Prahran railway station

Prahran
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, October 2024
General information
Location	Porter Street, Prahran, Victoria 3181 City of Stonnington Australia
Coordinates	37°50′58″S 144°59′24″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Sandringham
Distance	6.72 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	2 side
Tracks	2
Connections	Tram
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes—step free access
Other information
Status	Operational, host station
Station code	PRA
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	22 December 1860; 164 years ago (1860-12-22)
Electrified	May 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Greville Street (1860-1866)
Passengers
2005–2006	852,273[1]
2006–2007	945,184[1]  10.9%
2007–2008	1,040,526[1]  10.08%
2008–2009	945,683[2]  9.11%
2009–2010	1,016,071[2]  7.44%
2010–2011	1,150,068[2]  13.18%
2011–2012	1,153,810[2]  0.32%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	1,285,541[2]  11.41%
2014–2015	1,286,268[1]  0.05%
2015–2016	1,341,311[2]  4.27%
2016–2017	1,376,037[2]  2.58%
2017–2018	1,371,597[2]  0.32%
2018–2019	1,156,066[2]  15.71%
2019–2020	951,300[2]  17.71%
2020–2021	473,550[2]  50.22%
2021–2022	571,600[3]  20.7%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station South Yarra towards Flinders Street Sandringham line Windsor towards Sandringham
Track layout to South Yarra Greville Street 1 2 to Windsor

Prahran railway station (/pɛ'ræn) is a commuter railway station on the Sandringham line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Prahran, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Prahran station is a ground level host station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 22 December 1860.[4]

Initially opened as Greville Street, the station was given its current name of Prahran on 1 January 1867.[4]

History

Prahran station opened on 22 December 1860, when the railway line from South Yarra was extended to Windsor.[4] Like the suburb itself, the station was named from the Indigenous word ‘purraran’, believed to mean ‘almost surrounded by water’.[5][6]

In 1962, boom barriers replaced interlocked gates at the Greville Street level crossing, located at the up end of the station.[7] The signal box that protected the level crossing was also abolished during that time.[4]

In October 1979, automatic semaphore signals were replaced with light signals between Prahran and Windsor.[8]

On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Prahran to a premium station, along with nineteen others.[9][10] However, in March 2011, this was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.[11]

Platforms and services

A PID on Platform 2 displaying a Sandringham service, October 2024

A Comeng train on a Sandringham-bound service arrives at Platform 2, December 2019

Prahran has two side platforms. It is served by Sandringham line trains.[12]

Platform 1:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Sandringham

Transport links

Yarra Trams operates three routes via Prahran station:

• : Moreland station – Glen Iris[13]
• : Melbourne University – Camberwell[14]
• : North Richmond – Balaclava[15]

Gallery

• 
  Southbound view from Platform 2, October 2014
• 
  Greville Street level crossing, Prahran, next to the station, December 2019
• 
  Northbound view from the Greville Street level crossing, December 2019

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. "Prahran". vicsig.net. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
5. "Prahran". Victorian Places. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
6. First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
7. John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
8. "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. April 1980. p. 77.
9. "New premium stations for Metro". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
10. "General News". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 2010. p. 165.
11. Gardiner, Ashley; Wright, Anne (25 March 2011). "Premier Ted Baillieu says armed guards will create 'culture of safety'". Herald Sun. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
12. "Sandringham Line". Public Transport Victoria.
13. "6 Moreland - Glen Iris". Public Transport Victoria.
14. "72 Melbourne University - Camberwell". Public Transport Victoria.
15. "78 North Richmond - Balaclava via Prahran". Public Transport Victoria.

External links

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au