I thought I might clarify a few things vis-a-vis why certain (very deserving stations) didn't make the top 10. 1) I arbitrarily decided that V/line-only stations in Melbourne and Stony Point line stations don't count as being in Melbourne. It would be a boring video if I just listed most of the Stony Point line stations one-by-one! 2) I excluded stations that are currently being rebuilt. Keon Park, Narre Warren and Pakenham are all candidates that could consider themselves fortunate as a result. Loving the discussions down here!
I feel bad for those who have to use Macaulay station on the upfield line. I used it one and it was a freaking joke. Absurdly located beneath a freeway and looks like skid row
@@melbournerailwayvideos just google photos of the station and you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Its kinda sad actually, because with a level crossing, Bridge above and creek ajacent, it is sadly impossible to upgrade it
One that was missing for me is Dandenong, the station itself isn't bad, and I like the teal colored glass, but you do not want to be stranded there at night lol.
I agree. I think that for a premium station and a major bus interchange and a V/Line stopping point and a spot where the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines branch off from one another that Dandenong Station needs to be a lot more user friendly. It has got to be right up there among the worst and most unsafe train stations on the entire Melbourne metropolitan train network. It needed to be on this list.
@@darrenmiles-morland8038 yeah I pass through it daily, and more often than not there’s always a police event or something nasty going on. Thankfully I never have to get off there.
@@JackStavrisDandenong along with Frankston, Sunshine, St. Albans, and Broadmeadows are among the roughest and most crime riddled suburbs in Melbourne.
As a lifelong Broadie/Craigieburn liner, a picture of windswept Jacana involuntarily appeared in my mind when this vid appeared in my feed. Sure enough, it did not disappoint ❤
Yep-Jacana served an important purpose when you’d run onto the station at Glenroy forgetting to sort your (back then paper) ticket out, a confident “the ticket machine wasn’t working at Jacana, I’m getting the ticket when I get to Flinders Street” was a get out of fine phrase. Roxy as the first one off the bat wasn’t a surprise either. Broady station has a special place in my heart and sad to see it on the list though memories of going through that underpass heading to school over 20 years ago do tell me he ain’t wrong haha. Though I’ve only gone out to Coolaroo a couple of times (Mum & Dad still live in Meadow Heights but I’ve moved SE) I’d have thought that was a chance too.
I recently visited Australia from the US, and spent a day in Melbourne, primarily visiting Elwood, West Footscray and St Albans where my parents were teachers back in the mid '60s. I thought the trains were nice and it was easy to get around, but West Footscray station looked like a lot of the stations on this list. I did get off at Broadmeadows/Craigieburn station to catch the bus to the airport, and it was just as confusing as you described. Definitely had an interesting...aroma, let's say. Cheers, mate.
Personally I always hated Tottenham Station. It was always so sketchy especially at night and it definitely didn't help that it was located in the middle of a train yard.
Get off there everyday to go to work, you see the odd dodgy character but the next station Sunshine is one of the most dangerous there is,all sorts of Centrelink ferals gather there
@Jimmy009-st8mm the ferals aren't isolated to Centrelink recipients. There's a high rate of new Australians in Sunshine and surrounding suburbs, troubled kids from these migrant families are targeted and recruited by gangs. Myself, my parents and grandparents have seen the development of this area since the 60's and it's not just Centrelink recipients that are making Sunshine and surrounds unsafe, there's more to it.
Used south Kensington for a few years. During peak hour there’s scores of people squeezed on to the narrow platforms, with only a couple of pebble-mix bus stops providing shelter from the rain and wind while the rains whizz by. It was notorious for being a stop that drivers would skip even when scheduled.
Living on the Werribee line no surprise South Kensington was mentioned, most would have put that #1. I would have also included Aircraft, the most dissapointing thing about that station too is it was literally upgraded. They put a whole new underpass in when the level crossing was removed, but seemingly forgot about the station itself. Still a crappy platform, next to no shelter and very few, uncomfortable seats. Could put Hoppers Crossing on the list too, as despite an upgrade the station itself was untouched. But it at least has some shelter and new seats. And as much as Werribee itself is nice, that underpass and the ramp up to the platforms need something done about them.
why on earth they couldn't have added shelter to aircraft station whilst they were renovating it is beyond me actually, most stations don't really have shelter across the metro lines, which is insanely infuriating given melbourne's infamous weather conditions.
I used to use aircraft all the time, living in point cook Never realised anything was wrong with it, but then again, I just wanted the train to arrive But yeah no shelter is some bs
I'm going to say this top 10 list is a win for the Werribee line. 😂 I think South Kensington is typically serviced more by Willamstown and Laverton services, with Werribee only picking it up when stopping all stations.
Ngl I'm not a huge fan of Newport for a few practical reasons. I'd rather go to Altona and have a 10 minute longer train commute than spend nearly 40-50 minutes both waiting for the 432 and commuting on the 432 (Takes 23 minutes APPROXIMATELY for the bus to get from my local stop to Newport and the damn thing is notorious for being late, it takes 10 minutes to get up to my old school, a drive my stepdad did when picking me up some days in 5) Also Newport stations ramps are hella steep, it has MULTIPLE underpasses for the bus entrance and it feels hella dodgy
Ohhh yeah… I would say up to 15 minutes some mornings and evenings. It was a genuine godsend when they out the thing under the roads. Could even say it was a template and catalyst for the future LCR projects. Ugly for sure. But in a lovely Brutalist way. ❤
I've gotta say, for me Southern Cross is hands down the worse station. Jacana et al... they will eventually get an upgrade (when Labor starts losing some outer west seats), but Southern Cross is the pits. The whole station is annoying, and seems to have been designed from ground up by someone who's seen a picture of a railway station, but never actually used one. We have platform access that's only available via unreliable spindly escalators that are constantly breaking down - there are subways, but they are reserved only for the important activities like topping up the coke machines. When the escalators do break down, you can bet on the working empty escalators operating in the opposite way depending on peak conditions. In the morning they will be descending, and in the afternoon peak, they will be ascending. The trick here seems to be to carry as few people as possible. Also this is another call to action for all those morons who like to stand two abreast on an escalator. The place stinks of diesel fumes, and must be just a massive looming worksafe class action. You can't hear the announcements, and when you're straining to hear an automated announcement that may be useful - some Metro dude on the PA blurts something out at rapid-fire so you can't hear his message and you can't hear the automated message either. They seem to do this on purpose. The passenger information displays are terrible - this isn't limited to Southern Cross though, though SC has the laughable 'next train' screens that cycle to display useless information just as you are accessing potentially useful. Whenever I need to catch a train to Bendigo VLine always makes it a bus, and you don't get to know this until you get to the station, y'know, it's like how they do it in the big European cities - they are all about slow inefficient rail and sudden bus replacements.
Oh yes, Southern Cross for sure. I acm on a walking stick, a little disabled, and finding platforms 15 and 16 is a nightmare, I can go up escalators but not down( too steep,too fast) and the single lift hidden away requires prayer and faith to find it and know it will actually stop on 15 as the indicator says ground and 1st. It was a nightmare. On vline, have a look at north shore,geelong. No shelter, nowhere.
Yeah Southern Cross is pretty terrible. Platform 15 and 16 are especially terrible, as they were just tacked on when the regional rail link was built, so the glass divider from the outer structure cuts between the platform and leaves no seats on the Platform 16 side even though there are seats facing 16, they're behind the glass on the 15 side so you can sit behind the window facing 16, and not hear the announcements as the loudspeakers for 16 are on the outer side of the glass divider. At least being on 16 is the only chance to get some fresh air as it's not totally covered. Another problem is the "A" and "B" designations for the V/Line platforms, though the problem is most apparent on 15 and 16, as these are the only platforms that carry the one eastbound V/Line service, the Gippsland line, which always departs from 15A/16A. This wouldn't be a problem if the majority of services going to Traralgon didn't also depart only a minute or two after a service going to Tarneit on the B side of the platform, causing confusion as the PIDs on both the A and B side show the exact same thing, the next departing train on the entire platform, not the ones departing on the specific side of the platform. Literally daily there's always some group of people who board the Traralgon service thinking it was the Tarneit one, and then being shocked they're being taken in the exact opposite direction they needed to go.
Southern Cross is a work of art now compared to the old Spencer Street station before the rebuild back in the early 2000's. it was always an interesting experience there in the 80s and 90's.
i dont use southern cross often but it sucks when i have to mostly bc 1, suck at directions and southern cross is huge to navigate, and 2, im disabled and the only way to get out is ESCALATORS?!? or a lift if ur lucky xD
& a section of the roof collapsed when a pylon fell. & they forgot the country platforms which is what the station is and thus up to four platforms on each side of a platform thrown up but not under the roof. 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 2 2a, 2b, 2c along one side and 8 more along the other. lol…. It was a fabulous station with throughways great access, quiet, safe, reliable went deep underground was replaced with a pyramid so it’s now a mercaba but it’s faulty.
Lalor is my local station and it certainly deserves its place on this list, it is truly shithouse. Another reason why it is doubly bad is the fact that it doesn't align with the local shopping strip, unlike most stations. Part of this is because of a lot of complicated history -- the post WWII Peter Lalor co-operative housing development had a temporary stop (for supplies) at what is now known as Mann's Crossing where they built the shopping strip, in anticipation of where they thought the eventual train station would be. Only they moved the station further north -- which actually made more sense 'cos it would've been way too close to Thomastown. Fun video, enjoyed it a lot.
Broadmeadows is my local station, and ever since I can remember, the underpass smells like piss and is really dodgy (especially at night). Even with the police station LITERALLY across the road, there are often brawls and bashings. FYI The corrugated sheets on the Jacana overpass aren't 'token chunks' to protect people from the weather, they're there to stop people jumping in front of trains or throwing objects onto them. Like you said, it's a low socio-economic area, life around here is pretty miserable for a lot of people.
Boronia back in the 90’s was notorious for people being struck by trains. Amongst those killed there was a deaf nun that didn’t hear the boom gates and subsequently was trapped on the tracks. I only knew this because I was a local
The worst part about South Kensington on the citybound platform is the outbound express trains hurtling past you on the other side of that chain fence. Very loud, firstly, and secondly the gust of wind could easily knock you off that tiny platform and onto the tracks. Genuinely dangerous. One redeeming feature it is does have a cracking city view
It makes me so mad that so many stations have just been rebuilt with little to no thought of daily usage mainly being shelter, such poor overly large and boring designs. Never sure why someone would build any place that people have to wait at without shelter… clearly the designers have never used a train station 🙄
they have thought about it - they've thought about how it could encourage "loitering" and give homeless people somewhere to rest. and we can't have that, now, can we?
Love your work, MRV. Let's face it, very few of us on here have been to all of Melbourne's 222 railway stations (I certainly haven't). In an ideal world there'd be funding to modernize all these dreadful stations, but there's just too many of them. Removing level crossings, duplicating single-track and upgrading signalling to increase frequency are all higher-priority items. It's certainly fascinating to see some of these stations on lines I've never used, if somewhat depressing to realise they'll never be fixed up - at least, not in my lifetime.
Thanks Simon. I completely agree with everything you have said. I even controversially think that perhaps the Level Crossing Removal Project, as good as it has been and will continue to be, should have some of its funding reallocated towards things like track duplication. It obviously won't happen, because of how politically successful the LXRP has been, but it would be nice!
Agree about Boronia. As well as an ugly design, it’s adjacent to a Woolies car park with a Coles & Kmart nearby so there’s always plenty of abandoned shopping trolleys along with the graffiti & litter. My teenage kids catch public transport to school from there and they learnt a few survival skills very early on due to a number of creepy types that loiter there.
As you counted down to number one, I was crossing my fingers for Jacana at the top spot. You didn’t disappoint. I used the station in late 70’s to go to Therry college (now Penola) from Oak Park and now live less than 1km from it.
Likewise. I used to live just on the eastern side and described jacana as the black hole between the cesspools of Glenroy and broady. You spent the entire train trip avoiding eye contact (so you didn't get the 'what you looking at', and hoped like hell that there wasn't a group of guys waiting for you on the platform. Just so it's not all negative.... One time someone did say to me 'you might wanna move seets, I'm about to piss here' so chivalry isn't dead...
These stations remind me of a lot of national rail stations in South London where I'm from. A lot of them lack useful interchanges where they could be put in, shelter and poorly built entrances. All of which could be solved with cheap alternatives like better pedestrian crossings and, well, more shelters. And because of this a lot of stations south of the Thames are amongst the least used in all of London.
Yeah, you're right. I spent a bit of time at Loughborough Junction (not sure if you're familiar with it), and it wasn't particularly nice. London has amazing public transport, but one thing I think it does really poorly is accessibility, probably because everything was constructed well before it was a consideration.
@@melbournerailwayvideos I'm somewhat familiar with Loughborough Junction I usually pass it when I use Thameslink to go to Central London. It's a really awkward station now being located in the middle of a junction. It used to be a much bigger station, hence the junction in the name, but the other platforms were abandoned some time ago probably during the beeching axe era. My local stations, Catford and Catford Bridge, are located on the South Circular road and have this really unpleasant underpass you have to walk through to access the station from the opposite side (if you're not brave enough to cross the road like me) and if Catford station wasn't located on a bridge you'd have no idea either station was there. That's the issue with having a bunch of old railways built when everything was about competition.
@@melbournerailwayvideos I'm somewhat familiar with Loughborough Junction I usually pass it when I use Thameslink to go to Central London. It's a really awkward station now being located in the middle of a junction. It used to be a much bigger station, hence the junction in the name, but the other platforms were abandoned some time ago probably during the beeching axe era. My local stations, Catford and Catford Bridge, are located on the South Circular road and have this really unpleasant underpass you have to walk through to access the station from the opposite side (if you're not brave enough to cross the road like me) and if Catford station wasn't located on a bridge you'd have no idea either station was there. That's the issue with having a bunch of old railways built when everything was about competition.
The worst station is actually Officer station. Until recently it didn't even have a carpark. I only discovered how bad this station is because I had a friend move out to Pakenham. A few years ago there was no shelter or anything of any kind. It was just a platform.
Stations like Jacana, although 'functional' are still very, very hard for seniors & mobility challenged people to use. And coming from that, dangerous. Making it worse, there's literally no way to get help if something happens to you on 'The Journey to the Platform' (bearing in mind that in itself is a massive journey before you even start your actual journey to wherever you're going). No matter which stations I thought would get #1, I absolutely also agree with Jacana getting the #1🏆 too. I suppose that's the absolute saddest part, that for the "World's Most Livable City" we have so many stations that are totally worthy of being ripped down tomorrow if real concerns were acted upon 🤦🏻♀️
I was half expecting Yarraman to make the list. Mainly because of the isolation someone could feel at this station. It’s not as isolating as it once was because of all the appartments that have been built across the road. But Yarraman and Sandown Park are a bit creepy late at night. You wouldn’t know who’s hiding behind all the trees at Sandown Park. No surprises Kananook made the list. I can still clearly remember that incident in 1990. R.I.P. Sarah.
Honestly from what I rememember travelling those lines, you could make a case for almost any station on the Dandenong/Pakenham line. Yarraman is depressing. Hallam/Narre Warren were dangerous. Beaconsfield/Officer didn't exist. Noble Park was always 50-50 on whether a rock would get thrown through the window. Sandown Park was dark and scary Westall was literally just a platform. Huntingdale was deadly after dark Oakleigh was drug central Hughesdale at least once a week had someone jump in front of a train And Dandenong never had so many ways to die
@@melbournerailwayvideos I was a student at St Kevin's from 2003-2008, and I can recall boys who had injuries (broken legs/ankles etc) having to basically be carried up the overpass stairs to get to the city-bound platform. It was shithouse back then, and it sounds like nothing has changed! (same can be said of the school itself, probably)
Glad to see my (old) stomping ground of Batman being mentioned. It's a horrendous excuse for a station yes, ever time it rained it was get soaked or stand like a sardine at the very front. It's in dire need of an upgrade, given the local property around it isn't due for upgrading (ever) from Merri-bek I guess we'll just have to make due. I've moved out to Rockbank, before it's upgrade it was a horrendously small very little shelter single platform station, typical rural station if you will. the recent upgrades (2 years or so ago now) have certainly brought it up to snuff.
Not sure if Merri-Bek is responsible for upgrading the station. I could be wrong, but I think it's a state government responsibility. Regardless, they should at least build some more shelter there!
You'd think I'd listen to my wife more, she works at VicTrack and informed me its actually them that would perform the upgrades. They do work with council, ultimately its VT that manage the upgrades. @@melbournerailwayvideos
I should be disappointed that one of our city's founders was a murderous colonist, but... I'm not surprised. Sounds about right, too. But hey, we have a better Batman to attribute this station's name to!
There’s at least two stations that clearly need an upgrade 1. Regent (Preston/Reservoir) I find it unsafe to have to go over the tracks and walk all the way around to platform 1 coming off the 567 bus! 2. Jolimont (MCG) I cannot stand the ramp going onto platform 2 especially if a train is approaching! Cut the ramp shorter, if anything…
They should definitely phase out stations where you have to physically cross the tracks. It's unforgivable that they maintained that arrangement at Montmorency! I think Jolimont is okay as it is, but that's just my opinion. The long length of the ramp is probably necessary to keep it DDA compliant. Lots of stations have stations, but the ramps are actually too steep for disabled people to use, defeating the point.
Sunshine totally missed out on this list! The station isn't necessarily the worst aesthetically (even though it isn't nice at all) - the real issue is the safety and people at Sunshine. Every single time I find myself at Sunshine after the sun sets, something terrible is happening with an unruly passenger/passerby harrassing people or the safety officers. Definitely the most dangerous feeling station at night.
imagine being a blind person living in south kensington and having to use a cane on that platform at a busy hour!!! it's all i could think about, so so so badly designed accessibility-wise.
I drive past Jacana station almost daily. It's genuinely surprising - almost funny - that PTV bothered to upgrade the signage there. At Pascoe Vale, they gave up after just one sign. The less said about Boronia, the better.
@@melbournerailwayvideos I personally dislike Melbourne Central. True it is a pretty cool station, but its just too busy and the fact you have to go through a busy shopping centre just to access the station entrance is just annoying. I wish one day, you can enter it from the street again. I think State Library station may partially fix this issue, but Melbourne Central itself is too busy. If I am going to anywhere near that end of La-Trobe Street, I prefer to get off at the nearby Flagstaff station. Nowhere near the crowding chaos that is Melbourne Central. True, Melbourne Central is not as bad as any of the stations that you have talked about on here, but I hate it for different reasons. My least favourite line meanwhile has got to be the Frankston Line. Whenever you decide to daytrip to Frankston by Train, be prepared for any absurd thing that can possibly happen. My experience of it has been quite an interesting & questionable one. Honestly, if you do decide to daytrip down to Frankston, then you're extremely brave & stupid.
Ringwood East would definitely be one of my worst picks, but I never have any reason to disembark at that station because there is nothing to do or see in that suburb. No shelter, no way onto the platform except literally walking across the train track and the only exit is way down the far end of the platform. The perfect example of doing the bare minimum and nothing more. As for Croydon in March of 2024 - what station? The trains don't even stop there anymore due to the extensive renovation project. Hopefully the situation will improve as the new station takes shape, but right now the site is awful and best avoided unless you feel like taking a 20-25 minute walk around the outskirts of Croydon to get from the 670 bus stop to the rail replacement bus stop.
My vote is for Box Hill. From the days when I could wait outside in the fresh air the station is now completely hidden. If you don't know where it is you simply can't find it. Then you descend into the bowels of the earth. Deprived of any sight of the sun or sky. And wait underground in a cold windswept tunnel. Not only that but the design is the exact opposite of good planning. Downhill entering the station making more severe braking needed and uphill leaving the station requiring more power to get started. And all this being on top of a hill that used to achieve the opposite. As an "improvement" it must rank as the worst improvement on the entire system. Although Southern Cross is a strong competitor.
Box Hill has been under the shopping centre since at least the late 1980s when I went through it to get to school, so you may as well cite times when the whole area was orchards and quarries
The line at Box Hill is only uphill for 'down' trains (from Melbourne) on their departure and is downhill for 'up' trains (to Melbourne) only on their approach so the entire premise of your point about the incline is without any logical foundation whatsoever. The original station was on a hill requiring all trains in both directions to approach uphill and depart downhill, (which is of zero consequence either way as the trains are electric with both air and rheostatic brakes), with the 'up' line approach not at all requiring the 'severe' braking which you claim and to which I can attest as I often drove trains into the station when I worked for the railways 30-odd years ago. There are far steeper inclines genuinely requiring serious braking on the approach to stations throughout the suburban network than the comparatively moderate 'up' ramp on the approach to Box Hill. Additionally, the Station St level crossing caused total gridlock during peak hour so the underground station with the bus interchange and shopping centre above is far better, safer and functional all round.
I’m surprised to see Boronia in this list as I don’t find it too bad. Travelling from Ballarat to visit my son in Boronia, I have used this station many times.
Broadmeadows improved a lot with the new exits. The overpass is only used for bus replacements that dump you on the far side of Pascoe vale road. Honestly I just came here to double check before smack talking Jacana in the sequel.
Good old Jacana. My go to station for when I want to walk to Melbourne Airport. Seriously, I've done that a few times and it feels like walking through something that used to be a warzone.
I wonder how many of the 100,000 views on this video are State Government employees, presumably scratching their heads at why those suburbs even have stations to begin with, followed quickly by taking minor umbrage at the idea that they should do literally anything about any of it. PT in Melbourne could be glorious, but instead we've got... whatever you could charitably describe as 'functional'. Loving your back catalogue of videos, thank you for all of your efforts! =)
at the very least it needs a damn lift or something, that ramp is awful to walk up and seems like it would suck with a wheelchair or walker. stairs and a lift would help a lot.
Moorabbin has never been the same since they removed the painting of the cheech wizard from the overpass tunnel shame how the best part of a stations was graffiti
What happened to the days when they had waiting rooms with open fireplaces, ladies and gents lavatories, station masters and attendants, and highly polished taps above the gully traps? Oh, of course. Silly me. That was Victorian Railways.
I have noticed that the station upgrades thanks to Level Crossing Removals on the Frankston line, none of the new stations have escalators, just low capacity lifts and shallow ramps. Whereas the elevated "sky rail" Dandenong line stations, and lowered Springvale were all equipped with escalators.
I guess it's because a lot of them aren't actually that far below the ground, and not that well used. It seems a bit excessive putting an escalator in in those circumstances.
Fantastic informative video, state gov should hire you to review every station and put in recommendations. This video brought so much information, excellent production.
4:56 As someone who regularly uses this train there is no risk of there being people on the benches because no one ever uses this station. The only issue with the station is that the train stops there at all.
I would nominate Darling and middle Footscray stations, Darling is right next to a freeway, and middle Footscray has very little passenger facilities and the platform narrows at lot at the end. Great video btw, keep up the great work!
Kudo’s to Broadmeadows/Cragieburn line having three out of the ten worst stations in Melbourne and thank god I don’t have to get off at Jacana, I never realised it was that awful.
A station that I was surprised to see here was the Morrabin station. the platform is ok but the surroundings are awful. boarded up shops. needles and litter. one of the worst
The fact that the only Belgrave line station on this video was Boronia when Heathmont station is clearly worse (although I do admit there's not much in it) then again, Boronia does have more drug dealers.
Good list. Another angle on bad stations is the gap between the doors and the platform- which can make things unsafe for especially the elderly, people with vision issues and mobility issues. Here the otherwise pretty nice station Canterbury gets a black mark, I know people have fallen here.
There is shelter, there is a lousy car park, but you can blame the very dodgy Yarra Ranges Council for that. If it's lousy weather I get on the first train that arrives, even if that is headed to Belgrave, and sit in the AC carriage at Belgrave.. being the next train to City. There is no 'bottle neck' along that section of the single line from Upper Ferntree Gully. If anything, the single line from UFTG to Upwey, being a longer stretch, would be a more significant bottle neck (which it isn't anyway) Trains are scheduled to pass at the dual track Upwey.... where there is even less parking than Tecoma. Car Park at Belgrave if you need to. Plenty of commuter parking there nowadays.
Ruthven is pretty bad too. My local is Oak Park and it's a pain if you're getting off at platform 1 because the underpass is quite steep, as is the one at Ascot Vale...
Kananook is one of the creepiest stations I've ever encountered - when I was a teenager I was oblivious to how unsafe it was until I found out about the cold case.
Tecoma on the belgrave line. No shelter, one platform, no platform signage, no information board, no parking, dodgey as heck. Upwey has at least got 2 platforms. Only other ones I think are missing on the list are maybe just Dandenong. But apart from that. Great list
Tecoma also has a dangerous gap between trains & the platform.not good for disabled or young child passangers as they can get stuck and caught. I've seen many prams get caught getting on and off trains there too.
the Jacana station overpass is very iconic to me, but i've never used it before, so i don't know how bad it is. i'd miss it, but wouldn't mind it going before i have to use it XD
trust me when I say I only use jacana if I've missed my last bus from glenroy station and the worst part is I have to walk through a dark empty bike path if I do miss my last bus
An expose on the airport rail project is definitely long overdue... the plans for that "work in process" consist of several station sites that were planned in Melbourne's northwest since the 1960s, but just never built (if you go to them today, they're still pretty much empty, as it is government reserved land). As someone who lives in the northwestern suburbs, a half-hour car trip to the city takes me an average of 90 minutes on PT. Plus, there's the rumoured dodgy deals Tulla airport signed with Skybus, but that's just a "rumour"
I remember seeing Jacana voted off early as a participant in the train station game and it was like 'Wow, worse than South Kensington? Impressive' I'm suprised Heyington, the only station without wheelchair access, DIDN'T make it on here. Another candidate that is going to be a VERY unpopular opinion from me is Newport. I have to go into Williamstown a fair amount (my nearest stations are Newport, Seaholme and Altona) and every time I have to interchange there to get the 432, 471 or a Werribee line train to get home, the underpasses make me feel unsafe and the ramps are fairly steep and it feels dodgy for an interchange station. I like the library and op shop there, but... yeah. The bus services there aren't *the best* when it comes to my suburb, two bus routes, one of which only comes EVERY HALF HOUR ON WEEKDAYS AND IS NOTORIOUS FOR BEING LATE and the other that goes directly up to Williamstown but is a bit of a walk to get to, compared to every 15 minutes at least for Altona, sure the commute's a little longer on the train when I'm going places but I prefer the bus that, yk, DOESN'T TAKE HALF AN HOUR TO REACH ME AND ANOTHER NEARLY HALF AN HOUR TO GET TO THE STATION DUE TO IT'S WINDING ROUTE
I was bracing for Dandenong to make an appearance here but was surprised it missed the list, it's just the unfortunate melting pot of crazies, panhandlers or people looking for trouble on the best of days that does it in. Aside from that, the next station towards the city from there is Yarraman which I think was included in one of the shots at the start of the video, very barren single ramp access island design. Someone also attempted to steal my parked car when I was at work, fortunately they were dumb enough to only break the locks but not smart enough to actually break in. Also lucky I missed Lalor just recently when I was buying a CRT TV from some guy at the station before it (Thomastown).
I would add every station on the Alamein line, and there are assults all the time at Holmsglen - not to mention two murders in the past, and serious drug problems on the car park side. Yuck. I have fled Melbourne now. Have they decided in which century the Airport Link will be built, having been first announced 60 years ago!
Hallam station while not deserving of a spot on this list anymore, certainly did not get a great makeover. Splitting into two separate platforms instead of an island like most of the rest of the line and having reasonably little cover for blistering or rainy days are two major issues. We're seeing these issue repeat over and over as they 'upgrade' more stations. It's disappointing.
I know it is "technically" a Regional Line Station, But I would put Ardeer on the list as well, at only 15km from Southern Cross It is closer to Melbourne than a lot of Stations on this list, Island Platform, No Facilities, Small covered area, No Parking.....minimal Services
@@beasts4life_99 It has had on occasion, til someone rips it out, or it get damaged.... one of those lids with a plastic bag underneath, though it is either full, or missing bags.... and due to no staff at the station it is usually emptied by Staff from Deer Park Catching a train, and returning with it
How it didn't make the list? No Ardeer. Nah, it's a very ordinary station as you rightfully pointed out. I just chose not to include V/line stations so it got a lucky escape!
Given the volume of commuters boarding at Footscray, passengers on the 8:40am-ish from Sunbury end up squashed into carriages like sardines until Flagstaff. 😆
Poor VIC has still not even started to build the Melbourne Airport Line but SE QLD had electrified their suburban rail network 1/4 century earlier. In contrast to the current diesel V Lines in Melbourne, the fastest Australian electric tilt trains started to operate between Brisbane & Rockhampton from 1998.
Roma Street to Rockhampton has more kns than Sydney Central to Albury & Melbourne Central to Wodonga is around half of it. If VIC & NSW really determined to project match by buying same or similar Japanese tilt train & electrifying this line, such fast service would have been done 2 years ahead of Sydney Olympic.
@@melbournerailwayvideos I think that Regional Fast Rail was really a costly joke. Whoever knows the European fast trains such as but not limited to TGV, Eurostar & etc would think diesel V/LIES is a pre WWII product. V/Lost-City Trains is the proper name. 1Oct1964, Shinkansen opened the first page for the world & still have NO fatal accident at all.
Broadmeddows station was also rebuilt in 1989 and there’s also an old video of the station on RU-vid from 1989 and there was a metal sign there with information about the rebuild project.
@@melbournerailwayvideos If you peer into the signal box, it's very apparent that it's actually the original that you'll see in the old videos/photos. It's just been re clad to match the monstrosity that was built around it.
Got a huge jumpscare from seeing Roxburgh Park at 10. Was not expecting to see my local station but I do agree it is a bit of a shitter, I never even noticed the spot missing for an elevator, why would they do that haha.
as someone who takes the cranbourne/pakenham line five out of seven days a week for school, i can only wonder how any of the stations on that line escaped this list
Boronia is very green & quite pretty with the mountain views, but yeah some unsavoury types/druggos around. my brother lives near the roundabout, he always has stories about the crazy stuff going on. drug houses, housing commission in the area too
There’s a difference between hiding and not celebrating. Berlin quite rightly doesn’t hide its WW2 history and ensures that all citizens are taught about it so that future generations don’t make the same mistakes, but also isn’t going to be naming stations and building statues to celebrate/honour those who participated in atrocities.
Half the problem with recent rebuilds is the shelter they do build sucks. Mooroolbark, Lilydale both look a lot nicer, but the actual shelter they now provide is honestly pretty shit. It's too high to be that effective and they do nothing to guard against wind :(
@@aidanthomas2510 Yeah true. It opened just in time for my first year at university and I lived nearby, so I was quite fortunate. I do remember someone writing on one of the shelters "Keilor Plains, good enough for the western suburbs"
Lalor 100% deserved a spot on this list. Is my closest station and the one i use most frequently. The worst thing about it imo is that the station has toilets you can access (because someone left the door unlocked), but you can't use them at all because they are all smashed up. very annoying when you have a blood nose just before a train is to come.
I live near the peninsula and sometimes have to commute to the city on the train. I’m all too familiar with Frankston line and its “characters” that frequently board the train. Honestly, that entire line could on this list some nights from the violence and drug deals I see nearly all the time. It’s fucking nuts.
As someone who has to go to Boronia station frequently, I appreciate it's place on the list. Easily the worst part is the bus station. I can't even tell you how many dodgy characters I've seen there.
Dandenong. The elevator is a brutal assault on your sense of smell. The staircase leading to the walkway is steeper than a standard one, making you feel like you are scaling a ziggurat. It is extremely unfriendly to those of us wth a mobility problem. I have actually seen able-bodied people fall up and down that staircase. And you don't want to be there after dark. Dandenong attracts some 'interesting' people.
Travelled the Lilydale line last year, for the first time since the 80s, and I was shocked to see so many truly ugly refurbished/rebuilt stations. It was depressing to say the least.
Thomastown Station, although it had a complete rebuild about 15 years ago (2011) to modernize it, one of the first on the Mernda line to undergo modernisation it already looks dated. It just looks like a handful of modules were stacked on top of each other by a child. Glass panels and windows the enclose the waiting rooms at platform level were keyed just after the rebuild, obviously before proper surveillance cameras were fitted and have never been replaced to this day making the station look run down and old. That station was the biggest waste of tax payers money. When you compare it to all the new elevated stations on the Mernda line it's now the ugly duckling. Even the old single platform pebble mix panelled station building that I grew up with in the 1970's 80's 90's, 20's always looked cleaner. It's a sad outcome for a station that has been on that site since 1889.
