Sandown Park railway station, Melbourne

Sandown Park railway station is a commuter railway station on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, which are part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Springvale, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Sandown Park station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform. It opened 19 June 1965.[4][5]

Sandown Park
PTV commuter rail station
South-east bound view from Platform 2, October 2024
General information
LocationLightwood Road,
Springvale, Victoria 3171
City of Greater Dandenong
Australia
Coordinates37°57′24″S 145°09′48″E / 37.9568°S 145.1632°E / -37.9568; 145.1632
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)
Distance25.68 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 (1 island)
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
Parking250 spaces
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleNo — steep ramp
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeSNP
Fare zoneMyki Zone 2
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened19 June 1965; 59 years ago (1965-06-19)
ElectrifiedDecember 1922
(1500 V DC overhead)
Previous namesOakleigh Racecourse (1889-1892)
Passengers
2005–2006415,698[1]
2006–2007466,021[1]Increase 12.1%
2007–2008455,989[1]Decrease 2.15%
2008–2009404,270[2]Decrease 11.34%
2009–2010440,579[2]Increase 8.98%
2010–2011443,853[2]Increase 0.74%
2011–2012411,211[2]Decrease 7.35%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014526,464[2]Increase 28.02%
2014–2015504,513[1]Decrease 4.16%
2015–2016571,573[2]Increase 13.29%
2016–2017607,300[2]Increase 6.25%
2017–2018527,513[2]Decrease 13.13%
2018–2019537,382[2]Increase 1.87%
2019–2020443,950[2]Decrease 17.38%
2020–2021178,800[2]Decrease 59.72%
2021–2022189,600[3]Increase 6.04%
2022–2023315,850[3]Increase 66.58%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Springvale Pakenham line Noble Park
Cranbourne line

History

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1889-1955

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Sandown Park originally opened on 12 August 1889 as Oakleigh Racecourse.[5] It was renamed Sandown Park in 1892.[4] Named after Sandown Park in Surrey, England,[6] the station was built to service the nearby Sandown Racecourse, and was only used for racecourse traffic.

Upon opening, the station did not feature in any timetables for the Eastern line.[5] By 1892, it was featured in timetables for the first time.[5]

By 1909, in addition to the two main lines, there was a signal box and booking office located at the up end of the station,[5] and two sidings each over 600 metres long on the eastern side of the tracks,[5] for the stabling of special race services. The station had no platform on the up track, instead having an island platform on the down track, with the other face serving one of the sidings on the eastern side.[5][7]

By 1929, four sidings existed at the down end of the station, parallel to the main lines.[5] In 1937, a crossover at the down end of the station was abolished[4][5] and, in 1943, three sidings that adjoined the back platform road were abolished.[4][5] By 1954, the back platform road and the remaining siding were placed out of use.[4][5] On 16 May 1955, Sandown Park was closed.[4][5]

1965-present

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On 19 June 1965, Sandown Park reopened as an island platform,[4][5] coinciding with the first race day meeting at the adjacent racecourse.[8][9] Like the first station, it was open for passengers on race days only.[4][5] On October 4 of that year, it was opened for general passenger traffic.[4][5]

The station once had a second exit and a pedestrian underpass at the up end of the platform, but that has since been closed and filled in.

Nearby, towards Noble Park, the Corrigan Road level crossing was removed in 2018, as part of the Victorian Government's Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP).[10]

Platforms and services

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A PID on Platform 2 displaying an East Pakenham-bound service, October 2024
 
A High Capacity Metro Train on a Flinders Street via City Loop-bound service arrives at Platform 1, October 2024

Sandown Park has one island platform with two faces. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Cranbourne and Pakenham line services.[11][12]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

Future services:
In addition to the current services, the PTV Network Development Plan proposes linking the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines to both the Sunbury line and under-construction Melbourne Airport rail link via the Metro Tunnel.[13]

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Department of Transport
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Philip Mallis
  3. ^ a b Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sandown Park". vicsig.net. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o David Langley (May 2005). "Sandown Park". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 45–50.
  6. ^ "Sandown Park". Victorian Places. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  7. ^ Victorian Railways signalling diagram – "Sandown Park 743'09". www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  8. ^ Kennedy, Tony (19 June 1965). "Strollalong to miss at Sandown". The Age. p. 1.
  9. ^ "Endurance Stakes at Sandown". The Age. 21 June 1965. p. 20.
  10. ^ "Corrigan Road, Noble Park". Victoria's Big Build. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  12. ^ "Cranbourne Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  13. ^ "Network Development Plan Metropolitan Rail Overview" (PDF). Public Transport Victoria. December 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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