Sunshine Station
Railway station in Sunshine, on the Sunbury line. Melbourne Airport Rail stage 1 adds two platforms here for regional services and rebuilds the station precinct. The line to the airport is a later stage. The photograph is the station in July 2026, looking south from platform 1.
Station facts
Reviewed 2026-10-27.
Status: Operating
Zone. 1 and 2
Recorded 2026-10-27. Metro Trains Melbourne
What is changing
The stage now under way is the West Footscray to Albion upgrade, including this station. On 21 October 2026 Big Build named CPB Contractors and SMEC, as the Network Integration Program Alliance, as preferred bidder for the package that expands the station. The announcement describes two new platforms for regional trains, so airport trains can use the existing platforms, plus an extended concourse and new forecourts. A preferred bidder is not a finished station, and it is not the airport line.
Big Build says stage 2 will be complete in 2031. That stage is a line from Albion to Keilor East, with a station at Keilor East. The year is the project’s stated target for stage 2. It is not a date for the station package above.
Location and access
Suburb: Sunshine
The address is Hampshire Road and Station Place, Sunshine 3020. The station sits at the junction of the Sunbury line and the regional lines toward Ballarat and Geelong, which is why the rebuild adds platforms for regional services.
Services and interchanges
Lines in this directory: Sunbury Line
The metropolitan service is the Sunbury line, which is the line this directory records. V/Line trains on the Ballarat and Geelong lines also stop. Bendigo line trains pass through and do not stop. Since 9 November 2025, SkyBus has run a direct service between this station and Melbourne Airport; that is a bus, not the future train. The extra platforms in the February 2026 designs are for regional services, and they are part of the stage being built, not a service that is already running to the airport.
Facilities and accessibility
| Feature | Availability |
|---|---|
| Lift | Yes |
| Escalators | No |
| Independent boarding | In part, platforms 2, 3 and 4 |
| Shelter in the accessible boarding area | In part, platforms 1, 2 and 4 |
| Low platform | No |
| Platform edge tactiles or screen doors | Yes |
| Hearing loop | Yes |
| Paths at least 1200 mm wide | Not all paths |
| Accessible toilets | Some have specific opening hours, or are not available when the station is unstaffed |
Recorded 2026-10-27. Metro Trains Melbourne
- Customer service staff
- Parking
- Accessible parking
- Bicycle facilities
- Pick-up / drop-off
- Defibrillator
- Passenger information display screens
Recorded 2026-10-27. Metro Trains Melbourne
The station is at ground level, with four platforms over five tracks: two side platforms and one island. The concourse is the footbridge across the platforms, added with the bus interchange in the Regional Rail Link rebuild.
Projects affecting the station
The works here are Melbourne Airport Rail stage 1: the station rebuild and the corridor from West Footscray to Albion. The airport connection is a later stage, and the stage investment is not a budget for it.
Projects: Melbourne Airport Rail
Station precinct
The rebuild of the station precinct sits in that same West Footscray to Albion stage. South of the station, a signal control centre has been under construction since early 2020 to share control of the Sunshine-Dandenong corridor once the Metro Tunnel is running. The Sunshine suburb page separates the current stage from Brimbank’s 2022 precinct masterplan, including the council’s $143 million figure and the separate stage investment.
History
The station opened on 7 September 1885 as Braybrook Junction, at the junction of the Bendigo and Melton lines. It was renamed Sunshine in 1907, after Hugh McKay moved his Sunshine Harvester Works to the site beside it. On 20 April 1908 the Sunshine train disaster killed 44 people, the worst crash in Victorian railway history. The road crossing at the station was grade separated in 1961.
The station was rebuilt between 2012 and 2014 as part of Regional Rail Link, which gave it the bus interchange, the concourse and footbridge, and the two regional platforms it runs on today. The 1914 signal box north of the station closed in 2016, when control moved to Metrol.
Recent verified changes
- 21 October 2026. Big Build named CPB Contractors and SMEC as preferred bidder for the station package, including two new platforms for regional trains. The announcement is a procurement step. It is not the opening of those platforms, and it is not the airport line.
- Soil testing around the station was scheduled from 29 September to 14 October 2026, between 7am and 6pm. A notice dated 22 September 2026 sets it in the rail reserve between Anderson Road and the station, then in the Station Place bus area, the Sun Crescent car park, and the western car park. It is preparation for construction, not the new station, and it is described as scheduled rather than finished.
- In April 2026, boring started on a jet-fuel pipeline tunnel, about 2 km, between Sunshine and Albion. The existing pipe is being moved about 30 metres underground so the new platforms and concourse can be built.
Official information and sources
- Sunshine station, Metro Trains Melbourne. Address, zone, and the access and facility list. Checked 27 October 2026.
- Melbourne Airport Rail, Victoria’s Big Build. Stage 1 scope, and the later airport stage.
- Preferred bidder named for Melbourne Airport Rail, Victoria’s Big Build, 21 October 2026. CPB Contractors and SMEC as the Network Integration Program Alliance, preferred bidder for the station package; two new regional platforms, an extended concourse and new forecourts. Stage 2, Albion to Keilor East, is stated to be complete in 2031.
- West Footscray to Albion Rail Upgrade, February 2026, Victoria’s Big Build. Two new regional platforms at Sunshine.
- Sunshine site investigations, September and October 2026, Victoria’s Big Build. Soil testing from 29 September to 14 October 2026.
- Major works start on jet fuel pipeline between Sunshine and Albion, Victoria’s Big Build, 13 April 2026.
- Sunshine railway station, Wikipedia. The 1885 opening as Braybrook Junction, the 1907 renaming, the 1908 disaster, the 1961 grade separation, the 2012-2014 Regional Rail Link rebuild, the 2016 signal box closure, the platform configuration, V/Line Ballarat and Geelong services stopping, Bendigo services passing through, and the SkyBus service from 9 November 2025.
- Photograph: Sunshine station, 8 July 2026, LachlanTansey, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Map: OpenStreetMap contributors, via Wikimedia Maps, retrieved 27 October 2026.