Travel Australia

Railway Stations: North Carlton, Victoria

When you think "railway station" you expect to see train tracks, or at least something that resembles where tracks once were. Such is not the case with North Carlton station building, which sits in the middle of Hardy Gallaqgher Reserve. The only clues to it being a railway station building is its present name - the North Carlton Station Neighbourhood House - and that it is located on the Inner City Rail Trail.



The Inner Circle railway line branched off the Upfield line to the east between Royal Park and Jewell stations, joining up with the Mernda line line just north of Cliften Hill station. The line ran between and parallel to Brunswick Road and Park Street. There were two stations on the line - North Carlton, located on Long Street, and North Fitzroy, to the east of Nicholson Street adjacent to present day Linear Park Event Space.



When the Inner Circle line first opened, services originated from Spencer Street station at the western end of the Melbourne central business district. Trains bound for the then terminus at Heidelberg station (now on the Hurstbridge line) would run to North Fitzroy station, then continue south to Victoria Park station (then known as Collingwood, and now on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines). Locomotives would then have to change ends and the trains return to Clifton Hill station, where they diverged east on to the line to Heidelberg.


North Fitzroy station. The station's Goods Yard was chiefly used to store barley for the local breweries. Some remnants of the siding tracks and the weighbridge can still be seen. There were large steel silos at the east end.

The line and both stations were opened on 8th May 1885. North Carlton station was originally known as Langridge-street, and later Lang Street. Both stations were closed to passengers in 1948, except for special events such as the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. After 1948 the Inner Circle line was used for freight trains serving sidings along the line itself, and the goods yard at the end of the Fitzroy branch.

The overhead wiring for electric trains was dismantled in 1961. Only the main feeder cables needed for Epping (now Mernda) line trains, and for shunting at the Royal Park end, were retained. Significant changes occurred in 1965, when the line was singled and both legs of the triangle at the eastern end of the line were closed. This left just a single line from Royal Park to Fitzroy remaining for goods services. The line was officially closed on 31 July 1981.



While most of the network was electrified in 1921, the branch line to Fitzroy remained unelectrified. The Inner Circle line never represented the most direct route to the city, and many commuters preferred to use trams. The construction of a straight track to Flinders Street from Collingwood Station ultimately proved its death knell and in 1948 it was largely closed down. The Inner Circle line was demolished altogether in the mid-1980s, and replaced with the parks and houses that we see today. The North Carlton station building was used a residence by the former station master and his wife, Mr and Mrs Barnes, until the mid-1970s when it was vacated upon their deaths.

The rails were removed after the final closure, except for some short sections at former level crossings which can still be seen today. Of the three former stations, only North Carlton still stands, having been converted into a community centre. North Fitzroy station is now a slight rise in the walking and cycling path east of Nicholson Street. The path was realigned in 2002 to traverse the length of the former platform.



The remains of the Inner Circle line can still be seen in the remnants of the running track on the west side of the Nicholson Street level crossing roadway. The gatehouse stood at the north-east corner. The site of North Fitzroy station has been redeveloped into a medium-density housing estate. Almost all traces of the station have been removed, except for some bluestone in the park. The remains of the running track and the spur line to the Goods Yard can still be seen in the roadway of Brunswick Street North level crossing.