Brunswick station opened when the railway line from
North Melbourne was extended to
Coburg. Like the suburb itself, the station was named after
Brunswick Park, a property that was purchased by Thomas Wilkinson and a partner.
Brunswick Park was named in honour of either
Princess Caroline of Brunswick, or the 1840 marriage of
Queen Victoria to
Prince Albert, of the
royal house of Brunswick. The train passed through fifteen
level crossings and destroyed seven sets of hand gates, before stopping just south of Brunswick, between the Albert and Dawson Streets level crossings. and replaced
interlocked gates at the Victoria Street level crossing, at the down end of the station. The
signal box protecting Victoria Street was also abolished during that time. Under the plan, announced in 2024 and expected to be completed in 2030, the three nearby stations of
Jewell, Brunswick and
Anstey will be replaced by two new stations, each located about from the existing Brunswick station: the new southern station is planned to be located next to Union Street and Dawson Street, while the new northern station is planned to be located next to Hope Street. The heritage listed Brunswick station building on Platform 1 at the existing station and some heritage listed interlocking hand gates at some closed level crossings will be kept and located at its current spot. The decision to build two stations in different locations instead of rebuilding Jewell, Brunswick and Anstey generated criticism from residents and the
local council. Local newspaper Brunswick Voice reported that the Minister for Transport Infrastructure,
Danny Pearson, claimed "the decision to build two stations followed 18 months of technical and engineering assessments which found fewer stations would boost capacity on the line in the future and deliver more open space", noting that "the government claimed the plan would also minimise the impact to heritage in the area, but the politician provided no detail about whether the three station buildings and the historic boom gate operators' cabins would be preserved". == Platforms and services ==