Hartwell railway station

Hartwell railway station is a commuter railway station on the Alamein line, which is part of the Melbourne railway network. It serves the eastern suburb of Camberwell, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Hartwell station is a ground level unstaffed station, featuring an island platform with two faces. It opened on 7 May 1906, with the current station provided in 1938.[4]

Hartwell
PTV commuter rail station
Station building and entrance, March 2019
General information
LocationGeorgina Parade,
Camberwell, Victoria 3124
City of Boroondara
Australia
Coordinates37°50′39″S 145°04′32″E / 37.8441°S 145.0756°E / -37.8441; 145.0756
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Alamein
Distance13.30 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 (1 island)
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeGround
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleNo—steep ramp
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeHWL
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened7 May 1906; 118 years ago (1906-05-07)
RebuiltDecember 1938
ElectrifiedOctober 1924
(1500 V DC overhead)
Previous namesHartwell Hill (1906–1909)
Passengers
2005–2006166,044[1]
2006–2007181,077[1]Increase 9.05%
2007–2008185,688[1]Increase 2.54%
2008–2009192,025[2]Increase 3.41%
2009–2010190,937[2]Decrease 0.56%
2010–2011204,140[2]Increase 6.91%
2011–2012192,506[2]Decrease 5.69%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–2014205,969[2]Increase 6.99%
2014–2015195,841[1]Decrease 4.91%
2015–2016192,507[2]Decrease 1.7%
2016–2017209,306[2]Increase 8.72%
2017–2018207,705[2]Decrease 0.76%
2018–2019214,350[2]Increase 3.19%
2019–2020165,200[2]Decrease 22.93%
2020–202166,400[2]Decrease 59.8%
2021–202275,500[3]Increase 13.7%
2022–2023117,950[3]Increase 56.22%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Willison Alamein line Burwood
towards Alamein

Initially opened as Hartwell Hill, the station was given its current name of Hartwell on 1 August 1909. It is the only station on the Alamein line to have an island platform.[4]

History

edit

When Hartwell station opened, it was served by a train consisting of a locomotive and one or two carriages, dubbed the Deepdene Dasher, which operated between Ashburton and Deepdene. After the line from Camberwell to Ashburton was electrified in 1924, Hartwell was served by electric trains on the Ashburton line, which was extended to Alamein in 1948.[5]

Hartwell is named after one of the early estates in the area, Hartwell House, the residence of James Irwin who, in the mid-1850s, owned and operated Irwin's Hotel, which was on the corner of Norwood (now Toorak) and Wattle Valley Roads, and was demolished about the time the railway line was built.[6][7] In the 1850s, Hartwell was a small hamlet named after the nearby Back Creek. Minutes of meetings from the Boroondara District Roads Board noted that "c/- Irwin Hotel, Back Creek" was used as a polling station.

The station building was originally at Walhalla, the terminus of the Walhalla line, but was moved to Hartwell in December 1938, six years before the Walhalla line closed in 1944.[4] Until the Alamein line was converted from single to double track in 1954 (to Ashburton) and 1955 (to Riversdale),[4] Hartwell was the only crossing loop on the line.

On 27 December 1948, an Alamein-bound train was derailed at the Flinders Street (up) end of the station, near a set of points. While the track was blocked, a shuttle service was provided between Hartwell and Alamein, but passengers going beyond Hartwell had to take trams.[8]

Platforms and services

edit

Hartwell has one island platform with two faces. It is served by Alamein line trains.[9]

Platform 1:

Platform 2:

References

edit
  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 "Hartwell". vicsig.net. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. ^ Beardsell, David; Herbert, Bruce (1979). The Outer Circle : A History of the Oakleigh to Fairfield Park Railway. Melbourne: Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 62–3. ISBN 0858490242.
  6. ^ "Hartwell". Victorian Places. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ^ First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Alamein Train Leaves Rails". The Age. 28 December 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2023 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "Alamein Line". Public Transport Victoria.
edit