Ballarat

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 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. History Ballarat West railway station, as it was then known, was constructed at a cost of almost £22,000 pounds, 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.