Status Unmanned Platforms in use 1 Closed 1980 | Opened 15 May 1888 Tracks 2 | |
Distance 51.7 km (32.1 mi) from Flinders Street Address Yarra Glen VIC 3775, Australia Line(s) Yarra Valley Railway, former Healesville line Similar Yarra Valley Railway, Healesville railway station, Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Aust, Yarra River | ||
Yarra Glen is the city-end terminus of the Healesville railway.
The first station on the site was built in 1888–1889 when the railway line was extended from Lilydale to Healesville. The settlement had been previously named Burgoyne, but when the railway was extended, the decision was made to rename it Yarra Glen. Though Yarra Glen was a small settlement, its station was often used for supplying Melbourne with produce from nearby farms.
The station closed along with the Healesville line in 1980. It sat idle for some years, and suffered some major fire damage to the roof, however the station is being restored as part of the Yarra Valley Railway, which is based out of Healesville Station. The railway currently opens on weekends and public holidays, doing return railmotor trips on RM22, through the tunnel and back.
The Bushfires of Black Saturday on 7 February 2009, caused destruction to much of the grassland and forested areas of the Yarra Valley. This fire also caused the destruction of 13 timber trestle bridges between Yarra Glen Station and Healesville (bridges of varying sizes between these 2 stations were lost, the main bridges that were lost were the Yarra Flat Trestles, including the large one over the Yarra River. These were the bridges between Yarra Glen and Yering, visible from the Melba Hwy when approaching Yarra Glen. These other 6 bridges were not part of the Yarra Valley Railway). Many of the sleepers were also burnt out (sleepers over approx 2 km of line were lost. This is outside the current running section of the Yarra Valley Railway). As a result, until reinstatement of the 13 bridges and rail to operating condition, Yarra Glen station is orphaned from the remaining part of the Healesville Line. Nevertheless, this rebuilding has progressed remarkably during 2015, to the point where the reconstruction, this time in concrete and steel, is clearly visible from the road close by, and a completion date for this reopening to Yarra Glen is no longer a pipe dream, but an ever-closer reality.
Currently Yarra Glen Station is being rebuilt from the ground up by a dedicated group of people, including the Yarra Glen Mens Shed, and the finished article is of the highest standard, and closely following the design of its origins. It is hoped that this will be completed in early 2017.
Additional fire activity also caused the burning and destruction of the timber bridges between Yarra Glen and Coldstream, resulting in the possible elimination of any future opportunity of reinstatement of railway services to Lilydale, without a significant amount of money/time.