North Shore railway station is a regional railway station on the Warrnambool line, part of the Victorian railway network. It serves the northern suburb of the same name, in Geelong Victoria, Australia. It opened on 15 April 1895, with the current station being provided in 1991.[2]
This station was renamed two times. When it first opened in 1895, it was named North Shore. It was renamed Corio on 27 September 1909 before again being named North Shore on 1 December 1913.[2]
Although some references say the station opened on 15 April 1895,[3] an 1857 map shows a station named Cowies Creek on the current site which, by the 1880s was called North Shore.[4] The level crossing at the station was protected by hand-operated gates until the mid-1890s, when the gatekeeper was withdrawn as an economy measure.[5] The gatekeeper's cottage was retained as a residence for other railway employees.[6]
In 1909, the station was briefly renamed Corio, reverting to North Shore in 1913.[7] 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 the name changed never proceeded.[4]
In 1939, flashing light signals were provided at the Station Street level crossing,[2] located nearby in the down direction from the station, with boom barriers provided on in 1984.[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.[7] 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.[8]
In 1995, the Western standard gauge line was built to the west of the station, and is mostly used by freight trains to and from Adelaide. In May 1999, a short platform was provided for The Overland passenger service to Adelaide.[9]
A kilometre south of North Shore, the North Geelong Loop, first opened in 1903, connects the Melbourne – Geelong and Geelong – Ballarat lines.[10]
