Sunshine railway station, Melbourne

Sunshine railway station is located on the Sunbury line, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Sunshine. Sunshine is serviced by V/Line Ballarat and Geelong passenger services, with Bendigo line passenger services running through but no longer stopping since 2014, with the station serving as the junction for the Serviceton line, to the state's west. The Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line passes to the north of the station.

History
Sunshine station opened on 7 September 1885 as Braybrook Junction. It was renamed Sunshine on 15 July 1907.

19th century
The Melbourne & Murray River Railway (now named the Bendigo line), originating from Spencer Street station, was built in the late 1850s, from Footscray station to Sunbury and Bendigo, however, no station was built at that time on the current site; the closest station was Albion & Darlington, on the site of the current Albion station.

In 1885, the Serviceton line from Melbourne to Ballarat, via Bacchus Marsh, was built, branching off from the Bendigo line, and a station at the junction of the two lines was built. The station opened on 7 September 1885, as Braybrook Junction, named such as it was at the junction of the two lines, and was within the Shire of Braybrook.

In 1887, the Sunshine – Newport line, connecting the new station at Braybrook Junction to Newport and Williamstown, Victoria's major cargo port at the time, was opened.

20th century
In 1907, Braybrook Junction station was renamed Sunshine, when Hugh McKay moved his Sunshine Harvester Works adjacent to the station. On 20 April 1908, Sunshine was the scene of the worst train crash in Victorian railway history, the Sunshine train disaster.

The Albion – Jacana line opened in 1929, connecting Sunshine station with the North East line, allowing freight trains to avoid the steeper grades and suburban traffic on the suburban line between North Melbourne, Essendon and Broadmeadows.

The road level crossing at Sunshine was removed when grade separation was carried out in 1961. The works took place as part of the project to construct a standard gauge line from Sydney to Melbourne. Boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Bendigo line, in the same year.

A fourth platform was opened in January 1963, on the adjacent Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line, to enable passengers to transfer between the interstate Sydney and Adelaide expresses. In 1965, control of signals at Albion station was transferred to the signal box at Sunshine. Boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Ballarat line, in 1977.

On 5 February 1985, Harris trailer carriage 830T was destroyed by fire, in a vandalism attack, whist stabled in the former down siding.

The sidings leading to Massey Ferguson were booked out of use in 1988, with the lead to the sidings, which crossed the standard gauge line, was removed in February of the same year.

Sunshine was categorised as a Premium station on 26 July 1996.

21st century
From 2012-2014, the station was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project. Works included:
 * a new bus interchange, completed in September 2013;
 * construction of a new footbridge and concourse, completed in January 2014;
 * upgrading Platforms 1 and 2 with new canopies;
 * rebuilding Platform 3 and a new Platform 4, both completed in April 2014;

The completed station was opened to the public on 28 April 2014.

On July 22, 2018, the Victorian state government announced that the Melbourne Airport rail link will be funded with state and commonwealth money and that it will run from the Melbourne CBD to Melbourne Airport via Sunshine station. As part of this project, a new "super hub" will be built at Sunshine station for passengers transferring between V/Line services and the airport trains. Construction is planned to begin by 2022.

Facilities, platforms and services
Sunshine has two side platforms and a centre island platform. Access is provided to the platforms using stairs, lifts and ramps from an overhead footbridge and concourse, which features a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room and toilets. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Sunbury line and V/Line Ballarat and Geelong services.

Platform 1:
 * Sunbury line: all stations and limited stops services to Flinders Street

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

Platform 3:
 *  Ballarat line : V/Line services to Southern Cross
 *  Geelong line : V/Line services to Southern Cross

Platform 4:
 *  Ballarat line : V/Line services to Ballarat
 *  Geelong line : V/Line services to Wyndham Vale, Geelong & Waurn Ponds

Sunshine bus interchange
The bus interchange at Sunshine station is the second biggest (after Frankston station's 19 bus bays) in the Melbourne metropolitan area with 13 bays. There are 13 bus services that use the bus interchange.

CDC Melbourne operates three routes via Sunshine station:
 * 400: Sunshine Station to Laverton station via Robinsons Road (shared with Sita Buslines)
 * 408: St Albans station to Highpoint Shopping Centre via Sunshine Station
 * 410: Sunshine Station to Footscray via Ballarat Road

Sita Buslines operates seven routes to and from Sunshine station:
 * 400: Sunshine Station to Laverton station via Robinsons Road (shared with CDC Melbourne)
 * 420: Sunshine Station to Watergardens station via Deer Park
 * 422: Sunshine station – Brimbank Central Shopping Centre
 * 427: Sunshine Station to Sunshine West via Forrest St
 * 428: Sunshine Station to Sunshine West
 * 456: Sunshine Station to Melton via Rockbank
 * 471: Williamstown to Sunshine Station via Newport & Altona Gate Shopping Centre

Transdev Melbourne operates four routes via Sunshine station:
 * 216: Caroline Springs to Brighton Beach
 * 219: Sunshine South to Gardenvale
 * 220: Sunshine - City - Gardenvale
 * SmartBus 903: Altona to Mordialloc (SMARTBUS Service)

Dyson's Bus Services operates one route via Sunshine station:
 * Night Network (Melbourne) 942: Melbourne CBD (Queen Street) – St Albans station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)