Officer railway station

Officer
Westbound view from Platform 2, May 2026
General information
LocationStation Street,
Officer, Victoria 3809
Shire of Cardinia
Australia
Coordinates38°03′58″S 145°24′40″E / 38.0662°S 145.4110°E / -38.0662; 145.4110
SystemPTV commuter rail station
OwnerVicTrack
OperatorMetro Trains
LinePakenham
Distance51.45 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side
Tracks2
Construction
Structure type
Ground
Parking193 (including 9 accessible)
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeOFC
Fare zoneMyki zone 2
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened4 August 1881 (1881-08-04)
Rebuilt13 May 1956
1990s
ElectrifiedJuly 1954 (1500 V DC overhead)
Former namesOfficer's Siding (1881-1888)
Passengers
2005–200613,105[1]
2006–200718,638[1] Increase 42.22%
2007–200821,638[1] Increase 16.09%
2008–200921,479[2] Decrease 0.73%
2009–201028,418[2] Increase 32.3%
2010–201142,929[2] Increase 51.06%
2011–201255,427[2] Increase 29.11%
2012–2013Not measured[2]
2013–201419,287[2] Decrease 65.2%
2014–201527,283[1] Increase 41.45%
2015–201660,255[2] Increase 120.85%
2016–201776,085[2] Increase 26.27%
2017–201891,956[2] Increase 20.86%
2018–2019122,891[2] Increase 33.64%
2019–2020132,100[2] Increase 7.49%
2020–202162,250[2] Decrease 52.87%
2021–202264,850[3] Increase 4.17%
2022–2023127,000[3] Increase 95.83%
Services
Preceding station Railways in Melbourne Metro Trains Following station
Beaconsfield Pakenham line Cardinia Road
Track layout
Officer South drain
1
2
Gum Scrub Creek
Gum Scrub Creek floodway
Location

Officer station is a railway station operated by Metro Trains Melbourne on the Pakenham line, which is part of the Melbourne rail network. It serves the south-eastern suburb of Officer, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Officer station is a ground-level unstaffed station, featuring two side platforms. It opened on 4 August 1881, with the current station provided in 1956.[4]

Initially opened as Officer's Siding, the station was given its current name of Officer on 13 February 1888.[4]

History

Officer station opened on 4 August 1881, almost four years after the railway line was extended from Dandenong to Pakenham.[5] Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Robert Officer, a local pastoralist.[6] Another theory is that the station and suburb were named after the Officer family, who were originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales.[7]

In 1955, the line between Officer and Pakenham was duplicated[5] and, on 13 May 1956, duplication between Officer and Berwick was provided. In that year, a new station was also provided east of the original site.[5]

In 1976, flashing light signals were provided at the former Station Street level crossing, which was located nearby in the up direction of the station.[8] A decade later, in 1986, boom barriers were provided.[9][10]

On 8 May 1987, a collision involving a Flinders Street-bound Comeng train set and V/Line locomotive N457, operating an up Traralgon service, occurred in the down direction of the station.[11][12] 45 people were injured in the collision.[11][12] Comeng carriage 388M was later scrapped due to the collision, however, part of the carriage was later used as a café in the pedestrian underpass at Werribee.[13]

In 1988, the former goods siding was taken out of service.[14] The main line points leading into the siding were spiked, and were removed at a later date.[14]

Sometime during or after 1995, the present station shelters were provided, replacing timber station buildings.[15][16]

During the 2011/2012 financial year, it was the second least used station on Melbourne's metropolitan system, with 55,000 passenger movements.[17]

On 18 May 2024, under the Level Crossing Removal Project, the Station Street level crossing was closed to vehicle traffic and replaced with pedestrian gates located further up next to the station.[18][19][20][21][22]

Platforms and services

Officer has two side platforms. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Pakenham line services.[23]

Officer platform arrangement
Platform Line Destination Via Service Pattern Source
1  Pakenham line  Sunbury, Watergardens, West Footscray Town Hall Limited express [24]
2  Pakenham line  East Pakenham All stations [24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Estimated Annual Patronage by Network Segment Financial Year 2005-2006 to 2018-19 Archived 17 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine Department of Transport
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Railway station and tram stop patronage in Victoria for 2008-2021 Archived 17 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine Philip Mallis
  3. 1 2 Annual metropolitan train station patronage (station entries) Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine Data Vic
  4. 1 2 "Victorian Government Gazette (10 February 1888, p. 455)". slv.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "Officer". vicsig.net. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "Officer". Victorian Places. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  7. ↑ First, Jamie (7 January 2014). "The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. July 1976. p. 160.
  9. ↑ "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. March 1987. p. 91.
  10. ↑ John Sinnatt (January 1990). "Level Crossing Protection". Somersault. Signalling Record Society Victoria. pp. 9–17.
  11. 1 2 Burchall, Greg (8 May 1987). "Two suspended after train smash". The Age. p. 1.
  12. 1 2 Ayres, Bill; Yates, Michael (8 May 1987). "45 hurt as passenger trains hit near station". The Herald. p. 1.
  13. ↑ "Suburban Trains". Vicsig. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Works". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. June 1988. p. 186.
  15. ↑ Corporation, Public Transport (17 June 1995). "Tenders–Upgrade of Officer Station". The Age. p. 85.
  16. ↑ "Officer". When there were stations. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  17. ↑ Station Patronage Research Archived 23 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Public Transport Victoria
  18. ↑ "10 more level crossings to go by 2025". Victoria's Big Build. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  19. ↑ "Station Street, Officer". Victoria's Big Build. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  20. ↑ "Designs unveiled for Officer level crossing closure". Victoria’s Big Build. 17 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  21. ↑ "Station Street, Officer – permanent road closure and major works starting". Victoria’s Big Build. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  22. ↑ "Reminder: Station Street, Officer to permanently close this Saturday". levelcrossingremovalproject.cmail20.com. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  23. ↑ "Pakenham Line". Public Transport Victoria.
  24. 1 2 "Cranbourne, Pakenham & Sunbury Line timetable 2026" (PDF). Transport Victoria. 1 February 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026.