Lalor railway station

Lalor station opened in October 1949, and was provided as part of a garden suburb created by the Peter Lalor Home Building Cooperative Society, which was formed by a group of ex-servicemen to provide cheap homes during a time of high demand and shortage of materials post World War II.^[6]

The station was originally served by Whittlesea trains from Melbourne via the former Inner Circle line and, in later times, by Thomastown – Whittlesea railmotor shuttles.^[7] In November 1959, the section from Thomastown was electrified, with the line beyond Lalor closed.^[5][8] On 29 November 1964, the line was reopened and electrified as far as Epping.^[9][5] Occurring in that year, the current island platform was provided,^[5] and flashing light signals were provided at the Paschke Crescent level crossing, located at the up end of the station.^[5]

In 1978, the present station building was provided.^[10][11] In 1980, boom barriers were provided at the Paschke Crescent level crossing.^[12]

The current day Platform 1 was formerly a dock platform.^[13][14] In August 1988, points from No. 1 track to the main line were provided at the down end of the station, effectively forming a crossing loop between Thomastown and Epping.^[15] This arrangement existed until November 2011, when the line between Keon Park and Epping was duplicated,^[5][16] with the points at both ends of the station abolished.

On 4 May 2010, as part of the 2010/2011 State Budget, $83.7 million was allocated to upgrade Lalor to a premium station, along with nineteen others.^[17][18] However, in March 2011, this was scrapped by the Baillieu Government.^[19]

Announced as part of a $21.9 million package in the 2022/23 Victorian State Budget, Lalor, alongside other stations, will receive accessibility upgrades, the installation of CCTV, and platform shelters.^[20] The development process will begin in late 2022 or early 2023, with a timeline for the upgrades to be released once construction has begun.

Lalor station, like the suburb in which it is located, was originally pronounced /ˈlɔːlər/, as it was named after Peter Lalor^[6][21] and, although some people still pronounce it as such, in recent times, the pronunciation /ˈleɪlɔːr, -lər/ has become predominant. In addition, the Victorian Railways Newsletter of 1973, and Victorian RailWays of 1974 (Victorian Railways in-house newsletters) stated that the correct pronunciation was /ˈlɔːlər/.^[22]

Lalor has one island platform with two faces. It is serviced by Metro Trains' Mernda line services.^[23]

Dysons operates five bus routes via Lalor station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  554 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (clockwise loop via West Lalor)^[25]
•  555 : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre^[26]
•  557 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (anti-clockwise loop)^[27]
•  559 : Thomastown station – Thomastown station (clockwise loop)^[28]
•  566 : Lalor – Northland Shopping Centre^[29]

• 
  Southbound view from Platform 2, March 2012
• 
  North-west bound view of station building on Platform 1, January 2023
• 
  Southbound view from Platform 1, March 2023
• 
  Northbound view from Platform 1, March 2023
• 
  Station PSO Box and entrance and exit ramp, March 2023
• 
  Station entrance signage, March 2023