By Ann Marie Angebrandt
A REFURBISHMENT of the 150-year-old Werribee railway station has moved a step closer with a call for tenders last week for work to fix the dilapidated building.
VicTrack Access, the building owner, said it would begin about $300,000 worth of restoration work to the heritage-listed bluestone station in the coming weeks.
Works will include repairs to the building’s bluestone walls and its roof, as well as replacing doors, window frames and a platform verandah.
The station will then be ready for use as offices, shops or cafes.
VicTrack would not comment on how long the restoration will take or whether this would be the only stage of the project.
Werribee 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 project will be completed in time for a June ceremony to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne to Geelong rail connection.
Part of the station was destroyed in a 1927 fire and another, after a wheat train derailed and smashed into it in 1979.
Since then, it has been patched up, boarded shut, and abandoned and railway activities, including ticket sales, were moved to the present underground location.
