Stratford railway station, Victoria

Stratford railway station is a regional railway station on the Gippsland line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the town of Stratford, in Victoria, Australia, and opened on 8 November 1887. It was closed in August 1993 and reopened on 3 May 2004.^[1]

Stratford
PTV regional rail station
Westbound view of the station building and platform, June 2021
General information
Location	Dixon Street, Stratford, Victoria 3862 Shire of Wellington Australia
Coordinates	37°58′02″S 147°04′53″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	V/Line
Line(s)	Gippsland
Distance	222.11 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	1
Tracks	4
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Operational, unstaffed
Station code	SFD
Fare zone	Myki not available. Paper ticket only.
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	8 November 1887; 137 years ago (1887-11-08)
Closed	August 1993
Rebuilt	3 May 2004
Services
Preceding station V/Line Following station Sale towards Southern Cross Gippsland line Bairnsdale Terminus
Former service
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station Sale   Orbost line   Munro Powerscourt   Maffra line   Terminus List of closed railway stations in Victoria
Location Stratford Location within Victoria

History

When Stratford opened, it was a temporary terminus of the line from Stratford Junction, a few kilometres to the west. On 8 May 1888, the line was extended to Bairnsdale.^[1]

Major signalling changes occurred at the station in 1986, including the abolition of the electric staff sections Sale - Stratford Junction and Stratford Junction - Stratford, which were replaced by the electric staff section Sale - Stratford,^[2] with an intermediate electric staff instrument provided at Stratford Junction.^[2] All signals and interlocking at Stratford Junction were abolished at that time.^[2]

Under the Kennett government, V/Line passenger services to Stratford were suspended in August 1993, when the line to Bairnsdale was closed. The passenger service was restored by the Backs government on 3 May 2004.^[3] The platform was lengthened by 39 metres in 2024.^[1]

As part of the Regional Rail Revival project to upgrade the Gippsland line, a new railway bridge was built over the Avon River, south of the station.^[4] It replaced the bridge which dated from 1888,^[5] on which train speeds had been restricted to 10 km/h for safety reasons.^[6] The new bridge was opened in December 2020.^[4][6]

Until their closure, Munro, Fernbank, Lindenow and Hillside stations were located between Stratford and Bairnsdale stations.

Platforms and services

Stratford has one platform and is served by V/Line Bairnsdale line trains.^[7]

Platform 1:

•  Gippsland line  services to Bairnsdale and Southern Cross

Gallery

• 
  Former V/Line platform signage, September 2008
• 
  Station building and entrance, February 2015
• 
  Station entrance signage, January 2021
• 
  Station building and entrance, April 2021
• 
  Platform signage, April 2021
• 
  Rear of Southern Cross-bound VLocity train, April 2021