Box Hill railway station, Melbourne

Box Hill railway station is a commuter railway station on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines, serving the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill in Victoria, Australia. Box Hill is a below ground premium station, featuring four platforms, an island platform with two faces and two side platforms connected by a ground level precinct. It opened on 1 December 1882, with the current station provided in 1985.

The station is located underground, beneath the Box Hill Central Shopping Centre. East of the station, towards Lilydale and Belgrave, the three tracks merge into two.

History
Box Hill station opened on 1 December 1882 when the railway line from Camberwell was extended to Lilydale. When the station opened, Box Hill was a separate town with several hundred residents. It was named in 1861 after Box Hill in Surrey, England, which was the birthplace of the local postmaster. In 1895, a large market was opened next to the station.

On 19 December 1922, the section of line from Flinders Street to Box Hill was electrified, and that was extended to Ringwood the following month.

In 1971, the current centre line between East Camberwell and Box Hill was provided. It was also in that year that the overpass over Elgar Road was opened, located in the up direction from the station, replacing a level crossing.

On 29 December 1976, goods services to and from the station ceased.

In 1979, the station was one of three used as trial sites for new bike lockers under the Melbourne Bicycle Strategy, either for occasional, monthly or quarterly hire.

Beginning in early 1983, construction started on rebuilding the station below ground, as part of the project to eliminate the level crossing at Station Street, which was at the down end of the station. Box Hill Central Shopping Centre and the bus terminus were built over the top of the station, with the complex being completed in 1985. Platform 1 was used between 24 April 1983 and 9 June 1984, while the rest of the new station was being built, and has been retained for possible future use. The platform has no track or lighting, and a McDonald's restaurant has been built over the ramp from the station concourse.

On 18 July 1996, Box Hill was upgraded to a premium station.

During January 2007, the line was closed between Box Hill and Blackburn, to facilitate grade separation works at the Middleborough Road level crossing, near Laburnum. A rail replacement bus service operated between the two stations for the duration and, to cater for that, a temporary bus interchange was constructed at Box Hill. The interchange was built directly on top of the tracks, which had been paved between the rails to the east of the station, and was connected to Platforms 2 and 3 via a raised walkway. With the completion of the major works at the end of January 2007, the bus interchange was removed.

During the 2017/2018 financial year, with 3.254 million passenger movements, Box Hill was the tenth-busiest station on Melbourne's metropolitan network, as well as being the busiest non-interchange station outside of the Melbourne CBD.

Box Hill will be the northern terminus of stage one of the Suburban Rail Loop project. Construction began in 2022, with the project scheduled for completion by 2032. It will connect Box Hill to the Frankston, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Glen Waverley lines, as well as other new intermediate stations. Stage two of the project will involve the line extending northwards to Doncaster, and eventually to Bundoora, Reservoir, Fawkner, Broadmeadows, Melbourne Airport, Sunshine and Werribee.

Platforms and services
Box Hill has one island platform with two faces and two side platforms, but Platform 1 is not in use. The station is served by Lilydale and Belgrave line trains.

Platform 1:
 * Unused and has no track, with a McDonald's Restaurant built over its entrance.

Platform 2:
 * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
 * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 3:
 * all stations and limited express services to Lilydale
 * all stations and limited express services to Belgrave
 * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street
 * all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street

Platform 4:
 * weekday all stations and limited express services to Lilydale; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn
 * weekday all stations and limited express services to Belgrave; weekday all stations and limited express services to Blackburn

Bus services
A sheltered thirteen-bay bus terminus is located on the rooftop of the Box Hill Central Shopping Centre, two levels above the station. The terminus serves 20 bus routes operated by CDC Melbourne, Kinetic Melbourne and Ventura Bus Lines. The bus deck originally had 14 bus bays, but bay 12 was removed around 2015 to enable safer access to the elevator in the office suites. In 2018, the position of bays 2 and 3 were swapped so that passengers queuing to board SmartBus route 903 southbound would not be in the way of the food kiosk.

Bus routes serving Box Hill station:

Tram services
Yarra Trams operates one route via Box Hill station:
 * Melbourne tram route 109 icon.svg: Box Hill – Port Melbourne

V/Line coach service
A V/Line coach stop is located at Whitehorse Road near Watts Street, with services to:
 * Mansfield, Victoria (with connection to Mount Buller during snow season)