Hawksburn railway station

Hawksburn railway station is a commuter railway station located in the southern Melbourne suburb of South Yarra in Victoria, Australia.^[12] Hawksburn is a below ground unstaffed station, featuring four platforms with an island platform and two side platforms accessible by a pedestrian bridge.^[13] The station is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, and was opened on 7 May 1879.

Hawksburn
PTV commuter rail station
South-east view of the station, November 2023
General information
Location	Luxton Road, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 City of Stonnington Australia
Coordinates	37°50′41″S 145°00′08″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Frankston
Distance	6.63 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	4 (2 side, 1 island)
Tracks	4
Construction
Structure type	Below-grade
Accessible	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	HKN
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	7 May 1879; 146 years ago (1879-05-07)[1][2][3]
Rebuilt	1914[4][5][6][7][8]
Electrified	March 1922 (1500 V DC overhead)[9]
Passengers
2017–2018	555,477[10]
2018–2019	507,600[10]  8.62%
2019–2020	369,550[10]  27.2%
2020–2021	201,400[10]  45.5%
2021–2022	231,600[11]  14.99%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station South Yarra towards Werribee or Williamstown via Flinders Street Frankston line Toorak towards Frankston      Pakenham line does not stop here      Cranbourne line does not stop here
Track layout Legend to South Yarra to Anzac 1 2 4 3 to Toorak
Location

The stations' namesake is the locality of Hawksburn, situated 600 metres from the station. The station is only partially accessible due to multiple steep access ramps.^[14]

The partially accessible steep ramps to Platform 4 and footbridge linking to all platforms

The station footbridge overpass that links to all platforms

There are two principal station buildings, one of which is located on the stations central island platform (platforms 2 and 3) consisting of a small two story brick building, whilst the other is a one story brick structure situated on platform 4.^[15] These buildings were provided for the station in 1914, as ticketing and staff offices.^[14]

Hawksburn is served by the Frankston line, part of the Melbourne railway network. Although Cranbourne and Pakenham lines do run through the station, these services are express and do not stop. The journey to Flinders Street railway station is approximately 5.3 kilometres (3.29 mi) and takes 9 minutes.^[16]

Description

North-west view of all four platforms, taken from Williams Road, June 2014

Hawksburn railway station is located in the suburb of South Yarra, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.^[12] The station is located nearby to the Hawksburn shopping precinct and the Prahran Housing Commission Estate. The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency, and the station is operated by Metro Trains.^[14] The station is approximately 5.3 kilometres (3.29 mi), or an 9-minute train journey, from Flinders Street station.^[16] The adjacent stations are South Yarra station up towards Melbourne, and Toorak station down towards Frankston.^[12]

The station consists of a single island platform and two side platforms with a total of four platform edges. Standard in Melbourne, the platform has an asphalt surface with concrete on the edges.^[17] The platforms are approximately 160 metres (524 ft 11 in) long, enough for a Metro Trains 7 car HCMT. The station features a pedestrian bridge, accessed from the centre of the platforms by a ramp. The station features two principal station buildings, both former ticketing offices which are now heritage listed staff facilities.^[13] Distinct Edwardian architectural features of the red brick station buildings include ornate parapets, cement banding, tall chimneys with terracotta pots, tiled hip roof with terracotta finials, and stucco walls.^[15]

The station building, platform, and overpass are largely the same as when originally built, with the main change being updated signage, technology, and the addition of one new platform canopy amongst other minor building and platform upgrades.^[18] There is no car parking available at the station. The station is listed as an "assisted access" station on the Metro Trains website, as the access ramp is too steep and would require assistance for wheelchair customers to traverse.^[14]

History

A map of the Hawksburn Estate building sites from 1886.^[19]

Hawksburn railway station was opened on 7 May 1879 with the station consisting of a single platform and track for commuter and freight service. Like the locality itself, the station was named after Hawksburn Estate, where the station is located.^[20][21] The first station buildings were opened on the site between 1881 and 1883 to coincide with the duplication of track between the city and Oakleigh.^[22] The current station was constructed in 1914 to provide improved and additional facilities to what had become an increasingly busy and important location on the train network.^[22][23] The station rebuild was part of level crossing removal works that removed all level crossings, rebuilt all stations, and quadruplicated the corridor between South Yarra and Caulfield by 1914.^[5] Later in 1922, the line was electrified using 1500 V DC overhead wires with three position signalling also introduced.^[24]

The detail of the distinct Edwardian architectural features on shelters and buildings at Platforms 2, 3 and 4 and a High Capacity Metro Train passing Platform 4

The detail of the heritage shelters on Platforms 2 and 3

The station has mostly stayed the same since 1914, with only minor upgrades taking place. In 1972, the island platform (Platforms 2 and 3) was extended at both ends.^[25] In 1993, major re-signalling works occurred between South Yarra and Toorak stations.^[24] The station underwent minor upgrades with the installation of one new shelter on Platform 1 in the 2010s. In 2021, resignalling works occurred to upgrade the corridor to high capacity signalling as part of the Metro Tunnel project.^[26]

Platforms and services

A Comeng train on a Flinders Street-bound service arrives at Platform 1, August 2023

Hawksburn has two side platforms and one island platform with four faces. The station is currently served by the Frankston line—a service on the metropolitan rail network.^[27] The Frankston line runs from Frankston station south east of Melbourne, joining the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines at Caulfield station before continuing onto the Werribee or Williamstown lines via Flinders Street station.^[27] Despite the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines operating through the station, these services no longer stop at the station due to low station patronage, instead running express through the station.^[28]

Platforms 1 and 2, which are used for Frankston line services

Platforms 3 and 4, no services stop at these platforms, but the Gippsland, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines do pass these platforms

Platform 1:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Flinders Street, Werribee and Williamstown

Platform 2:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Frankston

Platform 3:

• No services stop at this platform. Cranbourne and Pakenham line services run express through this station.

Platform 4:

• No services stop at this platform. Cranbourne and Pakenham line services run express through this station.

Transport links

Kinetic Melbourne operates one route via Hawksburn station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  603 : Brighton Beach station – Burnley station^[29]