History of Mont Albert and its Station Building

Mont Albert owes its name and the shopping village its existence to the Mont Albert Railway Station which operated for well over 100 years until 2022. The heritage listed station building, restored in 2023, is now the showpiece of the Mont Albert Village Plaza, sited where Hamilton Street and Churchill Street join at the old station location. The removal of rail crossings at Mont Albert Road and Union Road in 2023 resulted in the rail line descending into an excavated cutting, and the amalgamation of Mont Albert and Surrey Hills Stations into Union Station, located within easy walking distance of the two shopping villages.

Mont Albert Station was established in 1890 as a stop in an open field at the top of the gradient rising eastward from Surrey Hills towards Box Hill. The location allowed steam trains to stop and start without loss of traction or power. Newer trains were soon able to stop anywhere on the gradient and Surrey Hills became the primary station. Mont Albert Station continued to operate, attracting rural settlement and handsome residences looking across open paddocks. The Mont Albert Progress Association planted trees to beautify the railway corridor, and it is recorded that local children walked across the paddocks and along the railway line collecting wildflowers. Flowering gums and peppercorn trees grew to maturity over a hundred years, blanketing the rail corridor. Steam trains ran until 1922 when electrification of the line from Flinders Street Central Station to Box Hill was completed.

The heritage-listed Mont Albert Station building was constructed in 1911 and the first purpose-built shop in Hamilton Street village was established around the same time. A range of shops along Hamilton and Churchill Streets within 100 meters of the Station soon followed, catering for railway patrons walking to and from the Station and, as the 20th century progressed, roads were sealed and car parks added. The Station had nucleated a growing village.

Over the next 100 years the fortunes of Mont Albert Station and the village waxed and waned as changing train schedules and fare structures affected the choice of locals to use the Station or walk an extra 5-10 minutes to Surrey Hills or Box Hill. Positioned at the top of the rise between the busier junctions of Surrey Hills and Box Hill, it has always been a quieter place than its busy neighbours.

 Over the years, amenity at Mont Albert Station improved; a subway replaced the original overhead footbridge in 1971, the same year a third track was added to the rail corridor. The gatekeeper at Mont Albert Road crossing was no longer needed when automatic boom gates were installed in 1962. Stationmasters and ticketing staff became a thing of the past with progressive automation. Through all this, Mont Albert Station preserved its old-world charm and residents tended its gardens right up until 2022.

 In that year, as part of Melbourne’s level crossing removal mega project, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills lost their distinct village stations 800 metres apart along a tree-lined rail corridor. The rail crossing removal and rail cutting excavation brought great disruption and a dramatically changed environmental and social landscape. The two stations were amalgamated into the ultra-modern Union Station located between the two shopping villages. Residents, traders, the Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Progress Association and others lobbied for the restoration of the Mont Albert Station heritage building close to its original location on a plaza straddling the rail cutting. It is now a showpiece anchoring the Mont Albert Village Plaza to its railway heritage and a welcoming space for people to meet in a village setting. The Plaza forms a hub, with roads, lanes and pathways radiating in from many directions to give easy walking and cycle access across the rail trench to the shopping village.