Graham railway station, Melbourne

MelbourneClosedRailwayStation
NAME=Graham
IMAGELINK=Portmelbourne-grahamst.jpg
CAPTION=Tram stop at Graham
LINE=Port Melbourne
DISTANCE=3.4km
PLATFORMS=2, later 1
TRACKS=2, later 1
STATUS=Closed
OPENED=June 1, 1888
CLOSED=October, 1987
MELWAY= [http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/genmap.cgi?x=145.405092238165&y=-37.9209431838946&sizex=650&sizey=650&level=6&star=1&circle= Link]
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Graham was a railway station, now converted to light rail, on the former Port Melbourne line in the inner Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne, Australia. Located to the north of Graham Street between Evans Street and Station Street, the station has since been demolished and is now served by route 109 trams stopping at a pair of low level platforms.cite web
url=http://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/vic/South%20Melbourne/PortMelbourneFlindersStreetRailwayReservation/17807
title=Port Melbourne Flinders Street Railway Reservation, South Melbourne, VIC Profile
publisher=www.aussieheritage.com.au
accessdate=2008-07-05]

History

Graham station opened in 1888 as Graham Street, the name being simplified to Graham in 1909. The line though the station was opened in 1854. [cite web
url=http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&name=Graham
title=Graham station
work=VICSIG - Infrastructure
publisher=www.vicsig.net
accessdate=2008-07-05] The station was originally a pair of side platforms on a double track railway, and was set in the middle of a landscaped reserve 30.5m (100ft) wide that ran between Boundary and Graham Streets, a remnant of a short lived Parliamentary provision that railway reservations be 100 yards in width.

In 1914 with the opening of the New Pier (later Princes Pier) located to the north of the existing Station Pier (formerly named Railway Pier), [cite web
url=http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/portofmelb.html
title=Port of Melbourne, Victoria
publisher=www.arts.monash.edu.au
accessdate=2008-07-05] Graham became a junction with a new line diverging from the Melbourne end of the station. The station had two sets of interlocked gates at the Graham Street level crossing, controlled by a signal box on the western side, as well as a number of goods sidings at the Melbourne end. The Bridge Street level crossing also had it's own signal box. [cite web
url=http://www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com/My_Web_pages/VR/Metropolitan/22'15.htm
title= Port Melbourne line 1915
work=Victorian Railways signal diagram
publisher=www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com
accessdate=2008-07-05]

By the 1960s traffic to the port had dropped due to changes in cargo handling, and so in 1961 the branch to Princes Pier was reduced to a single track and worked as a siding rather than a main line. Further rationalisations were made in December 1969, when the line from Graham to Port Melbourne was singled, with the Up track lifted and the up platform taken out of service. The signal box was also closed, replaced by a signal panel in a new station building on the down platform.cite book | last = S.E. Doorman and R.G. Henderson | title = Electric Railways of Victoria | publisher = Australian Electric Traction Society | page = page | year = 1979 | isbn = 0 909459 06 1 ]

The Bridge Street level crossing and signal box had been replaced by boom barriers by 1964, [cite web
url=http://www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com/My_Web_pages/VR/Metropolitan/17'64.htm
title=Port Melbourne line 1964
work=Victorian Railways signal diagram
publisher=www.signaldiagramsandphotos.com
accessdate=2008-07-05] and Graham Street level crossing at the down end of the station was abolished by October 1970 when grade separation was carried out. Only two lanes of the four lane road were completed, with the other two completed the next year.

The last passenger train ran through the station on October 10, 1987 after it was announced that the line would be converted to light rail. Goods trains had continued to run though the station to Port Melbourne until at least September that year.cite journal | year = 1988 | month = January | title = Traffic | journal = Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages = pages 20-22 ] The replacement light rail line was officially opened on December 18, 1987. [cite journal | year = 1997 | month = March | title = Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960 | author = Chris Banger | journal = Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages = pages 77 - 82 ]

References

VictorianClosedStations
VICORMELB=Melbourne
Line1=Port Melbourne line
Previous1=North Port
Next1=Port Melbourne
Line2=Princes Pier branch
Previous2plain=Junction
Next2plain=Princes Pier