Royal Park railway station

Royal Park railway station is located on the Upfield railway line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Parkville, and opened on 9 September 1884.

It is located in the park of the same name, and is the nearest station to the Melbourne Zoo. A disused signal box is located on Platform 1.

History
The original plan for the route of the line through Royal Park was to be east of the Zoological Gardens, but after local protests against the destruction of the park, a decision was made to build the line to the west for "reasons of economy". On opening, only temporary station buildings were provided, along with a signal box and gatekeepers cottage.

On 8 May 1888, Royal Park became a junction station, with the opening of the Inner Circle line, to both Clifton Hill and Northcote. At the same time, a timber station building and station masters residence were erected. Between 1889 and 1912, there was a goods siding near the station, named Royal Park Cutting Siding.

The current station building on the Platform 1 was opened in 1920, with a tile roof in the "Gisborne style", and in 1936, a new waiting shed and ticket office replaced earlier structures on Platform 2. Boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Poplar Road level crossing in 1971, when automatic signaling reached the station from Jewell, with automatic signaling extended to Macaulay in 1972. The Inner Circle line (by then a goods-only stub to Fitzroy) was closed in 1981, and the waiting shed on Platform 2 was destroyed by arson in 1989. The signal box on Platform 1 closed in 1994.

Platforms & services
Royal Park has two side platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Upfield line services.

Platform 1:
 * Upfield line: all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:
 * Upfield line: all stations services to Upfield

Transport links
Dyson's Bus Services operates one route via Royal Park station:
 * 505: Moonee Ponds Junction to Melbourne University

Yarra Trams operates one route via Royal Park station:
 * 58: West Coburg to Toorak