Mernda railway station

Mernda
Station information
Line	Whittlesea
Distance from Southern Cross	Xkm
Number of platforms	1
Number of tracks	1
Station status	Closed
Station opened	1889
Station closed	1959

Mernda was a Steam-era railway station on the Whittlesea line in Mernda, Victoria, Australia.

History

The station opened in December 1889 as South Yan Yean, being renamed Mernda in December 1913.^[1]

Mernda station operated until the closure of the line after Lalor Station in the 1959, after the electrification of the line to Lalor. Epping station was then re-opened in the 1960s with the electrification of that section of the line. The remaining section of track from Epping to Whittlesea was then dismantled in the 1970s, with the former right-of-way remaining intact. All that remains of this station now is platform, which is overgrown with exotic trees and a Peppercorn tree. The station house was moved to the Mernda Recreation Reserve and still serves as clubrooms for the Mernda Football and Cricket Clubs.

Restoration of the railway to Mernda has been identified in the Strategic Transportation Study undertaken by the City of Whittlesea in 2002.

The proposal put forward by both the Victorian Labor and Liberal parties is to extend the line to Mernda by 2027. The City of Whittlesea has forecasted that the population in Mernda and Doreen will be 40,000 by this time. The South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance, which has been successful in lobbying the state government to fulfill their promise of reinstating the train line to South Morang, is actively lobbying the state government to commit to reinstating the train line to Mernda by 2014.^[2]

References

1. ^ Jack McLean (November 1995). "Reservoir - Whittlesea: Signalling and Safeworking". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): pages 333–337. 
2. ^ http://www.southmorangrailalliance.org/

Coordinates: 37°35′58″S 145°6′5″E / 37.59944°S 145.10139°E / -37.59944; 145.10139