Merlynston station is a railway station operated by Metro Trains Melbourne on the Upfield line, part of the Melbourne rail network. It serves the northern suburb of Coburg North in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Merlynston station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform. It opened on 8 October 1889, with the current station provided in 1959. It initially closed on 13 July 1903, then reopened on 1 October 1914.
Initially opened as North Coburg, the station was given its current name of Merlynston on 6 February 1922.
History
Merlynston station opened as North Coburg when the railway line was extended from Coburg to Somerton. The station initially closed in 1903 when the line was truncated back to Coburg, but the line reopened as far as Fawkner in 1906 for traffic to the newly opened Fawkner Cemetery.
The station reopened when passenger services were re-extended from Coburg to Fawkner in 1914, and in 1922 the station was renamed to Merlynston. The station and locality were named by Donald Bain who, in 1919, purchased 31 hectares of land to be subdivided into a housing estate. Bain named the estate after his daughter, Merlyn.
In 1948, flashing light signals were provided at the Boundary Road level crossing, in the down direction from the station. In 1959, the current island platform was provided when the line was duplicated between Coburg and Fawkner.
In 1984, boom barriers were provided at the Boundary Road level crossing.
In November 1998, the level crossing at Shorts Road, south of the station, was closed, and a dead-end street was created on either side of the railway line. Until the track was duplicated to Gowrie in that year, the line north of the station had only a single track, apart from the island platform at Gowrie, which had two platforms. However, one of those was a dock platform, meaning trains couldn't pass each other at Gowrie, and had to do so at Merlynston.
On 9 April 2002, Comeng motor carriage 533M was destroyed by a fire at the station. The fire also damaged part of the station building.
Platforms and services
Merlynston has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Metro Trains' Upfield line trains.
Merlynston platform arrangementPlatformLineDestinationViaService TypeNotesSource1Flinders StreetCity LoopAll stationsSee City Loop for operating patterns2UpfieldAll stations
Transport links CDC Melbourne operates two routes via Merlynston station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: : Campbellfield Plaza Shopping Centre – Coburg : Upfield station – North Coburg
Dysons operates one bus route via Merlynston station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria: : Glenroy station – Coburg
Gallery
References
External links
Merlynston – Vicsig Melway map at street-directory.com.au