Leongatha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| South Gippsland Railway station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Former South Australian Railways Redhen railcar No. 402 at Leongatha station, December 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 133.9 km (83.2 mi) from Flinders Street | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | South Gippsland Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 6 (mainline + 5 roads) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Closed 16 January 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 17 November 1891 1994 (re-opened) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 24 July 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leongatha is a railway station in the town of Leongatha, Victoria on the former South Gippsland railway line in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
The station opened in 1891 as a terminus, the line being extended to Welshpool the next year.[1] Initially the station was planned to be named "Koorooman", later being changed to "Leongatha" at time of construction.[2] For a number of years after the ending of regular V/Line passenger operations on the line east of Cranbourne in 1993,[3] the station was the terminus of the former South Gippsland Tourist Railway, but its operations ceased in January 2016.
The track south of Leongatha has been dismantled and turned into the Great Southern Rail Trail. The station precinct includes a well preserved red brick station building, goods shed, water tower and footbridge. The goods shed has since been demolished with a view of converting the unused railway reservation for a shopping plaza, which has not yet eventuated.
The track east of Leongatha Station ended at the rear of a petrol station, approx 500 metres away. The home signal for trains approaching Leongatha from Koonwarra remained, but because there was no rail for any significant distance from the signal, it was decommissioned. From the end of the rails, the reservation is a crushed rock pathway mainly used by bicycles and pedestrians.
The South Gippsland Shire Council had successfully attained a 18 year lease of the 35 km railway corridor from Leongatha to Nyora. Its intention for the corridor is to remove the railway tracks and replace it with a bicycle track aimed to attract a Melbourne based tourism market.
Regardless of community representations to the Victorian state government seeking the return of railway services, the council has, since January 2020 commenced works to remove the railway infrastructure from the railway reservation from Leongatha station to Nyora station.
- ^ Sid Brown (March 1990). "Tracks Across the State". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 71–76.
- ^ Plan & Section Book, Dandenong - Port Albert (Whitelaw - Toora Section), - Railway Department of Melbourne, c. Oct 1888
- ^ Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 77–82.