4] [5] The Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park is located on part of the former property.[3]

Just after 4:45am on 2 August 1977, a seven-car Harris train set rolled away from the station when the driver and guard were changing ends, having taken the train out of a siding, prior to operating a city-bound service from Upfield.[6] [7] [8] The train passed through fifteen level crossings and destroyed seven sets of hand gates before stopping just after Brunswick, between the Albert and Dawson Streets level crossings.[7] [6] [8]

In 1998, Gowrie was upgraded to a premium station.[9] Also in that year, the track from Fawkner to Gowrie was duplicated and boom barriers were provided at the Box Forest Road level crossing, in the up direction from the station.[10] Immediately north of the station, the double track merges into a single track, which continues to the terminus at Upfield.[1] Prior to 1998, Platform 1 was a dock platform for terminating trains,[11] which meant that trains could not pass each other there, but had to do so further down the line at Merlynston.

Under the 2013 PTV Network Development Plan, the line between Gowrie and Upfield was to be duplicated, and the line to Roxburgh Park reinstated. That was to include a flyover across the North East standard gauge line, to allow Seymour V/Line services to run via Upfield, and eventual electrification of the line to Wallan.[12]

Platforms and services

Gowrie has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Upfield line trains.[13]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Transport links

Broadmeadows Bus Service operates two routes via Gowrie station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

Dysons operates one bus route to and from Gowrie station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

Ventura Bus Lines operates one route to and from Gowrie station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gowrie . Vicsig . 8 January 2016 . 29 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160829095955/http://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Gowrie . live.
  2. News: New Rail Station to Open . 12 May 1965 . 20 . The Age.
  3. Web site: Fawkner. Victorian Places. 26 December 2022. 26 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221226111943/https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/fawkner. live.
  4. News: Railways Will Spend £7¾ Million . 3 September 1963 . 3 . The Age.
  5. News: New Rail Station for Gowrie . 5 June 1964 . 5 . The Age.
  6. News: Money . Lawrence . Birnbauer . Bill . Runaway – Train slams seven gates . . 2 August 1977.
  7. News: 'Old system' blamed for rail runaway . 3 August 1977 . 13 . The Age.
  8. News: VicRail quiz on runaway . 3 August 1977 . 11 . The Sun News-Pictorial.
  9. October 1997 . Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station . Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 303–315.
  10. November 1998 . Signalling Alterations . Somersault . Signalling Record Society (Victoria) . 93.
  11. Web site: Flickr – High Bicyclist Photostream . 9 October 2021 . 9 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211009120703/https://www.flickr.com/photos/80109267@N03/7682673652/ . live .
  12. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ptvic/NDPMR+-+Network+Development+Plan+-+Metropolitan+Rail+-+FINAL+for+web+-+up.pdf Network Development Plan – Metropolitan Rail
  13. train.