Middle Park light rail station explained

Middle Park
Type:PTV tram stop
Style:Yarra Trams
Address:Albert Park/Middle Park
Victoria 3206
Country:Australia
Coordinates:-37.8496°N 144.9656°W
Structure:At grade
Platform:2 (2 side)
Tracks:2
Opened:2 July 1883
Closed:1 August 1987
Rebuilt:21 November 1987
Code:130
MPK (former)
Zone:Myki Zone 1
Status:Operational
Former:Middle Park railway station
Accessible:Yes
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:1

Middle Park is a light rail station on the former St Kilda railway line, in the Melbourne suburb of Middle Park, on the corner of Canterbury Road and Armstrong Street. A pair of low-level side platforms now serve route 96 trams running on a light rail line. Other nearby light rail stops are at Fraser Street and Wright Street. Those and a number of other stops were added after the line was converted to light rail.

History

Middle Park station opened in 1883, well after the line through it opened in 1857.[1] The St Kilda railway line closed in 1987, and was converted to light rail, with the route 96 tram now running past the former station. The last train service ran on 31 July 1987, and the light rail service was officially commissioned on 21 November of that year.[2] The high-level platforms used by trains were demolished to make way for the construction of lower-level platforms, but the station building remained at the original level.

In 2006, the building was redeveloped as a café called Mart 130, but it was gutted by fire on 19 February 2018,[3] and later demolished. It has since been rebuilt and,, houses the For Change Co. café[4] It was not the first time fire had destroyed the station: a fire in July 1978 also gutted the station building.[5]

Tram services

Yarra Trams operates one route via Middle Park station:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Middle Park. VICSIG - Infrastructure. vicsig.net. 2008-07-05.
  2. March 1997 . Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960 . Chris Banger . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 77–82 .
  3. News: Simonis . Aneeka . Middle Park railway cafe destroyed by fire. 20 February 2018 . Herald Sun . 2022-07-03.
  4. News: Webb . Carolyn . All aboard for coffee with a conscience at youth charity's station cafe. 15 August 2021 . The Age . 2022-07-03.
  5. December 1979 . Works . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society . 288.
  6. tram.