South Yarra
PTV commuter rail station
Station facade and entrance, May 2011
General information
Location	Toorak Road, South Yarra, Victoria 3141 City of Stonnington Australia
Coordinates	37°50′20″S 144°59′32″E / 37.8389°S 144.9922°E / -37.8389; 144.9922
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	Metro Trains
Line(s)	Pakenham Cranbourne Frankston Sandringham
Distance	5.41 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	6 (2 side, 2 island)
Tracks	6
Connections	Tram
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Accessible	No—steep ramp
Other information
Status	Operational, premium station
Station code	SYR
Fare zone	Myki Zone 1
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	22 December 1860 (1860-12-22)
Electrified	May 1919 (1500 V DC overhead)
Previous names	Gardiner's Creek Road (1860–1866)
Passengers
2005–2006	2,364,291[1]
2006–2007	2,407,609[1]  1.83%
2007–2008	2,592,897[1]  7.69%
2008–2009	2,704,803[2]  4.31%
2009–2010	2,518,300[2]  6.89%
2010–2011	2,638,309[2]  4.76%
2011–2012	2,399,395[2]  9.05%
2012–2013	Not measured[2]
2013–2014	3,939,044[2]  64.16%
2014–2015	3,926,437[1]  0.32%
2015–2016	4,199,696[2]  6.95%
2016–2017	4,529,872[2]  7.86%
2017–2018	4,592,881[2]  1.39%
2018–2019	4,367,158[2]  4.91%
2019–2020	3,151,600[2]  27.83%
2020–2021	1,669,900[2]  47.01%
2021–2022	1,997,050[3]  19.59%
Services Preceding station Metro Trains Following station Richmond towards Flinders Street Pakenham line Malvern Limited service towards Pakenham Caulfield towards Pakenham Cranbourne line Malvern Limited service towards Cranbourne Caulfield towards Cranbourne Richmond towards Werribee or Williamstown via Flinders Street Frankston line Hawksburn towards Frankston Frankston line Weekday peak express services Malvern Citybound express services towards Frankston Caulfield towards Frankston Richmond towards Flinders Street Sandringham line Prahran towards Sandringham
Track layout to Richmond CityLink Yarra River End CBTC 1 2 4 6 3 5 Start CBTC to Hawksburn to Prahran

South Yarra railway station is a commuter railway station and the junction point for the Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham and Sandringham lines, serving the south Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia.^[4][5] South Yarra is a premium status ground structure station featuring six platforms, with two island platforms and two side platforms connected by a ramp accessible overground concourse. The station opened on 22 December 1860 as Gardiners Creek Road before being renamed South Yarra on 1 January 1867.^[6]

History

South Yarra station was opened by the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company as Gardiners Creek Road. Initially, it served the Brighton line, on what was called the "Prahran Branch". On 1 January 1867, the station was renamed South Yarra.^[6] The private railway company, by then the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United Railway Company, was taken over by the Government of Victoria in 1878, and its network became part of the Victorian Railways.

In 1924, historian John Cooper noted that when the South Yarra to Oakleigh line was first constructed, a set of points connected the line to the existing Brighton line. However, a high embankment obscured the vision of train drivers approaching South Yarra on both lines. To solve that problem, it was decided that the Oakleigh line should have its own tracks into Melbourne, and the Cremorne Railway Bridge, spanning the Yarra River, was duplicated to allow that.^[7]

The opening of the South Yarra to Oakleigh line in 1879 made the proposed Outer Circle line largely redundant, but it was constructed anyway, a decade later.

In 1914, the line between South Yarra and Caulfield was completely rebuilt. The works included the quadruplication of the line, and the reconstruction of the stations at Hawksburn, Toorak, Armadale and Malvern.^[8]

In 1946, the current Cremorne Railway Bridge over the Yarra River was opened, replacing the earlier one.^[6] In 1947, a works siding opened, which was disconnected in 1955.^[6]

Even after the laying of six tracks from Richmond to South Yarra, and the abolition of the signal box, the station retained three emergency crossovers at the up end of Platforms 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. The latter set was removed in 1983, followed by the middle pair by 23 June 1984,^[9] and the final set in August 1986.^[10] The crossovers were originally provided in 1945 and 1960.^[6] Also in 1960, the "local lines", used by Pakenham and Cranbourne line services, were extended to Richmond, and the signal box, located at the up end of Platforms 4 and 5, was closed,^[6] but still remains in place.

In 1993, there were major re-signalling works between South Yarra and Toorak,^[6] with similar works occurring between South Yarra and Richmond in 1994.^[6] In 1997, South Yarra was upgraded to a premium station.^[11] As such, the station is staffed from the first to the last service each day.

According to Public Transport Victoria data, South Yarra is the eighth-busiest station on the Melbourne metropolitan network, with 4.59 million boardings per year during the 2017/2018 financial year.^[12]

In early 2020, it was announced that South Yarra was to undergo a $12 million refurbishment. The entrance to the station on Toorak Road was to be widened, and the layout changed to make the station larger.^[13][14]

Services on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will no longer stop at South Yarra when the Metro Tunnel opens, which is scheduled to take place in 2025. The entrance portal to the Metro Tunnel is located near the station, but South Yarra will not be integrated into the new tunnel, which generated some criticism.^[15][16]

Platforms and services

South Yarra station has six platforms: two side platforms and two island platforms with four faces. It is served by Cranbourne,^[17] Frankston,^[18] Pakenham^[19] and Sandringham^[20] line trains. V/Line's Bairnsdale rail services (Gippsland line) pass non-stop through the station.

Platform 1:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sandringham line  all stations services to Sandringham

Platform 3:

•  Frankston line  all stations services to Flinders Street, Werribee and Williamstown

Platform 4:

•  Frankston line  all stations and limited express services to Frankston

Platform 5:

•  Pakenham line  all stations services to Flinders Street
•  Cranbourne line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 6:

•  Pakenham line  limited express services to Pakenham
•  Cranbourne line  limited express services to Cranbourne

From 2025, Pakenham and Cranbourne lines will no longer serve South Yarra because they will be routed through the Metro Tunnel to Sunbury.

Transport links

Yarra Trams operates one route via South Yarra station:

• : West Coburg – Toorak^[21]

Gallery

• 
  Southbound view in 1900^[22]
• 
  Southbound view from Platforms 2 and 3, June 2014

References

External links

Media related to South Yarra railway station, Melbourne at Wikimedia Commons

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au