North Shore railway station

North Shore railway station is located on the Warrnambool line, in Victoria, Australia, and serves the northern Geelong suburbs of North Shore and Norlane.

North Shore
Southbound view in April 2008, broad gauge platform on the left, standard gauge on the right
Location	Station Street, North Shore Australia
Coordinates	38°05′53″S 144°21′56″E
Owned by	VicTrack
Operated by	V/Line Journey Beyond
Line(s)	Warrnambool, Geelong (Waurn Ponds)
Distance	67.17 kilometres from Southern Cross
Platforms	3 (1 island, 1 side)
Tracks	3
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	No
Other information
Status	Unstaffed
Station code	NSH
Fare zone	Myki Zone 3/4 Overlap
Website	Public Transport Victoria
History
Opened	15 April 1895
Services
Preceding station V/Line Following station Corio towards Southern Cross Geelong line North Geelong towards Waurn Ponds Lara towards Southern Cross Warrnambool line Limited service North Geelong towards Warrnambool Preceding station Journey Beyond Following station Melbourne Terminus The Overland Ararat towards Adelaide

Although some references say the station opened on 15 April 1895,[1] an 1857 map shows a station named Cowies Creek on the current site, which by the 1880s was called North Shore.[2] The level crossing at the station was protected by hand-operated gates for a number of years up until the mid-1890s, when the gatekeeper was withdrawn as an economy measure.[3] The gatekeeper's cottage was retained as a residence for other railway employees.[4]

In 1909, the station was briefly renamed Corio, reverting to North Shore in 1913.[5] In the 1920s various other names, related to the industrial expansion in the area, were suggested for the station, including Jelbart, Pivot and Ford. In 1930, the Minister for Railways announced that the station's name would change to Pivot, but that was never carried out.[2]

In the early 1950s, the station was reduced to being staffed by a caretaker, responsible to the stationmaster at Corio. In February 1959, the former single line was duplicated from North Geelong to Corio, and North Shore was re-built as an island platform, 200 metres to the north of the old station.[5] The previous group of standard country railway buildings was replaced by a small wooden office and waiting room. After being damaged by fire in 1990, the building was replaced by two metal bus shelters.[6]

In 1995, the Western standard gauge line was built to the western side of the station. It is used by freight trains to and from Adelaide, with a short platform provided for The Overland passenger service opening in May 1999.[7]

A kilometre south of North Shore, the North Geelong Loop, first opened in 1903, connects the Melbourne to Geelong and Geelong to Ballarat lines.[8]