top of page

Melbourne

Suburban passenger train services in Melbourne are operated by Metro (Metro Trains Melbourne). Metro organises lines in the Melbourne suburban area into groups:

  • Burnley Group: Lilydale, Belgrave, Alamein, Glen Waverley

  • Caulfield Group: Pakenham, Cranbourne, Frankston, Sandringham

  • Clifton Hill Group: Hurstbridge, Mernda

  • Northern Group: Craigieburn, Sunbury, Upfield, Werribee, Williamstown, Flemington Racecourse

  • Cross-city Group: Werribee, Williamstown line, Frankston.

 

Passenger train services in the Melbourne interurban area are provided by V/Line and are referred to as Regional Rail Link services. They service the Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour and Traralgon lines. Suburban and interurban train services in the Melbourne area operate on broad gauge (1600 mm) tracks.
 

Links to suburban and interurban lines are below.

City Loop Line

Lilydale Line

Glen Waverley Line

Alamein Line

Belgrave Line

Pakenham Line

Cranbourne Line

Frankston Line

Stony Point Line

Sandringham Line

Hurstbridge Line

Mernda Line

Werribee Line

Williamstown Line

Sunbury Line

Craigieburn Line

Upfield Line

Flemington Racecourse Line

Geelong Line

Ballarat Line

Bendigo Line

Seymour Line

Traralgon Line

​

​

​

Maryborough is a regional town in Victoria with a population of around 8000 people. It is located 224 km by railway north-east of Southern Cross station in Melbourne. Maryborough railway station has a vast building of a size that would usually be found in a major capital city, rather than a medium-sized regional town. There are several myths and inaccuracies about the station.

 

Railways Reach Maryborough

A railway from the east reached Maryborough on 7 July 1874 with the opening of the section from Castlemaine on the Bendigo line. No official ceremony was held to commemorate the opening, reportedly because the first station building had not been finished. From Maryborough the line was extended north to Dunolly three months later on 6 October. The following year Maryborough was connected from the south with the opening of the railway from Ballarat via Clunes on 2 February 1875. Another year brought a new railway when the line was opened from Maryborough westward to Avoca on 21 October 1876. It was now a location with railways extending away in four directions.

 

Maryborough’s first station was opened on 7 July 1874 with the first railway to reach the town. Although it contained waiting rooms, a dining room, lamp room and residence, it came to be seen as inadequate to service the growing railway traffic in Maryborough. The new station, which is the current station, was built on the site of the first station, which continued to operate as work progressed. Work commenced in 1890 and it was completed in 1891.

 

Maryborough Station

David Swanson was awarded the contract of nearly £21,983 for construction of Maryborough station. Its base is made from bluestone slabs, and most of the construction is made of red bricks. Cement rendering was used for decorative purposes. The building contains 25 rooms. A total of 511 square yards (427 square metres) of tiles were used for the floors in the booking hall, refreshment room, kitchen and toilets. The tessellated floor was done by Cawkwells of Malvern, who also tiled the floor of Parliament House in Melbourne. Around 66,000 slates were imported for the roof, and 18,000 square feet (1672 square metres) of glass was brought from Melbourne to use in the skylight. The entrance portico is supported by four marble columns, each 12 foot 4 inches (3.8 metres) in height, and has bluestone steps leading to it. Marble mantelpieces were used in the rest rooms. The booking hall has decorative timber work in its ceiling. The verandah of the station building features a hipped roof with a continuous louvred lantern along the ridge. Cast-iron columns also function as downpipes for storm water, which is stored in underground tanks. Maryborough’s platform is 328 metres in length, and the verandah extends for 101 metres. Although the station building had a clock tower from its opening, a clock was not installed until 1914.

 

Construction was scheduled to be finished on 1 April 1891, but was not actually completed until 30 August. Plans were in place for an official opening ceremony and reception, with Premier Duncan Gillies to unveil a foundation stone, on 7 November 1890. However, Gillies was overthrown as Premier on 5 November and the ceremony was cancelled. There is a story that a foundation stone acknowledging Gillies was laid with the inscription facing inwards. However, a search during renovation work during the 1980s was unable to find any evidence of an inscription on an inward facing stone.

 

It has been claimed that a banquet to commemorate the completion of the station building was held in its dining room on 28 August 1891, although work was not actually complete until two days later. However, a search of newspapers at the time reveals no reports of a banquet or any official opening for the building.

 

Why such a large station?

A myth suggests that bureaucrats involved in the planning and design of the station building believed that it was to be constructed at Maryborough in Queensland, a much larger town at the time. However, Queensland and Victoria were separate colonies with their own railway systems. It is unlikely that such a mistake would have occurred. Additionally, station architecture in Queensland and Victoria at the time had distinctive differences.

 

The official reason given for construction of such a large station building is that the existing facilities at the time were inadequate. Part of the historical significance of the station is that it is an example of the lavish expenditure on railways at the time. The Railway Construction Act of 1884 led to the building of 59 new lines and other works. It is often referred to as the ‘Octopus Act’ because the new lines spread out like the tentacles of an octopus. Many lines were built for political reasons and were never profitable. Although the railways to Maryborough had been opened before this time, it was an era of massive railway expenditure. Maryborough was seen as an important hub of the state’s railway network and an elaborate station building was part of the facilities required.

 

Duncan Gillies, who was Premier of Victoria and Minister for Railways when the station design was approved, had previously represented Maryborough in the Legislative Assembly, and he retained business interests in the town. When Alfred Outtrim, the local Member of Parliament at the time, advocated the need for a new station at Maryborough, Gillies sent him to the planning office of Victorian Railways. Outtrim returned with a design that was approved by Gillies. The design had been an alternative for Spencer Street (now Southern Cross), one of the largest stations in Melbourne. Gillies’ connection with Maryborough may have had some influence in him approving the large station.

 

Mark Twain

It is often stated that American author Mark Twain described Maryborough as a station with a town attached. What he actually wrote was, “…you can put the whole population of Maryborough into it...”

 

Mark Twain visited Maryborough during his travels in October 1895. In his book Following the Equator he recalls a gentleman he met on the train on the way to Maryborough who described its station.

Don’t you overlook that Maryborough station, if you take an interest in governmental curiosities. Why, you can put the whole population of Maryborough into it, and give them a sofa apiece, and have room for more. You haven’t fifteen stations in America that are as big, and you probably haven’t five that are half as fine. Why, it’s perfectly elegant. And the clock! Everybody will show you the clock. There isn't a station in Europe that’s got such a clock. It doesn’t strike — and that’s one mercy. It hasn’t any bell; and as you’ll have cause to remember, if you keep your reason, all Australia is simply bedamned with bells. On every quarter-hour, night and day, they jingle a tiresome chime of half a dozen notes — all the clocks in town at once, all the clocks in Australasia at once, and all the very same notes.

 

Later History

Maryborough was one of the last areas in Victoria to see regular steam locomotive workings. Railway enthusiasts came to see and capture the sights and sounds before dieselisation took hold. By the end of 1967 steam operations in the area had ceased.

 

With the replacement of The Vinelander passenger train by road coaches in September 1993, Maryborough station was closed. Restoration work on the station commenced in 2006 and was completed in June 2008. Passenger services were re-introduced on 25 July 2010.

 

Today Maryborough station sees several services daily with VLocity trains operating between Ballarat and Maryborough. The building also features a café, bar and gallery.

 

References

‘A station with a town attached’, Victorian Collections, https://victoriancollections.net.au/stories/a-station-with-a-town-attached, accessed 6 October 2025.

Berry, M ‘A station with town attached’, Future Rail Newspost, August 2017, pp. 10–12.

‘Maryborough railway station, Victoria’, Heritage Council Victoria <https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/692>, accessed 6 October 2025.

‘Maryborough railway station, Victoria’, Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryborough_railway_station,_Victoria> accessed 6 October 2025.

Banger, C, ‘The Ballarat to Maryborough line and its branches – 1975–2010, Newsrail, vol. 39, no. 12, December 2011, pp. 359–71.

Turton, KW, ‘Maryborough as a railway centre’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 299, September 1962, pp. 133–140.

Turton, KW, ‘The centenary of the opening of the railways from Castlemaine to Dunolly and Ballarat to Maryborough’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 448, February 1975, pp. 25–52.

Twain, M, Following the equator: a journey around the world, American Publishing Company, Hartford, 1897.

Victorian Railways, Report of the Victorian Railways Commissioners for the year ending 30th June, 1891, Victorian Railways, Melbourne, 1891.

012394.jpg

Maryborough station building, 18 December 2017.

012400.jpg

Maryborough station with a VLocity train consisting of 1123, 1332, 1223 at the platform, 18 December 2017.

bottom of page