# Preston railway station, Melbourne

Preston railway station is a commuter railway station located in the north-eastern suburb of Preston in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station opened on 8 October 1889, with the former ground level station closed and demolished in May 2022 and the current elevated station provided in September 2022 by the Level Crossing Removal Project. The station was renamed two times, which it initially opened as "Preston-Murray Road" upon its opening in 1889. It was renamed to "Murray" on 1 August 1905, then was given its current name of "Preston" on 1 December 1909.
Preston is an elevated premium station, consisting of a single island platform with two faces connected by a staircase, lifts and a ground level concourse. The station fully complies with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and is accessible as there is a lift connecting to the ground level concourse and the station platforms.
The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency and the station is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. Preston station is currently served by the Mernda line, part of the Melbourne railway network. Additionally, the station is also served by four bus routes, it includes Dysons bus routes 552 and 553 and Ventura bus routes 903 and 527. The station is approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) or around a 24-minute train ride to Flinders Street.

## Description

Preston railway station is located in the north-eastern suburb of Preston in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The station is owned by VicTrack, a state government agency and the station is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. The station is 10 km (6.2 mi) or around a 24-minute train ride to Flinders Street. The adjacent stations are Bell station up towards Flinders Street and Regent station down towards Mernda.
The station consists of a single island platform with two edges. As is standard in Melbourne, the platform has an asphalt surface with concrete on the edges. The island platform is approximately 160 m (524 ft 11 in) long, long enough for a 7 car High Capacity Metro Train. The station features a ground level concourse, accessible from the elevated station platform via a lift and stairs. There is one main station building, opened in 2022, which contains a waiting room, a customer service, PSO office and a ground level concourse inside the main station building.
The station building, concourse and platform largely stayed the same since the station was rebuilt in 2022. There are 254 car, 42 secure bike and 21 secure bike cage parking at the station. The station is listed as fully accessible on the Metro Trains website, as there are lifts and accessible features available at the station.

## History
### Original ground level station (1888-2022)

Preston station opened on 8 October 1889, when the Inner Circle line was extended from North Fitzroy to Reservoir, Preston station, like the suburb itself, was named after Preston in Sussex, England. The name was chosen by Edward Wood, who was originally from Sussex and, in 1850, opened a general store at the corner of the current day intersection of High and Wood Streets.
In 1967, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the former Cramer Street and Murray Road level crossings, which were located in the up and down directions respectively. In 1973, the former ground level station buildings were provided, replacing the original 1889 structures. In 1998, Preston was upgraded to a premium station.

### Level Crossing Removal Project

On 30 November 2018, the Andrews government announced that the Level Crossing Removal Project would remove the Cramer Street and Murray Road level crossings, along with 23 other level crossings in Melbourne as part of a $6.6 billion program. At the same time, the elevated railway option was chosen.
In February 2021, construction began on the project with piling works, install fencing around the construction site and foundation for temporary overhead wiring in preparation for the creation of the 2 km (1.2 mi) elevated railway bridge. During the major construction period, the Mernda line was closed for a few times at a maximum of 12 days in 2021 and 2022 to facilitate further piling and excavation works. Between 5 May to 12 May 2021, the original Preston station building was demolished to make way for the new elevated railway bridge and the Mernda line was closed for the period of that time to install temporary equipment at the station. Once the temporary station opened, major excavation works were able to begin. Construction of the first part of the U-through bridge section made up of two L-shaped beams for the elevated railway bridge installed and digging for the 114 piers also started to occur during this time.
Between 17 May to 30 May 2022, the Mernda line was shut down for 12 days to remove the Cramer Street and Murray Road level crossings, get the first part of the elevated railway bridge ready for trains to run on and demolish the old ground level station platforms. On 30 May 2022, the first part of the 2 kilometre bridge opened with only a single track temporarily until 26 August 2022 because they could not close the Mernda line for longer than 12 days due to the requirement of trains to regularly access the Epping maintenance yard facility.
On 5 September 2022, the rebuilt station opened to the public. The elevated station opened in a basic state, with lifts, paving and additional exits opened on the north side of the station. The station is water and energy efficient with sustainable features such as solar panels, rain water reuse, LED lighting and environmentally sustainable materials to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In late October 2022, came to the completion of the new additional car parks adjacent to north of Cramer Street and north of Murray Road. In 2023, came to the completion of the open spaces. The Bruce Street area features a playground, BBQ facilities, seating areas and all-ages fitness facilities. The Preston station area features an improved cycling and walking paths which opened in late 2022, expansive open space, newer and safer connections to popular local destinations and the station facades' bright colour which features a barcode that reflects on the vivid colours of the produce found at Preston Market. The north of Murray Road area is used as a multi use area. The north of Murray Road area features planting that includes native grasses and flowering varieties, landscaping that brings colour and enhances local biodiversity and seating and natural play elements with a parkour theme.

## Platforms and services

Preston has a single island platform with two faces. The station is currently served by the Mernda line, part of the metropolitan railway network. The Mernda line runs from Mernda station, north-east of Melbourne, joining with the Hurstbridge line at Clifton Hill station before travelling through Flinders Street station and back through the City Loop.
Platform 1:
* Mernda line all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
Platform 2:
* Mernda line all stations services to Mernda

## Transport links

Preston station has four bus route connections and no tram connections. The route 552 and 553 bus are operated by Dysons, while the route 527 bus is operated by Ventura Bus Lines and the SmartBus route 903 operated by Kinetic Melbourne. Bus routes 552 and 553 operates from the nearby High Street, east of Preston station. The route 552 operates from North East Reservoir to Northcote Plaza while the route 553 bus operates from Preston to West Preston. Bus routes 527 and 903 operates from the nearby Murray Road, north-east of Preston station. The route 527 bus operates from Gowrie railway station to Northland Shopping Centre while the route 903 operates from Altona railway station to Mordialloc. The bus stop location on High Street has no shelters on the south-eastern side and only seating facilities while the bus stop on the north-western side has the roofs off the High Street shops front buildings and seating facilities available. The bus stop location on Murray Road has shelters, seating facilities and dot-matrix passenger information screens on both sides. Preston station also has train replacement bus stop located on High Street.
Bus connections:
* 552 : North East Reservoir – Northcote Plaza
* 553 : Preston – West Preston
* SmartBus 903 : Altona station – Mordialloc
* 527 : Gowrie station – Northland Shopping Centre