Essendon railway station

Essendon railway station is located on the Craigieburn line, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Essendon, and opened on 1 November 1860, as the terminus of the private Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company line. The station closed with the line on 1 July 1864, but was reopened on 9 October 1871, under government ownership.

History
The line to the north was opened in 1872, as part of the North East line to Wodonga. A completely new station, with a single platform, was provided in 1878, on the site of the present island platform, with passenger subways and footbridges added in 1886, along with conversion of the island platform to the current layout. It was also at this time that a road overpass was provided at Mount Alexander Road, in what was one of the first grade separation projects to be carried out in the state. In 1909, the present buildings were provided, along with a centre track between platforms 1 and 2.

Electric train services between the city and Essendon were inaugurated in 1919, with electrification extended to Broadmeadows in 1921. However, Essendon remained the terminus of most suburban services, with a shuttle service operating beyond until 1925, with all day through services to Broadmeadows not provided until 1941. The station took the layout it has today in 1969, with the abolition of the centre track, closure of the stand-alone signal box, provision of automatic signalling along the line, and replacement of the Buckley Street interlocked crossing gates with boom barriers.

Harris motor 518M and Tait motor 368M were destroyed by fire whilst stabled at the station on 7 March 1973. Tait trailer 85G was also damaged in the fire.

Stabling of suburban trains at Essendon ceased on 8 June 1987, with the overhead wiring of all sidings removed just over a year later. The former sidings near Rose Street were removed on 1 September 1988.

On 20 September 2016, the Level Crossing Removal Authority and the Victorian state government announced the grade separation of the Buckley Street level crossing. Construction began in 2018, with the level crossing being removed and Buckley St reopening on the 28th September 2018. Buckley St now runs under the railway line in a trench.

As part of the Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel it is expected that the turnback facilities at Essendon Station will be upgraded to allow services to start at Essendon when the tunnel opens in 2025

Platforms & services
Essendon has one island platform with two faces and one side platform. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Craigieburn line services and V/Line Seymour services. Platform 1 is rarely used, but it is used by V/Line services to overtake Metro Trains services, or when 3 car trains are terminating.

Platform 1:
 * Passing rail line only for V/Line Services. Only used for passenger services during major disruptions.

Platform 2:
 * Craigieburn line: all stations services to Flinders Street
 *  Seymour line : V/Line services to Southern Cross

Platform 3:
 * Craigieburn line: all stations services to Craigieburn
 *  Seymour line : V/Line services to Seymour

Transport links
CDC Melbourne operates one route via Essendon station:
 * 477: Moonee Ponds Junction – Broadmeadows station

Kastoria Bus Lines operates three routes via Essendon station:
 * 475: Moonee Ponds Junction – Keilor East
 * 476: Moonee Ponds Junction – Plumpton
 * 501: Moonee Ponds Junction – Niddrie

Moonee Valley Coaches operates one route to and from Essendon station:
 * 503: to Brunswick East

Moreland Buslines operates one route to and from Essendon station:
 * 510: to Ivanhoe station

Ryan Brothers Bus Service operates two routes to and from Essendon station:
 * 465: to Keilor Park
 * 468: to Highpoint Shopping Centre

Sunbury Bus Service operates one route via Essendon station:
 * 483: Sunbury station – Moonee Ponds Junction

Transdev Melbourne operates one SmartBus route via Essendon station:
 * SmartBus 903: Altona station – Mordialloc station

Yarra Trams operates one route via Essendon station:
 * 59: Westfield Airport West – Elizabeth Street, City