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]

Prahran
PTV commuter rail station
Southbound view from Platform 2, October 2024
General information
LocationPorter Street,
Prahran, Victoria 3181
City of Stonnington
Australia
Coordinates37°50′58″S 144°59′24″E / 37.8495°S 144.9899°E / -37.8495; 144.9899
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Line(s)Sandringham
Distance6.72 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side
Tracks2
ConnectionsList of Melbourne tram routes Tram
Construction
Structure typeGround
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, host station
Station codePRA
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened22 December 1860; 163 years ago (1860-12-22)
ElectrifiedMay 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous namesGreville Street (1860-1866)
Passengers
2005–2006852,273[1]
2006–2007945,184[1]Increase 10.9%
2007–20081,040,526[1]Increase 10.08%
2008–2009945,683[2]Decrease 9.11%
2009–20101,016,071[2]Increase 7.44%
2010–20111,150,068[2]Increase 13.18%
2011–20121,153,810[2]Increase 0.32%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–20141,285,541[2]Increase 11.41%
2014–20151,286,268[1]Increase 0.05%
2015–20161,341,311[2]Increase 4.27%
2016–20171,376,037[2]Increase 2.58%
2017–20181,371,597[2]Decrease 0.32%
2018–20191,156,066[2]Decrease 15.71%
2019–2020951,300[2]Decrease 17.71%
2020–2021473,550[2]Decrease 50.22%
2021–2022571,600[3]Increase 20.7%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
South Yarra Sandringham line Windsor
towards Sandringham
Track layout
Greville Street
1
2

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

History

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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

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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:

Platform 2:

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Yarra Trams operates three routes via Prahran station:

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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. ^ Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Data Vic
  4. ^ a b c d "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.
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