General Motors railway station, Melbourne

MelbourneClosedRailwayStation
NAME=General Motors
IMAGELINK=General_Motors_railway_station,_Melbourne.jpg
CAPTION=View from platform at General Motors station
CODE=GMH
DISTANCE=33.8 km
LINE=Pakenham
PLATFORMS=2
TRACKS=2
STATUS=Closed station
FACILITIES=
TIMETABLES=
MELWAY= [http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/genmap.cgi?x=145.24523560314&y=-38.0106004127072&sizex=650&sizey=650&level=5&star=5&circle= Link]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&sll=-37.943115,145.251617&sspn=0.414794,1.143951&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=-38.010273,145.24489&spn=0.001619,0.004469&t=h&om=1&iwloc=addr Link]
ZONE=2

General Motors is a disused railway station on the Pakenham line of the Melbourne suburban rail system. It is located between Dandenong and Hallam stations, in the suburb of Dandenong South.

History

General Motors station was originally opened as a 'special platform' on October 1, 1956cite book
last = S.E. Doorman and R.G. Henderson
first =
title = Electric Railways of Victoria
publisher = Australian Electric Traction Society
isbn = 0 909459 06 1 ] to service the General Motors Holden car factory to the north. An alternate date for the opening is November 18, 1956. [http://vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&name=General%20Motors Vicsig: General Motors station] ] Work on the adjacent General Motors Holden factory commenced with the purchase of 152 acres of land in 1951, construction commencing in 1955, and completed in 1956. [ [http://media.gm.com/aus/holden/en/company/history/history_milestones.html Holden: Milestones] ]

The station opened at the site of a number of private railway sidings, two years after electrification of the line though it was commissioned, and at a time when suburban services to Pakenham did not exist. As a result, only a single platform was provided on the north side on the Down (Pakenham bound) track, and services operated as extensions of Dandenong trains at factory opening and close times. This was altered on January 20, 1975 when suburban services were extended from Dandenong to Pakenham. The Up (Melbourne bound) platform and footbridge to the north was provided, and Pakenham trains were timetabled to stop at the station at factory opening and close times.

The station was provided with a crossover between the double track lines, and a signal box to control it.Victorian Railways signal diagram: [http://www.victorianrailways.net/signaling/completedia/danhalyn.html Dandenong to Hallam & Lyndhurst 1979] ] A number of railway sidings also branched from the station in a westerly direction along the main line. In 1979 they served the International Harvester, Heinz, and General Motors Holden factories. The station could not be accessed from public roads, with the only way in and out via a gate into the General Motors Holden factory.

In 1991, the General Motors factory closed down, [http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/being-just-dandy/2007/04/19/1176697005058.html The Age: 'To Dandy with love' - April 21, 2007] ] leaving the station essentially isolated. It remained open for a further eleven years, despite the closure and demolition of the factory, and the fact that the footbridge now led to a fenced-off, empty paddock where the factory had once stood. It was estimated to be the least patronised station in the entire city network, with only an average of 11 passengers using it a day. [ [http://www.vicrailstations.com/Orbost/General_Motors/General_Motors.html Victorian Railway Stations: General Motors] ] By the time it closed, only eight trains stopped at the station each day — four each way.

Visitors from the Signalling Record Society had to obtain permission from General Motors and be accompanied by a security guard while at the station. The "Rail Appreciation Association Victoria" was another group who organised a trip to the station, travelling via ordinary train services. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040326062241/pbdig.net/raav/ Rail Appreciation Association Victoria: Farewell General Motors Tour] ] Another group of railfans visited the station the the last day of operation, again using regular trains.

The only means of accessing the station was to jump off the platform and cross over the tracks on foot, as no new accesses were built after the closure of the factory. This meant that it was one of only two stations on the Melbourne network to be inaccessible to wheelchairs (the other one being Heyington). The Public Transport Users Association asked that it be upgraded due to industrial growth in the area. [http://www.ptua.org.au/media/2002/july25.shtml PTUA: Monty Python Bureaucracy Closes Railway Station] ] However, M>Train, who operated the Pakenham line at the time, requested permission to close the station in 2002, due to "safety concerns and a lack of legal access". The last trains stopped at the station on Friday 26 July 2002, with the station officially closed on Sunday 28 July 2002.

Current status

Posters about the closure referred to a "temporary suspension". M>Train did not rule out the possibility of re-opening the station at a future time. (The former M>Train network is now operated by Connex, and any plans this company may have for the station are unknown).

In 2004 General Motors was still listed in the Pakenham line pocket timetable, [ [http://www.aattc.org.au/melbpocketTTlist.htm Australian Association of TimeTable Collectors: Melbourne Rail Pocket Timetables] ] and in 2005 the [http://metlinkmelbourne.com.au http://metlinkmelbourne.com.au] trip planner was still displaying services to the station, despite the closure. [ [http://www.railpage.com.au/f-t15662-s0-0-asc.htm Railpage Australia: observations by user Torykins] ]

However, the station is no longer displayed on any public transport maps. As of late 2004, all signage had been removed, "KEEP OUT" signage had been installed, and access to the footbridge between platforms had been fenced off. Station announcements on the line continued to announce that trains would stop at "all stations except General Motors" until April 2007. [ [http://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11329847-s0-0-asc.htm Railpage Australia: observations by user Nexas] ]

References

ee also

*List of closed Melbourne railway stations

External links

* Signal diagram: [http://www.victorianrailways.net/signaling/completedia/danhalyn.html Dandenong to Hallam & Lyndhurst 1979]
* Photos: [http://metf2nk.fotopic.net/c338318.html 'metf2nk' gallery]
* Photos: [http://bgstations.fotopic.net/c723320.html 'Station pix by Somebody' gallery]
* Photos: [http://www.vicrailstations.com/Orbost/General_Motors/General_Motors.html 'Victorian Railway Stations' gallery]
* [http://www.ptua.org.au/media/2002/july25.shtml PTUA: Monty Python Bureaucracy Closes Railway Station]

MelbourneClosedStations
Here=General Motors
Line=Pakenham line
Previous=Dandenong
Next=Hallam

General Motors is currently not in use and trains no longer stop here.