On 17 January 1859, the railway arrived in Footscray, when the Williamstown line opened, with trains operating from Spencer Street in Melbourne to the important port of Williamstown. The line between Melbourne and Williamstown, via the North Melbourne and Footscray, had been made possible by the construction of the Saltwater River Rail Bridge over the Maribyrnong River.

Not long after, that line was connected to the 18-month-old Geelong line at a junction near the current Newport station.^[8] The original Footscray station opened on the first day of service. It was not where the current Footscray station is but was located at Napier Street.

Less than a month later, on 10 February 1859, Footscray became a junction when a line, branching at Footscray, was opened to Sunbury, extended to Sandhurst (later renamed Bendigo) in 1862. On 1 March 1859, Footscray's second station, on the Sunbury line, opened at Nicholson Street, not far from the Napier Street location.^[4] In 1879, a signal box was provided at the junction.

On 16 September 1900, a new station was opened at the present location, the junction of the two lines.^[6] The two other stations were then closed.^[4]

A number of sidings once existed at the station, but that site, on the eastern side of the Newport-bound lines, is now used for car parking. In 1972, the last siding at Footscray (siding "B") was abolished.^[4]

On 21 October 1928, the two tracks under the station were opened, as part of the South Kensington–West Footscray line. They were dual-gauged in the early 1960s, as part of the construction of the Melbourne–Albury standard gauge line. Quadruplication of the tracks towards Melbourne in November 1976 eliminated the switched junction and so the signal box was closed, although the building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

On 31 May 1996, Footscray was upgraded to a premium station, although the enclosed waiting area and ticket facilities were built in 1993, as part of the "Travel Safe" program of the early 1990s.^[9]

At around 08:30 on 5 June 2001, on Platform 4, an out-of-service train heading to Newport collided with a Williamstown-bound train carrying about 20 passengers. Three injuries were reported.^[10]

In 2010, as a part of the Brumby State Government's Footscray renewal program,^[11] the footbridge over the platforms, which was accessed by ramps, was replaced with a new $15 million footbridge. The bridge, named after Indigenous activist William Cooper,^[12] had stairs and associated lifts. There were complaints that the new footbridge was less usable than the one it replaced. The roof was not weatherproof, and the lifts were prone to breakdown.^[13]

During the 2017/2018 financial year, Footscray was the sixth-busiest station on the Melbourne metropolitan network, with 5.26 million passenger movements recorded.^[14]

Regional Rail Link upgrade edit

From 2012 to 2014, Footscray station underwent a major upgrade and conservation works as part of the Regional Rail Link project. An additional two platforms were provided to the north of the existing ones, to allow the separation of Sunbury Metro train services and V/Line train services to Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. On 20 January 2014, coinciding with the opening of the new platforms, ticket office and a waiting area adjacent to Platform 1 on Irving Street, Platforms 1 to 4 were renumbered 3 to 6, with the new platforms becoming Platforms 1 and 2.^[15] At the same time, Platforms 3 and 4 were temporarily closed, so that they could be rebuilt as platforms for V/Line services. They reopened when the new Regional Rail Link tracks between Sunshine and Southern Cross were brought into service on 16 July 2014. A new waiting area and toilet facilities for regional services was provided between Platforms 4 and 5.

The $15 million footbridge, erected in 2010, was partially demolished in 2013 to accommodate the works.^[16] New canopies, stairs and escalators were installed at the Irving and Hyde Street ends of the footbridge, and wider ramps were built from the footbridge to the platforms and the street level, to allow easier access to the platforms. New lifts were also added to the structure.

The car-park on Irving Street was relocated to McNab Avenue, and a new forecourt, with greenery and seating areas was opened, along with two new kiosks, close to the Irving Street station entrance. The most famous of those was the former Olympic Hot Doughnuts kiosk, which had a public re-opening day on 9 July 2014, with former Premier, Denis Napthine, in attendance.^{[citation needed]}

By November 2014, all works at the station had been completed.^[17]

Footscray has two island platforms with four faces, and two side platforms. It is served by Sunbury, Werribee and Williamstown line trains,^[18][19][20] and V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong line trains.^[21][22][23]

Platform 1:

•  Sunbury line  all stations services to Flinders Street

Platform 2:

•  Sunbury line  all stations and limited express services to Watergardens and Sunbury

By late 2025, it is planned that trains on the Sunbury line will be through-routed with those on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, via the new Metro Tunnel.

Platform 3:

•  Ballarat line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Ararat line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Maryborough line  one daily V/Line service to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Bendigo line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Echuca line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Swan Hill line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Geelong line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)
•  Warrnambool line  V/Line services to Southern Cross (set down only)

Platform 4:

•  Ballarat line  V/Line services to Melton, Bacchus Marsh and Wendouree (pick up only)
•  Ararat line  V/Line services to Ararat (pick up only)
•  Bendigo line  V/Line services to Bendigo, Epsom and Eaglehawk (pick up only)
•  Echuca line  V/Line services to Echuca (pick up only)
•  Swan Hill line  V/Line services to Swan Hill (pick up only)
•  Geelong line  V/Line services to Wyndham Vale, Geelong and Waurn Ponds (pick up only)
•  Warrnambool line  V/Line services to Warrnambool (pick up only)

Platform 5:

•  Werribee line  all stations and limited express services to Flinders Street and Frankston
•  Williamstown line  all stations services to Flinders Street and Frankston

Platform 6:

•  Werribee line  all stations services to Laverton via Altona (weekdays only); all stations and limited express services to Werribee
•  Williamstown line  all stations services to Williamstown

CDC Melbourne operates six bus routes via Footscray station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  406 : to Keilor East^[24]
•  409 : Yarraville station – Highpoint Shopping Centre^[25]
•  410 : Sunshine station – Footscray^[26]
•  411 : Laverton station – Footscray^[27]
•  412 : Laverton station – Footscray^[28]
•  414 : to Laverton station^[29]

Kinetic Melbourne operates three bus routes via Footscray station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  216 : Sunshine station – Melbourne CBD (Queen Street)^[30]
•  220 : Sunshine station – Melbourne CBD (Queen Street)^[31]
•  223 : Yarraville – Highpoint Shopping Centre^[32]

Transit Systems Victoria operates five bus routes via Footscray station, under contract to Public Transport Victoria:

•  402 : to East Melbourne^[33]
•  403 : to University of Melbourne Parkville Campus^[34]
•  404 : to Moonee Ponds Junction^[35]
•  472 : Williamstown – Moonee Ponds Junction^[36]
• Night Bus  947 : Footscray – Newport station (Saturday and Sunday mornings only)^[37]

Yarra Trams operate one route to and from Footscray station:

•  : to Moonee Ponds Junction^[38]

•  
  The South Kensington - West Footscray railway line cutting runs beneath the south-western end of what is now Platforms 5 and 6, September 2008
•  
  Footbridge that links all platforms, taken from Irving Street, December 2011
•  
  The same view from Irving Street, May 2014
•  
  Westbound view from Platform 2, May 2014

  Media related to Footscray railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Melway map at street-directory.com.au