Camberwell railway station is located on the Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the eastern Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, opening on 3 April 1882. It was the terminus of its own line for a few months, until the railway was extended to Lilydale. When the first section of the Outer Circle line opened in 1891, a new station was built at East Camberwell to provide an interchange. However, the Outer Circle line quickly failed, with a number of sections closing, and by 1898, only the Ashburton line remained, and trains for Ashburton began to depart from Camberwell. The station was demolished, and the current Edwardian style station opened in 1919, when the railway lines were placed in a cutting. This was done partly to remove the steep gradient from Auburn, to the west. This length of track was so steep that steam locomotives could not pull a fully laden train between the two stations, requiring peak hour trains to be separated. The locomotive would bring one set of carriages to Camberwell, then return for the other set, causing significant delays. The signal box at Camberwell was the first one in Victoria to have push-button signalling installed, the new technology being commissioned in November 1964. Immediately east of the station the, Alamein line diverges south, with a flyover carrying the southbound line over the Lilydale and Belgrave lines. It was upgraded to a Premium station on 27 April 1996. In 1997, four stabling sidings were built on the site of the former goods yard. They were built to replace sidings removed at Jolimont Yard. The stabling sidings were first proposed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority in the mid 1980s.
Redevelopment controversy
In 2001, the Victorian State Government launched a new Metropolitan Planning Strategy, Melbourne 2030, which proposed intensification of development around public transport nodes, such as railway stations and tram routes, along with limits on such development in residential neighbourhoods. The precinct around Camberwell railway station was identified as one of a number of 'activity centres' earmarked for redevelopment. In March 2003, VicTrack announced plans to develop the airspace over the site, including decking over the station platforms and the adjacent marshalling yard, with 3–4 levels of car park, and 3–4 storeys of commercial space. The original plans, involving the station's demolition, led to protests from the local community, receiving a significant amount of media attention, with actor Geoffrey Rush and comedian Barry Humphries publicly backing the campaign, heading a protest march up Burke Road from Camberwell Junction to the station. The comedian performed a poem about planners at the rally, and noted that the railway line was sometimes called 'The Orient Express'. To those supporting development of the station, the actions of the protesters have been taken as an example of NIMBYism. The Boroondara Residents Action Group worked with architects McGauran Giannini Soon to provide alternative ideas for developing the air-space over the railway station and yard, that were more in-keeping with their views of community preferences, including a small public plaza and a new public library, with some small-scale shops. Although the station is historic, it is not protected by any of the state's heritage listings for any architectural or cultural reasons, and failed to gain this protection when nominated to the Victorian Heritage Register by local residents groups. In July 2009, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal approved a nine-storey development on the site, provided 14 design modifications were made within 28 days. In October 2012, VicTrack announced that it had discontinued negotiations with the preferred developer, CSTP Pty Ltd.
Platforms & services
Camberwell has one island platform with two faces and one side platform. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Belgrave, Lilydale and Alamein line services. Platform 1:
