Ararat railway station

Ararat railway station is located on the Serviceton and Western standard gauge lines, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Ararat, and opened on 7 April 1875. It is also the junction for the Ararat – Maryborough line.

Facilities
Ararat has two platform faces. The full length standard gauge platform is on the north side with broad gauge trains using a bay platform on the south side. There is a railway grade crossing approximately 500 metres east of the station to allow the broad gauge to continue east towards Beaufort and Ballarat, while the standard gauge heads south towards Geelong.

Control of signals is by the Australian Rail Track Corporation control centre at Mile End, South Australia, and Centrol, in Melbourne.

A dead end siding is located to the east for stabling broad gauge passenger trains while across from the main platform are two standard gauge loops and one dead end siding.

History
The railway first reached Ararat from Ballarat on 7 April 1875. The line south to Portland opened in December 1877, and the mainline was extended west, reaching the South Australian border at Serviceton, in January 1887. The line to Maryborough opened in 1890. Two signal boxes ('A' and 'B') opened in 1891, and in 1914, the goods sidings were extended, with the locomotive depot built soon after.

In the late 1930s, the locomotive depot was expanded, in conjunction with the arrival of the new H class 4-8-4 steam locomotives, intended for use on The Overland passenger train. An 85 ft turntable was installed with 24 roads around it, the largest on the Victorian Railways network. Before this time, Stawell was the major servicing facility in the region.

During 1985, the passenger facilities in the main station building were refurbished. However, during this time, rationalisation of the facilities began; the "B" box was demolished in 1984, and the train control office followed in 1988. The former footbridge, which was located at the Up end of the station, was destroyed by a derailment in May 1986. The former Mobil siding and associated points and staff lock were abolished in January 1988. The locomotive depot closed in 1989, with 'A' box following in 1996. Gauge conversion also occurred at the station in the 1990s, with the main line to Adelaide converted to standard gauge, as part of the One Nation project. The lines west and south were converted, with the line to Maryborough converted to dual gauge soon after.

The former main line to Ballarat had services suspended in April 1995, and was left as broad gauge. V/Line passenger services westward to Dimboola had earlier been withdrawn on 21 August 1993, with the Ballarat to Ararat service withdrawn on 27 May 1994.

On 11 July 2004, the line to Ballarat was reopened, with V/Line passenger services reinstated. The contract for the works was awarded in February 2003, and required a diamond crossing and signalling to be installed, to allow the broad gauge line to reach the platform. The Maryborough line was booked out of use in January 2005.

From January 2017, the line now includes a stop at the new Caroline Springs station. The Murray Basin Rail Project, begun in 2016, includes reopening of the line from Ararat to Maryborough.

Re-opening of the Maryborough to Ararat rail freight line
The Maryborough to Ararat rail freight line was officially re-opened at Avoca early in 2018 after more than 13 years of siting idle.

Platforms & services
Ararat has two platforms. It is serviced by V/Line Ararat line services and Great Southern Rail Overland services.

Platform 1:
 * The Overland: services to Adelaide Parklands & Southern Cross

Platform 2:
 *  Ballarat/Ararat line : V/Line services to & from Southern Cross

Transport Links
V/Line operate road coach services from Ararat to Ballarat, Warrnambool and Nhill. The Ballarat and Nhill services are operated by Firefly Express.

Christans Bus Service/Ararat transit operates six bus services from the station.
 * 1 Ararat Station to Ararat West Via Brewster Road
 * 2 Ararat Station to Ararat South Via Burke Street
 * 3 Ararat Station to Ararat North Via Baird Street
 * Ararat Station to Maryborough Elmhurst,Avoca
 * Ararat Station to Hopkins Correctional Centre
 * Ararat - Lake Bolac via Willaura