Originally named Braybrook Junction, it was renamed in July 1907 when the suburb of Sunshine took its name from the Sunshine Harvester Works.[4] Sunshine is a ground level, premium station. It has four platforms, an island platform with two faces and two side platforms, connected by a footbridge and concourse. The station opened on 7 September 1885, with the current station provided in 2014 when it was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project. The station is planned to rebuilt again as part of the Melbourne Airport rail link project, with planned upgrades including new platforms and an improved track layout to "untangle [the] complex junction" and enable increased capacity for trains to the airport and western suburbs.[5][6][7]
V/Line services on the Bendigo corridor pass through the station but do not stop at it. Freight services running towards northern Victoria and Sydney run past the station, as well as freight trains heading for the western standard gauge line via the Newport–Sunshine railway line. The bus interchange at the station is a hub for routes to surrounding suburbs.
History
19th century
The Melbourne & Murray River Railway was built in the late 1850s, from Footscray to Bendigo. No station was built at that time on the current site; the closest station was Albion and Darlington, on the site of the current Albion station.[8]
In 1874, a line to Melton was built, branching from the Bendigo line; a station was built at the site of the junction, opening on September 7, 1885, as Braybrook Junction. This line would be extended westwards to Bacchus Marsh in 1887 and eventually meet with another line extended eastwards from Ballarat in 1889. This line became the direct route from Melbourne to Ballarat; the original line ran via Geelong.[9][10][11][12][better source needed]
In 1907, Braybrook Junction station was renamed Sunshine, after Hugh McKay had moved his Sunshine Harvester Works to a site adjacent to the station.[4]
On 20 April 1908, Sunshine was the scene of the Sunshine train disaster, the worst train crash in Victorian railway history. 44 people were killed and over 400 were injured.
The road level crossing at Sunshine was removed when grade separation was carried out in 1961.[13] The works took place as part of the project to construct a standard gauge line from Sydney to Melbourne.[14] In that same year, boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Bendigo line.[15]
In January 1963, a fourth platform was provided on the adjacent Melbourne – Sydney standard gauge line, to enable passengers to transfer between the interstate Sydney and Adelaide expresses.[13] In 1965, control of signals at Albion was transferred to the signal box at Sunshine.[13] Also in that year, the Grain Elevator Board sidings, that serve the nearby grail silos, opened for traffic.[4] In 1976, a signal panel was provided to replace an existing panel[4] and, in 1977, boom barriers were provided at the nearby former Anderson Road level crossing, on the Serviceton line.[15]
On 5 February 1985, Harris trailer carriage 830T was destroyed by fire in a vandalism attack, whilst stabled in the former down end siding.[17][18]
In 1988, the sidings leading to the Massey Ferguson factory were booked out of use. The lead to the sidings, which crossed the standard gauge line, was removed in February of that year.[19]
In 1994, the former station underpass, which connected the platforms to nearby City Place, was completed,[20] replacing an underpass.[21] It was removed during the station upgrades between 2012 and 2014. Also in that year, the track leading to the former goods shed was removed,[21] and a number of semaphore signals were replaced with automatic colour signals.[22]
rebuilding Platform 3 and a new Platform 4, both completed in April 2014;[29][30]
The standalone signal box to the north of the station, commissioned in 1914, was closed in 2016, and control of trains in the Sunshine and Albion areas was transferred to Metrol.[31] The former signal box is one of the largest surviving examples of a tappet and lever frame box on the Victorian network, having once housed 80 levers. Although mechanical signalling was replaced with electronic interlocking before the box was finally taken out of service, it remains relatively intact as an example of Victorian Railways signal box architecture.[32]
In early 2020, construction commenced on a new signal control centre south of the station, which will share control of the Sunshine–Dandenong corridor with an existing facility at Dandenong, after completion of the Metro Tunnel.[33]
In 2018, the Victorian State Government announced that the Melbourne Airport rail link would be funded with state and Commonwealth money, and that it would operate from the Melbourne CBD to Melbourne Airport via Sunshine.[34] Sunshine would become an important interchange station under this plan, providing a connection between western regional and metropolitan rail lines and the new service to Melbourne Airport. As part of this project, the state government committed to building a "super hub" at Sunshine for passengers transferring between V/Line services, metropolitan services and airport trains.[35]
Immediate works at Sunshine, funded as part of the airport link, included the construction of a second accessible concourse for interchanging, extra ticket gates, new lifts, a new regional platform and extensions of existing regional platforms.[35][36] A large 18m high rail flyover will be built north of Sunshine, above the Albion rail junction.[37]
In 2022, early construction commenced on the Airport link.[38] In October of that year, the State Government released a masterplan for the Sunshine station precinct, which envisioned a significant expansion of the station and its surrounds to cater for expected growth in patronage.[39][40] The long-term masterplan envisioned multiple new entrances to the station, a new integrated bus interchange, new open spaces, new high-density developments surrounding the station and the creation of new pedestrian and cycling links across the rail lines.[41]
The state government committed $143 million to the first stage of the master plan, to be delivered alongside the Airport rail link works, which included the new bus interchange, new pedestrian paths, new open-space, establishing future development sites and preparation for future stages.[42]
Initially scheduled to open in 2029, the airport rail link is facing extensive delays due to disputes over the airport station design, with completion now expected after 2033.[43]
Facilities, platforms and services
Sunshine has two side platforms and a centre island platform with two faces. Access is provided to the platforms using stairs, lifts and ramps from an overhead footbridge and concourse, which features a customer service window, an enclosed waiting room and toilets.
^Brimbank City Council (8 September 1998). "Sunshine Railway Signal Box". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Council Victoria. Retrieved 19 May 2020.