Reservoir railway station explained

Reservoir
Type:PTV commuter rail station
Style:Melbourne
Address:High Street,
Reservoir, Victoria 3073
Borough:City of Darebin
Country:Australia
Coordinates:-37.7168°N 145.0071°W
Distance:14.94 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Other: Bus
Structure:Elevated
Platform:2 (1 island)
Tracks:2
Parking:380
Bicycle:Yes
Rebuilt:1967
16 December 2019 (LXRP)
Electrified:July 1921 (1500 V DC overhead)
Accessible:Yes—step free access
Code:RES
Owned:VicTrack
Operator:Metro Trains
Zone:Myki Zone 1/2 overlap
Status:Operational, premium station
Former:Preston – Reservoir (1889–1909)
Website:Public Transport Victoria
Map State:expanded

Reservoir railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the north-eastern suburb of Reservoir, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Reservoir station is an elevated structure premium station, with an island platform. It opened on 8 October 1889, with the current station provided in 2019.[1]

Initially opened as Preston-Reservoir, the station was given its current name of Reservoir on 1 December 1909.[2] [3]

History

Reservoir station opened when the Inner Circle line was extended from North Fitzroy station.[1] On 23 December of the same year, the line was further extended to Epping.[1] Like the suburb, the station was named after the three reservoirs that were built south-east of the station, in 1864, 1909 and 1913 respectively.[4] [5] The reservoirs were constructed to hold Melbourne's water supply from the Yan Yean Reservoir.[4]

The station was originally the terminus for suburban services on the Whittlesea line. The line was duplicated in December 1910 and, in July 1921, Reservoir became the terminus for suburban electric trains. In 1924, an eighth-metre-long turntable was provided at the station, to turn the AEC railmotor which operated between Reservoir and Whittlesea, making two trips a day.[3] In December 1929, electric train services were extended from Reservoir to Thomastown and, in 1940, the turntable was abolished.[1]

In 1959, duplication of the line to Keonpark station was provided.[1] In 1963, manually operated boom barriers replaced hand-operated gates at the former High Street level crossing, which was at the down end of the station.[6] In 1967, the former ground-level station buildings were provided, replacing the original structures.[7]

In the early hours of 13 July 1975, a deliberately-lit fire damaged Harris motor 567M and Tait motor 345M, both of which were stabled at the station.[8] [9] On 29 December 1980, Harris backing trailer 533BT, which was in a consist operating the 23:15 down service to Epping, was damaged by fire as it arrived at the station.[10]

On 18 December 1986, a number of sidings and signals were abolished.[1] On 1 April 1987, further sidings were abolished.[1] On 8 May 1988, the former signal box and interlocked frame were abolished. Also abolished were two crossovers at the up and down ends of the station,[11] as well as the double line block signalling system between Reservoir and Keon Park, which was replaced with automatic three-position signalling.[11] Pedestrian gates were also installed at the former station pedestrian crossing, which was at the down end, and at the former High Street level crossing.[11] Two months earlier, the double line block system between Bell and Reservoir had been abolished.[11]

In 1991, a reconfigured High Street level crossing was opened,[12] with that arrangement existing until the grade separation of the level crossing in 2019. On 25 June 1996, Reservoir was upgraded to a premium station.[13]

In January 2016, the Level Crossing Removal Authority announced that the High Street level crossing would be removed by grade separation.[14] [15] In September 2018, preliminary designs were released, showing that the grade separation would be achieved by elevating the railway, with a new station to be built at the existing location.[16] The winning station design was produced by local architecture firm Genton.[17] Plans for grade separation have dated as far back as the early to mid 1970s.[18] [19]

On 2 December 2019, the ground-level station was closed for demolition, and the new station, above a multi-road intersection, was opened on 16 December of that year.[20] As part of the work, crossovers were reinstated at both the up and down ends of the new station.[1]

Platforms and services

Reservoir has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Mernda line trains.[21]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Transport links

Dysons operates seven bus routes via Reservoir station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reservoir. vicsig.net. 4 February 2023. 27 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230427110355/https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Reservoir. live.
  2. Web site: Reservoir. vicsig.net. 4 February 2023. 27 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230427110355/https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Reservoir. live.
  3. November 1995. Reservoir – Whittlesea: Signalling and Safeworking. Jack McLean. Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 333–337.
  4. Web site: Reservoir. Victorian Places. 4 February 2023. 18 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318044011/https://victorianplaces.com.au/reservoir. live.
  5. Web site: Jamie. First. The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs. Herald Sun. 7 January 2014. 4 February 2023. 26 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221226135637/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/the-az-story-of-melbournes-suburbs/news-story/6f7611b7df20e55ad02f5e9615885e21. live.
  6. January 1990 . Level Crossing Protection . John Sinnatt . Somersault . Signalling Record Society Victoria . 9–17.
  7. May 1967 . New Works, Closures . . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 12.
  8. News: A bad weekend for the railways . 14 July 1975 . 2 . The Age.
  9. September 1975 . Rollingstock & Locomotives . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 201.
  10. March 1981 . Delays, Derailments, etc. . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 49.
  11. July 1988 . Works . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 220.
  12. October 1991 . Works . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 338.
  13. October 1997 . Upgrading Eltham to a Premium Station . Newsrail . Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) . 303–315.
  14. News: Carey . Adam . End of the line for older Melbourne stations being torn down and rebuilt . 17 December 2021 . The Age . 31 January 2016 . 11 May 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170511070254/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/end-of-the-line-for-scores-of-older-melbourne-stations-being-torn-down-and-rebuilt-20160131-gmhzly . live.
  15. http://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/crossings/high-street,-reservoir High Street, Reservoir
  16. Web site: Reservoir level crossing project design announced . Level Crossing Removal Authority . 16 October 2018 . 16 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181016133039/https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/media/news/reservoir-level-crossing-project-design-announced . live .
  17. News: cheng . Linda . ‘Light, ephemeral’ beach-inspired design wins Frankston station competition . May 29, 2024 . ArchitectureAU . March 28, 2017.
  18. August 1970. New Works and Re-Arrangements. Divisional Diary. Australian Railway Historical Society. 5.
  19. January 1976. Works & Safeworking. Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. 19.
  20. Web site: New Reservoir Station open in time for the holidays . Victoria's Big Build . 4 February 2023 . 4 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230204111648/https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/news/level-crossing-removal-project/new-reservoir-station-open-in-time-for-the-holidays . live.
  21. train.
  22. Web site: 552 North East Reservoir – Northcote Plaza via High Street. Public Transport Victoria. 30 April 2023. 29 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230429141327/https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/route/15724/552-north-east-reservoir-northcote-plaza-via-high-street. live.