Ballarat railway station

Ballarat railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Ballarat, and opened on 11 April 1862 as Ballarat West. It was renamed Ballarat in 1865.

Located about 100 km from the state capital, Melbourne, it is a major station on the Serviceton line. The extensive building complex is of architectural and historical significance to Ballarat, and most of its original 19th-century features are intact. They include signal boxes, goods sheds and the largest surviving interlocked mechanical swing gates in Victoria, at Lydiard Street. It has a 19th-century arched roof spanning three tracks, and the complex is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Disused stations Ballarat East, Warrenheip, Bungaree and Gordon are located between Ballarat and Ballan.

19th century
Ballarat West railway station, as it was then known, was constructed at a cost of almost £22,000, as part of the original railway line to Melbourne via Geelong, which served the booming Ballarat goldfields. A bluestone engine shed was built to the south, and a goods shed to the north was added in 1863. In 1877, the footbridge and waiting rooms on the south side were added. In 1885, hand-operated railway gates were provided at the level crossing at Lydiard Street, together with the "B" signal box to operate it on the western side.

Following the opening of the direct line from Ballarat to Melbourne in December 1889, the increase in patronage led to an upgrade of the station. A grand portico, stationmaster's office and clock tower were designed in 1888 and added in 1891, although no clock was installed in the tower.

20th century
With the amalgamation of the Ballarat East and West Town Councils in 1921 to form the City of Ballaarat, and the closure of Ballarat East station, the station gradually dropped the name Ballarat West.

On 13 December 1981, fire badly damaged the interior of the 1888 section of the station building, including the station-master's office, waiting room, booking office, dining room and clock tower. All of these areas were later repaired and retained. Many of the original features were restored, but some interiors, including the booking office, were subsequently modernised. A clock was added to the tower in 1984.

In 1983, the State Transport Authority proposed to demolish the interlocking gates at Lydiard Street. The City of Ballaarat, the National Trust and the Historic Buildings Council responded with a successful campaign to save the gates.

In 1990, conservationists succeeded in their lobbying to preserve the historic railway gates. An automated mechanical system was built to enable their continued use. Additional restoration was carried out in 2005, and the station roof was renovated with Welsh slate to match the original southern roof.

In 1994, the bus interchange near the station entrance was upgraded.

21st century
Following the 2006 Regional Fast Rail project, and the introduction of V/Line's VLocity trains, as well as the reintroduction of services to Ararat in 2004, passenger numbers at Ballarat increased by as much as 40% a year. A call for a second station ensued, which resulted in Wendouree being opened in June 2009 to alleviate congestion at Ballarat, mainly caused by park and ride passengers from Ballarat's outer western suburbs. A further increase in trains followed the resumption of passenger services to Maryborough in 2010.

On 30 May 2020, a VLocity passenger train, operated by V/Line, failed to stop at Ballarat, and crashed into the interlocked gates protecting the Lydiard Street North level crossing. Four men were on board the Ballarat-bound service and were injured in the collision, including the driver and conductor. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigated the incident, and issued a preliminary report in September 2020. It established that the train had travelled through the station at 23:35 at about 100 km/h, passed a departure signal at stop, and struck the gates at the level crossing, before coming to rest 600 m west of the station.

On 16 November 2021, the level crossing reopened with temporary boom barriers installed, with the remains of the interlocked gates placed in storage in nearby Wendouree. The reopening was part of a $10.5 million program to replace the signalling system around the station.

On 19 December 2021, a new bus interchange opened at the north side of the station, at the former location of the sidings to the historic Goods Shed.

Platforms and services
Ballarat has two side platforms. It is served by V/Line Ballarat, Ararat and Maryborough line trains.

Platform 1:
 * services to Wendouree and Southern Cross
 * services to Ararat and Southern Cross
 * services to Maryborough, one daily service to Southern Cross

Platform 2:
 * services to Wendouree
 * services to Ararat
 * services to Maryborough

Bus services
CDC Ballarat operates fourteen bus routes to and from Ballarat station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:
 * : to Alfredton
 * : to Wendouree station
 * : to Wendouree station
 * : to Invermay Park
 * : to Black Hill
 * : to Brown Hill
 * : to Canadian
 * : to Buninyong
 * : to Federation University Ballarat Campus
 * : to Mount Pleasant
 * : to Sebastopol
 * : to Delacombe
 * : to Alfredton
 * : to Creswick

Road coaches
V/Line operates road coach services from Ballarat station to:
 * Bendigo via Maryborough and Castlemaine
 * Halls Gap and the Grampians National Park via Ararat and Stawell
 * Horsham, Dimboola, Nhill and Adelaide
 * Geelong
 * Hamilton and Mount Gambier
 * Ouyen, Donald and Mildura
 * Warrnambool

Trails
The station is the official starting point of two multi-use trails:
 * The Wallaby Track, part of the Great Dividing Trail, which goes to Daylesford and Buninyong
 * The Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail, which uses the route of the former branch line to Skipton