Station excavation reveals ghosts of the past

Benalla’s Greg Dennis spotted those exact cellars appearing during the current excavation works at the station.

“The location is the area where the buses reverse into to turn around and the car park,” Mr Dennis said.

“They were backfilled in Nov 1974 when the tower and tea rooms were demolished.

“The cellars under the existing station building were backfilled a bit later during the 1980s when the station floor was concreted, although one cellar was retained and is believed to still exist under the toilets.

“However, the access pit to that cellar has been concreted over, so (I don’t) know for sure if it is still there or not.”

Benalla Station is part-way through a redevelopment as part of the Inland Rail Project.