Richmond railway station, Melbourne

Richmond station is a railway station in Richmond, Australia. Richmond is an inner suburb of Melbourne. 

The station is built on a bridge over Punt Road. It has ten platforms joined by three subways. All of Melbourne's eastern and south eastern railway lines meet here. These railway lines are:
 Frankston
 Glen Waverley
 Pakenham 
 Sandringham, 
 Cranbourne 
 Belgrave
 Lilydale 
 Alamein 

The station is  from Flinders Street Station which is Melbourne's central railway station. Richmond station is close to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Punt Road Oval and Melbourne Park. It is very busy during sporting and other special events.

Tram route 70 goes past Richmond Station along Swan Street. 

Punt Road is under the station with a major interchange with Swan Street and Brunton Avenue.

History
Richmond station has been moved and rebuilt four times. The first station in Punt Road was at ground level and opened on 8 February, 1859. It closed the same year on 12 December, 1859. On the same day the new station opened in Swan Street.

In 1885, a new station just north of Swan Street was opened. The new station was raised up and was not at ground level. It had six platforms. For some time, both the old and new stations were used, before the ground level Swan Street station was closed. 

By the 1940s the station had begun to fall apart. It was so bad that the council said it should be pulled down. A new station was not built for another 20 years. On 26 March, 1960 the new station was opened west of the old one. The bridges at each end of the station across Punt Road and Swan Street were also rebuilt to fit the ten tracks. The old station was pulled down.

Proposed redevelopment
The condition of Richmond station was a problem again in 2005. Melbourne held the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Richmond station was the gateway to many of the main venues. The station had a bleak appearance. The raised station did not have much shelter and could be windy and cold. It has poor access with steep ramps, stairs, and no lifts. This led the Victorian Government to think about building a new station. They decided it would cost too much money.

 Movie 
The opening scene of the movie Romper Stomper was filmed in Richmond station. In the movie it was called Footscray station.

<Station Navigation<Metropolitan service"City Loop"Previous StationAnti - Clockwise Parliament  | Flinders Street Previous StationClockwise  Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley & Lilydale linesPrevious StationRefer to City Loop | East Richmond Next Station  Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham & Sandringham linesPrevious StationRefer to City Loop | South Yarra Next Station  <Regional serviceBairnsdale linePrevious StationFlinders Street → | → Caulfield Next Station <Entire metropolitan network< Entire regional network

Category:Premium Melbourne railway stations