Yeah, this station is rather nice, and you can sort of tell that it has been around for a while,…read moreand that it is also a rather major station as well. It is quite close to the shops, which is also a pretty good thing, and the trains are also reasonably frequent, and some of them are express as well, which I certainly do appreciate. Sure, it might not be one of my favourite suburbs in Melbourne, but the station does have some charm, and there is also a bus interchange as well, which also helps.

In a way this is a major suburban railway station, namely because it happens to be a stop for the…read moreV/Line trains as well as a number of the suburban trains (well, actually all of the suburban trains that head along this line). It is basically a fully serviced railway station, and quite accessible as well, though I'm not entirely sure if it actually sports restrooms (a lot of them don't, and when they do it happens to be locked). Still, trains are reasonably frequent along here.

Essendon Junction does not have a lot to offer, but it does provide a train station (Craigieburn…read moreLine), tram stop (rout 59), bus depot (many routes), 7 Eleven, a couple of bars and a cafe. Essendon station has a lot of parking, but fills early. It is also close to Windy Hill, if you happen to need to go there for some reason.

Yeah, I'm sure if you live in Melbourne you will be familiar with this station, and with this…read morelocation. I have ended up here a couple of times, namely because it is a major interchange station where you can not only catch the suburban trains but also the V/Line and even the train to Sydney (which runs twice a day, though you can't catch it into Melbourne, which is a shame). Yeah, basically it is one of those places that you should only go to if you really need to go to it.

Set opposite the massive shopping centre, Broadmeadows Train station is a gateway for those in the…read morenorth. Serviced by both the Craigieburn and Broadmeadows lines, metro trains operate at least every ten minutes from here during the week; and between 10-15 minutes on weekends making it one of the better stations in regards to frequency. The other great thing about this station is that V Line trains run through, and stop here. So if you're coming to Melbourne from the country and would prefer to hop off before you get to Southern Cross, Broady's your port of call. My sister comes from North Vic regularly to visit me on the train, and it's so much easier to meet her and drop her off at Broady from my place not even 15 minutes down the road. However, Broadmeadows is well known for its high crime rates and youth unemployment, making the train station a popular hangout for unsavoury types. Because of this I always feel a little uneasy, but if you plan you're travel for during the day and try to get there so you don't have to wait around too long, it's not so bad. Being a premium station Broadmeadows is manned through the Metro and V Line ticketing office so there is a good sense of security whilst the office is open.

Doncaster Park and Ride is pretty damn awesome and it makes life easier for hundreds of people…read moreevery single day. It is basically a massive 400-car car park located next to a bus bay. It can be accessed via Doncaster Road and is just before (or after) the entrance to Eastlink freeway. The bus services that run here are: Route 207 - City - Donvale via Doncaster Road Route 280 - Manningham Loop via Tunstall Square SC, Shoppingtown Route 282 - Manningham Mover via Templestowe Village SC, Shoppingtown Route 284 - Doncaster Shoppingtown - Box Hill via Union Road Route 285 - Doncaster Shoppingtown - Camberwell via North Balwyn Route 309 - City - Donvale via Reynolds Road (Freeway Exp) Route 313 - City (Russell Street) - Doncaster Park + Ride via Eastern Freeway and Kilby Road Route 907 - City - Mitcham via Doncaster Road (SMARTBUS Service) Route 908 - City - The Pines via King Street (SMARTBUS Service) In the mornings this place is awesome because buses run almost every five minutes during peak hours. Smart buses are in operation here and screens at the bus stop display exactly how many minutes until the bus will arrive and depart. There is NO myki machine here so you will want to top up your card before you turn up. There are ticket machines though. If it is raining there is plenty of shelter to keep you dry. Perhaps the only bad thing about this place is that during the week the car park is often full by 7.30am and leaving at the end of the day can be painful when all the city workers arrive back at their cars at the same time. Otherwise though it is a super awesome idea and I am a big fan!

Although many believe this place should have a second level, Doncaster Park and Ride is so…read moreimportant for the scarce public transport options in the Manningham area. Having lived in Manningham the majority of my life, I hate explaining that there is no train stops near my house and a 15 minute drive to the station is around 30 minutes via bus. If you drive to Park and Ride for your morning commute to the city you can expect a 20 minute ride to Spring Street which is amazing for peak hour!

This station has been completely refurbished, but that was done a number of years back before I…read moreactually moved to Melbourne, so I don't actually know, or remember, what the original station looked like. However this one is now much better, and not only has a decent waiting room, but also has restrooms, as well as being staffed. Oh, and it is also quite accessible.

Well, this is basically the railway station at the end of the South Morang Line. There probably…read moreisn't all that much that one can actually say about a railway station, especially since all you generally do here is get on, or get off, a train (though if you are young you might end up hanging around with your friends, and then getting chased off by a security guard). Okay, it is a little more than just a railway station as it also has a bus station, and a snackbar (though it isn't one of those trendy inner-city type places so don't expect rip-roaringly good coffee that you might find at, say, Northcote). Also the Plenty Valley Shopping centre is also a short walk from the station as well (not that I go there all that much). Oh, they also have ticket gates so much sure that your Myki Card has been touched on or you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle.

Well, brutalism is a form of architecture that I have discovered that seems to describe those…read moreplaces where form follows function, and that basically means that there is really nothing all that fancy about the place. This station certainly does fit that description. Mind you, as a station it doesn't really impress me all that much, and when I was here there weren't all that many trains passing by anyway. Honestly, it does serve it's purpose, but that is basically about it.

In a way, I have given this station more credit than it is due in the past, namely because of the…read morereally nice buildings, and that it has been quite convenient to me as well. However, it is one of those stations that I would consider a useless station, namely because it only works to basically slow down the trains along the South Morang line, and the two stations to either side are close enough to walk to. Mind you, I highly doubt that the government could get away with removing this station to speed up the trains.