By Ann Marie Angebrandt
A LONG-AWAITED refurbishment to the 150-year-old Werribee station is expected to begin this month.
VicTrack Access, the building owner, will oversee the project, which could cost up to $2.4 million.
The bluestone station is the oldest railway building in Victoria, along with the St Kilda station.
The National Trust has classified it for its architectural and historical significance.
Local historians are hoping the first stage of the project will be completed in time for a June ceremony to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne to Geelong rail connection.
VicTrack spokesman Danny Michell confirmed a heritage architect would soon start work on a two-year project to return the station to its former glory.
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When completed, VicTrack is expected to lease the building for offices and perhaps food outlets.
Part of the station was destroyed in a fire in 1927, and another part, after a wheat train derailed and smashed into it in 1979.
Since then, it has been patched up, boarded shut, and abandoned.
Railway activities, including ticket sales, were moved to their present underground location.
John Brodel of Wyndham Heritage Recovery said he was happy a long overdue project would finally be underway.
Wyndham City Council mayor Shane Bourke said the council was delighted by the station’s upgrade.
“Nobody wants to be standing on the railway platform when it’s the eyesore that it is now.”
