Lalor railway station

Lalor railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the northern suburb of Lalor, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Lalor station is a ground-level staffed station. It opened in October 1949, with the current station provided in 1978.^[5]

Lalor
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, July 2024
General information
Location	Station Street, Lalor, Victoria 3075 City of Whittlesea Australia
Coordinates	37°39′57″S 145°01′02″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Mernda
Distance	20.72 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 (1 island)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	417
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	LAL
Fare zone	Myki Zone 2
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	October 1949; 74 years ago (1949-10)
Rebuilt	26 November 1964 1978
Electrified	November 1959 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Rail Motor Stopping Place 77 (1949–1952)
Passengers
2005–2006	323,019[1]
2006–2007	366,244[1]  13.38%
2007–2008	410,353[1]  12.04%
2008–2009	423,347[2]  3.16%
2009–2010	441,521[2]  4.29%
2010–2011	489,944[2]  10.97%
2011–2012	521,699[2]  6.48%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	488,403[2]  6.38%
2014–2015	498,629[1]  2.09%
2015–2016	560,852[2]  12.47%
2016–2017	569,739[2]  1.58%
2017–2018	597,717[2]  4.91%
2018–2019	605,050[2]  1.22%
2019–2020	477,500[2]  21.1%
2020–2021	243,550[2]  49%
2021–2022	241,700[3]  0.75%
2022–2023	388,600[4]  60.78%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Thomastown towards Flinders Street Mernda line Epping towards Mernda
Track layout Legend to Thomastown Manns Crossing Paschke Crescent 1 2 Childs Road to Epping

Initially opened as Rail Motor Stopping Place 77, the station was given its current name of Lalor on 27 August 1952.^[5]

History

Lalor station opened in October 1949, and was provided as part of a garden suburb created by the Peter Lalor Home Building Cooperative Society, which was formed by a group of ex-servicemen to provide cheap homes during a time of high demand and shortage of materials post World War II.^[6]

The station was originally served by Whittlesea trains from Melbourne via the former Inner Circle line and, in later times, by Thomastown – Whittlesea railmotor shuttles.^[7] In November 1959, the section from Thomastown was electrified, with the line beyond Lalor closed.^[5][8] On 29 November 1964, the line was reopened and electrified as far as Epping.^[9][5] Occurring in that year, the current island platform was provided,^[5] and flashing light signals were provided at the Paschke Crescent level crossing, located at the up end of the station.^[5]

In 1978, the present station building was provided.^[10][11] In 1980, boom barriers were provided at the Paschke Crescent level crossing.^[12]

The current day Platform 1 was formerly a dock platform.^[13][14] In August 1988, points from No. 1 track to the main line were provided at the down end of the station, effectively forming a crossing loop between Thomastown and Epping.^[15] This arrangement existed until November 2011, when the line between Keon Park and Epping was duplicated,^[5][16] with the points at both ends of the station abolished.

On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Lalor to a premium station, along with nineteen others.^[17][18] However, in March 2011, this was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.^[19]

Announced as part of a $21.9 million package in the 2022/23 Victorian State Budget, Lalor, alongside other stations, will receive accessibility upgrades, the installation of CCTV, and platform shelters.^[20] The development process will begin in late 2022 or early 2023, with a timeline for the upgrades to be released once construction has begun.

Lalor station, like the suburb in which it is located, was originally pronounced /ˈlɔːlər/, as it was named after Peter Lalor^[6][21] and, although some people still pronounce it as such, in recent times, the pronunciation /ˈleɪlɔːr, -lər/ has become predominant. In addition, the Victorian Railways Newsletter of 1973, and Victorian RailWays of 1974 (Victorian Railways in-house newsletters) stated that the correct pronunciation was /ˈlɔːlər/.^[22]

Platforms and services

Lalor has one island platform with two faces. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Mernda line services.^[23]

Platform 1:

•  Mernda line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Mernda line  all stations services to Mernda

Transport links

Dysons operates five bus routes via Lalor station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  554 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (clockwise loop via West Lalor)^[24]
•  555 : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre^[25]
•  557 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (anti-clockwise loop)^[26]
•  559 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (clockwise loop)^[27]
•  566 : Lalor – Northland Shopping Centre^[28]

Gallery

• 
  Southbound view from Platform 2, March 2012
• 
  North-west bound view of station building on Platform 1, January 2023
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, March 2023
• 
  Northbound view from Platform 1, March 2023
• 
  Station PSO Box and entrance and exit ramp, March 2023
• 
  Station entrance signage, March 2023

References

1. Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005–2006 to 2018–19 Department of Transport
2. Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008–2021 Philip Mallis
3. Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
4. Annual metropolitan train station entries 2022-23 Data Vic
5. "Lalor". vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
6. "Lalor". Victorian Places. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
7. Jack McLean (November 1995). "Reservoir-Whittlesea: Signalling and Safeworking". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 333–337.
8. "What Goes On". The Argus. Melbourne. 3 May 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 12 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
9. SE Dornan & RG Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. p. 67. ISBN 0-909459-06-1.
10. "Signalling Alterations". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. September 1978. p. 23.
11. "VicRail Board Report 1977-78". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. April 1979. p. 52.
12. John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
13. "Up harris arriving Lalor 2-6-1987". Flickr – Robert Aquilina Photostream. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
14. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. July 1986. p. 217.
15. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. November 1988. p. 346.
16. South Morang Rail Extension, Australia Railway Technology
17. "New premium stations for Metro". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
18. "General News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 2010. p. 165.
19. Gardiner, Ashley; Wright, Anne (25 March 2011). "Premier Ted Baillieu says armed guards will create 'culture of safety'". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
20. "Improving transport accessibility across the state". Department of Transport (Victoria). Retrieved 7 September 2022.
21. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
22. Victorian Railways News Letter, April 1973, p. 50 and Victorian RailWays, October 1974, p. 155.
23. "Mernda Line". Public Transport Victoria.
24. "554 Thomastown via West Lalor (clockwise loop)". Public Transport Victoria.
25. "555 Epping - Northland via Lalor & Thomastown & Reservoir". Public Transport Victoria.
26. "557 Thomastown via West Lalor (anti clockwise loop)". Public Transport Victoria.
27. "559 Thomastown via Darebin Drive". Public Transport Victoria.
28. "566 Lalor - Northland via Plenty Road & Childs Road & Grimshaw Street". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Media related to Lalor railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons
• South Morang extension project gallery
• Melway map at street-directory.com.au