South Kensington railway station

South Kensington
Eastbound view from Platform 1, January 2026
General information
LocationChilders Street,
Kensington, Victoria 3031
City of Melbourne
Australia
Coordinates37°47′59″S 144°55′33″E / 37.7997°S 144.9258°E / -37.7997; 144.9258
SystemPTV commuter rail station
Owned byVicTrack
Operated byMetro Trains
Lines
Distance3.49 kilometres from
Southern Cross
Platforms2 side
Tracks6
Construction
Structure typeGround
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes—step free access
Other information
StatusOperational, unstaffed
Station codeSKN
Fare zoneMyki Zone 1
WebsitePublic Transport Victoria
History
Opened11 March 1891 (1891-03-11)
Rebuilt1975
ElectrifiedAugust 1920 (1500 V DC overhead)
Passengers
2005–200689,182
2006–2007120,945  35.61%
2007–2008142,531  17.84%
2008–2009207,901  45.86%
2009–2010249,613  20.06%
2010–2011281,410  12.73%
2011–2012284,298  1.02%
2012–2013Not measured
2013–2014338,162  18.94%
2014–2015342,741  1.35%
2015–2016394,707  15.16%
2016–2017398,191  0.88%
2017–2018406,011  1.96%
2018–2019412,850  1.68%
2019–2020304,750  26.18%
2020–2021127,950  58.01%
2021–2022159,950  25.01%
Services
Preceding station Metro Trains Following station
North Melbourne Werribee line Footscray
Williamstown line
Former services
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
North Melbourne
towards Flinders Street
  Sunbury line   Footscray
towards Sunbury
Track layout
1
2
to
North Dynon
Rail Yard

Location

South Kensington station is a railway station operated by Metro Trains Melbourne on the Werribee and Williamstown lines, part of the Melbourne rail network. It serves the inner north-western suburb of Kensington in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It opened on 11 March 1891, with the current station being provided in 1975.

Freight lines run to the south of the station. The closest of those lines are used by V/Line to reverse empty services from Traralgon and Bairnsdale, while the tracks further south are used by a variety of standard gauge freight operators. The lines to the east join Melbourne Yard, while those to the west are the South Kensington–West Footscray set of lines that lead to either South Dynon or West Footscray, via the Bunbury Street tunnel.

There used to be a number of private sidings around South Kensington, which have all been closed. They included a siding to a large wool store to the north-east, now demolished, one to a warehouse and silos to the east (the silos are open but are no longer served by rail). There were two sidings to the north. One served the Melbourne City Council abattoirs, and the other was constructed during World War II, to serve a military warehouse complex called Kenstore.

The current configuration of the station dates from 2014, following the construction of the Regional Rail Link (RRL). The goods-only tracks immediately to the south were replaced by a pair of tracks used by regional passenger services operating to and from Southern Cross on the RRL. The signal box, formerly located at the up end of the down platform (Platform 2), was demolished to make way for the new RRL tracks. A mural on Childers Street, outside the station, was funded by the City–Maribyrnong River arm of the RRL project, but it has since been painted over.