The Geelong Railway Station has served our city for nearly 160 years with the first line opening in November of 1856. The Geelong Line originally began servicing Geelong and Lara before slowly reaching Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station) in 1859.
The lovely heritage listed red and pale brick station buildings we use today as a ticket office were constructed between 1877 and 1881. A large train hall that spans the three platforms is one of two left in the state of 19th century construction.
The line to Melbourne began construction in 1854 from the Geelong terminus towards Newport. Owned by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company, the intention was to get Geelong passengers to a temporary station at Newport where they could get off and transfer to a ferry in order to get to Melbourne. The Williamstown Line was also under construction around this time too and by the time it was fully opened in 1859 Geelong trains had already been operating for two years first to Newport and then to Williamstown pier. A simple reconfiguration of the tracks at Newport was all that was required to see the passengers transfer between Geelong and Spencer Street Station with ease.
The original Geelong Station building was built a short distance east of where the station is located today. When the station was moved to its current location in 1877 the old station area made way for a goods shed and yard that eventually fell into disuse. In the 1990’s this area was bulldozed to make way for the law court and police complex that stands on the site today.
When it was decided to extend the line to Colac in 1876 a new route was needed so the station was moved to its current location. This new location enabled the trains to continue on through the new rail tunnel that was just constructed under the city to Mckillop Street. Another smaller tunnel was built servicing the Geelong waterfront with trains collecting cargo from Railway Pier or Cunningham Pier as we now know it. This smaller tunnel has been gradually been filled in over the years as part of car park works both in front of the station and a 100 space car park across mercer street that was constructed in 2016. The area in front of the station that is now used as a bus terminus was originally used a tram terminus enabling passengers from Melbourne to transfer to many parts of our once smaller city all on rails.
A restoration of the station in the 1990’s saw the building return to its former glory. Over the years there had been additions, removal of several ornate features as well as a bad paint job on the brick highlights around the building. The only thing for it was to strip it back and return all the features that could be seen in early photos that had long been removed due to years of cost cutting. To make passengers journey more comfortable a new waiting area, cafeteria and modern conveniences were added inside the heritage building during the redevelopment. A large basement also exists in the station that was originally used to store food before refrigeration, today this basement area remain vacant.
Today the Geelong Railway Station building looks much like it did in the 1880’s. Around the outside of the complex there have been many new additions with a disable access lift recently added to the west of the platforms and a large bus terminus in front of the station. Recently the move of Geelong bound trains off the Werribee Line and onto the Regional Rail Link has seen an increase of services to Geelong with trains running every 10 minutes on weekday peak hours.
