Benalla Station plans almost finalised with one last chance for feedback

However, all design elements are yet to be finalised with Inland Rail putting its recent design ideas out to the community for one last round of feedback before construction starts later in 2025.

The updated visualisations highlight an open railway station surrounded by landscaped gardens and serviced by additional parking and improved pedestrian and cyclist connectivity.

Station modifications include a new accessible railway platform, improved pedestrian underpass with lifts, ramps and stairs, and an unimpeded forecourt area open directly to Mackellar St.

Inland Rail, and construction partner John Holland will undertake a month-long community engagement process to gather feedback on the landscaping, urban design finishes, and heritage interpretation options.

Inland Rail B2A manager stakeholder engagement and communications, Justene Cowie said some ideas were still to be confirmed.

“We're really excited to come to Benalla and show the latest designs for the station precinct,” Ms Cowie said.

“Some of the changes that people will see are based on the feedback we received last time.

“These include some improvements to the car parking at the station.”

Ms Cowie said some of that feedback included dissatisfaction at not being able to drop people off right outside at the station

“The new car parking arrangement brings so many safety benefits separating vehicle movements from pedestrian movements,” Ms Cowie said

“But, based on that feedback we have included a couple of drop-off car parks.

“We call them kiss and rides, and they’re right near the station entrance.

“We hope that people will appreciate that we've taken that feedback on board.”

Ms Cowie said another bit of feedback was that the path at the rear of the station, on the Hannah St side, was too long.

The design called for it wind around with sharp turns to accommodate a rise from the underpass to street level.

“So we've included a set of stairs as well as the ramp to make that access more direct across the precinct,” Ms Cowie said.

One thing that the community will appreciate is that after walking down those steps, or using the ramp, they won't be met by a narrow, dark, smelly underpass.

“The underpass will be five metres wide, three metres high, light, bright and well lit with security cameras,” Ms Cowie said.

“The other key benefit is that it will be accessible by lifts, ramps and stairs.

“So there are improvements for both connectivity and safety, but most importantly, accessibility.

“People will be able to navigate that space easily.”

On the Mackellar St side of the station, the underpass can be accessed by ramps, stairs or a lift.

At the central platform there will also be stairs, ramps and a lift.

During the consultation period, Inland Rail had been made aware of the community’s dissatisfaction with previous alterations.

One of which was the demolition of the station’s tearooms and tower.

Ms Cowie said, while it would not be possible to rebuild those, their history can be incorporated into the new design.

“Both lifts have a glass frontage,” she said.

“The one near the front of the station, we’re presenting an option to have an image of the old clock tower etched into the glass to bring in that history.”

There are also decisions to finalise regarding landscaping at the front of the station.

“One of the things that we heard last time is that people were very pleased to see the development of a station forecourt,” Ms Cowie said.

“It means that the station will no longer be an island, separated from the rest of town like it has been for decades.

“There will be a lovely open space. We did hear that the original designs felt a little bit modern, and a little bit at odds with the beautiful historic building of the station precinct.

“Those designs have been updated to be a little softer, a little more organic.

“And there's options to plant canopy trees. So we would like to know if people like to see native evergreen canopy trees or would they like to see seasonal colour in those?

“In those spaces, there's options around formal heritage gardens or less formal heritage plantings.

“There's also seating for people in the precinct. We've got some options around modern concrete and timber look seating, but we've also got options around terracotta bricks bringing in some of the colour that Benalla’s known for.

“So these are the things that we're seeking feedback on in that forecourt area.”

Ms Cowie said the construction company undertaking the work, John Holland, would also connect with the community to communicate any impacts of the construction works.

“We will have at least one works notification a month,” she said.

That information will be available via inlandrail.com.au/ as well as advertising in The Ensign when those significant changes come in.

The Benalla railway station precinct designs can be viewed, and feedback shared until March 16 by:

Construction is cited to be complete by the end of 2026.