Cheltenham railway station, Melbourne

Cheltenham railway station is located on the Frankston railway line in Victoria, Australia. Opened in 1881, the station serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham.

History
Cheltenham railway station was one of the earliest railway stations on the Frankston railway line, having opened on 19 December 1881. The current dock platform (Platform 1) was provided in 1956. A siding originally existed at this dock platform. Boom barriers were provided at the Park Road level crossing, located at the Up (Flinders Street) end, in 1966. A signal panel was installed in the station building in 1972, to control trains terminating at Platform 1. This coincided with the introduction of automatic signalling between Highett and Cheltenham. Boom barriers were also provided at the Charman Road level crossing, located at the Down (Frankston) end of the station, in 1972. A fourth track was laid into the bitumen of the Park St level crossing in preparation for triplication, but it was never connected. There was previously a siding on the eastern side of the station, at the Flinders Street end. The wiring for the siding was deactivated by 1980 when most of the siding was replaced with car parking, and was removed altogether by 1985.

The station was designated as a Premium station on 8 March 1996.

In 2010, Cheltenham station was identified as a key part of the Cheltenham Major Activity Centre by the then-Brumby State Government, as part of their Melbourne 2030 strategic planning policy framework. In 2010, Kingston City Council proposed a major redevelopment of the station environs, including a new station forecourt with a terraced plaza, giving more prominence to the heritage listed buildings at the station, and a new taxi rank, similar to that at Mentone. The proposal had not been implemented. More recently, in October 2015, the station toilets were refurbished.

In February 2017, it was announced that as part of the Andrews State Government's crossings removal project, Cheltenham station will be redeveloped into a rail trench – as to negate the rail crossings at Charman and Park Roads. The trench, at 1.26 km in length, will be at least 30 metres wide; this will facilitate the re-reinstatement of the station's third track (platform 1; currently in–use as a dock) into a duplication of the 'to Frankston' track. Road bridges will be constructed over the rail-line for both Charman and Park Roads. Furthermore, a multi–deck car-park will be built within the station's existing car–park.

The station was located between Mentone and Highett since its opening in 1881, until the opening of Southland station in 2017. Southland replaced Highett as the closest station to Cheltenham towards the city.

Incidents
On 10 May 2008, former The Saddle Club actress Jessica Jacobs died instantly from her injuries after she was hit by a train. In 2012, a motorist was killed after a train hit his car.

Platforms and services
Cheltenham is served by Metro Trains' Frankston line services. It has two side platforms and one dock platform. The latter was served by one afternoon terminating service from Flinders Street, that returned empty to the city, but from 12 October 2014, extra weekday Flinders Street bound services began to use the platform.

Platform 1:
 * Frankston line: terminating services from Flinders Street

Platform 2:
 * Frankston line: all stations and limited stops services to Flinders Street

Platform 3:
 * Frankston line: all stations services to Frankston

Transport links
Transdev Melbourne operates three bus routes via Cheltenham station:
 * 600: Westfield Southland – St Kilda station
 * 922: Westfield Southland – St Kilda station
 * 923: Westfield Southland – St Kilda station

Ventura Bus Lines operates four bus routes via Cheltenham station:
 * 811: Dandenong station – Brighton
 * 812: Dandenong station – Brighton
 * 822: Chadstone Shopping Centre – Sandringham station
 * 828: Hampton Station – Berwick Station