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Belgrave line

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Belgrave
Belgrave station, the terminus of the Belgrave line, which provides an interchange with heritage railway Puffing Billy.
Overview
Connecting linesLilydale line, Gembrook line
Former connectionsGembrook line at Upper Ferntree Gully
Stations8 (after Ringwood)
Service
TypeMelbourne suburban service
SystemMetro Trains Melbourne
Rolling stockX'Trapolis 100
History
Commenced1888 (From Ringwood)
Completed1889 to Upper Ferntree Gully; 1900 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge through Belgrave to Gembrook; 1962 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge to Belgrave
Closed1954 narrow gauge Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook
Reopened1962 broad gauge Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave
Technical
Line length41.8 km (26.0 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track to Ferntree Gully, single track with crossing loops beyond
Route map

Legend
h:mm
km
zone
1.2
 Southern Cross
●●●●●●Southern Cross railway station#Transport linksSouthern Cross railway station#Transport linksRegional trainSouthern Cross railway station#Transport linksSouthern Cross railway station#Transport links●NSW TrainLink Southern
1
1.3
 Flagstaff
●●●Flagstaff railway station#Transport links
1.9
 Melbourne Central
Melbourne Central railway station#Transport linksMelbourne Central railway station#Transport links
3.0
 Parliament
●●Parliament railway station#Transport links
0:00
0.0
 Flinders Street
●●●●Flinders Street railway station#Transport links
0:03
2.6
 Richmond
●●●●●●■Richmond railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:05
3.1
 East Richmond
■■
0:07
4.1
 Burnley
●■
0:09
5.7
 Hawthorn
■Hawthorn railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:11
6.9
 Glenferrie
■
0:13
7.7
 Auburn
Auburn railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:15
9.0
 Camberwell
●■Camberwell railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:17
9.8
 East Camberwell
1
0:19
11.0
 Canterbury
Canterbury railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
1/2
0:21
11.7
 Chatham
0:23
12.9
 Union
Union railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
1/2
0:27
14.9
 Box Hill
■Box Hill railway station, Melbourne#Transport linksBox Hill railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
2
0:29
16.6
 Laburnum
Laburnum railway station#Transport links
0:31
17.4
 Blackburn
Blackburn railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:34
19.5
 Nunawading
Nunawading railway station#Transport linksNunawading railway station#Transport links
0:36
21.2
 Mitcham
Mitcham railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:39
23.2
 Heatherdale
Heatherdale railway station#Transport links
0:42
24.5
 Ringwood
●Ringwood railway station, Melbourne#Transport linksRingwood railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:45
26.9
 Heathmont
Heathmont railway station#Transport links
0:48
29.5
 Bayswater
Bayswater railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
0:51
32.1
 Boronia
Boronia railway station#Transport links
0:54
34.7
 Ferntree Gully
Ferntree Gully railway station#Transport links
0:58
36.4
 Upper Ferntree Gully
Upper Ferntree Gully railway station#Transport links
1:02
38.9
 Upwey
Upwey railway station, Melbourne#Transport links
1:04
40.1
 Tecoma
Tecoma railway station#Transport links
1:07
41.3
 Belgrave
Belgrave railway station#Transport links
2
h:mm
km
zone
This diagram:

The Belgrave railway line is a commuter rail line operating between Flinders Street in the Melbourne central business district and Belgrave, through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Camberwell, Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Mont Albert, Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading, Mitcham, Ringwood, Heathmont, Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, Tecoma and Belgrave. It is part of the Melbourne rail network, operated by Metro Trains Melbourne.

Beyond Belgrave, the narrow-gauge line has been restored as the Puffing Billy Railway, which runs to the original terminus of Gembrook.

History

19th century

The line from Ringwood to Upper Ferntree Gully was opened in December 1889. A narrow-gauge 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) line was opened from there to Gembrook in December 1900, the second of four experimental narrow-gauge lines built by the Victorian Railways.

20th century

In 1921, the narrow-gauge section from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave was converted to automatic signalling, the first such instance on single track in the Southern Hemisphere.[1] This section reverted to Staff and Ticket safeworking in 1930.

Electrification of the railway to Upper Ferntree Gully was implemented in November 1925.

Following a landslide in 1953, the narrow-gauge line was formally closed in April 1954, although services resumed as far as Belgrave for some "farewell specials" and then for the Puffing Billy Preservation Society until services again ceased in February 1958.

The line was partly duplicated between Bayswater and Lower Ferntree Gully (now Ferntree Gully) in February 1957.

The narrow-gauge line to Belgrave had been closed so that the line could be rebuilt as part of the suburban electrified system. The new, broad-gauge, electrified extension opened in February 1962. It initially operated on the Staff and Ticket system, but was converted to automatic signalling in March 1964, with the section from Ferntree Gully to Upper Ferntree Gully being converted the following day.

Ringwood to Bayswater was converted to automatic signalling in June 1974, as was Bayswater to Ferntree Gully in July 1977. In December 1982, Ringwood to Bayswater was duplicated.

The Comeng trains were introduced to the Melbourne railway system in 1981. Initially, along with the Belgrave line, they were only allowed to operate on the Alamein, Dandenong, Glen Waverley and Lilydale lines, due to the width of the trains (3.05 metres).[2]

21st century

Bayswater station was rebuilt in 2017, with the project accompanying the removal of the Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road railway crossings in 2016.[3]

On 4 April 2016, plans to potentially run a regular revenue Tait set service on the Belgrave line was announced. This came following La Trobe MP Jason Wood's push for the idea as part of the greater "Puffing Billy master plan". The Tait service would be aimed at tourists visiting Puffing Billy. In November 2016, La Trobe MP Jason Wood committed $1 million to restoring a Tait set currently stored at Newport workshops. The Tait set service is expected to originate at Flinders Street station as a direct service to Belgrave bypassing the City Loop.[4]

Ringwood–Belgrave Rail Trail

Future

Level Crossing Removals

A train station in the distance
The rebuilt Bayswater station viewed from the removed level crossing.

The Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of 7 level crossings between the city and Ferntree Gully station, to be completed in stages from 2016 to 2025. In 2016, 2 level crossings were removed at Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road, Bayswater, through the rail under method.[5] These two removals also included a rebuilt Bayswater station and upgraded stabling facilities.[6] A further two crossings were removed at Blackburn Road, Blackburn, and Hetherdale Road, Ringwood in January 2017.[7] Both of these removals involved lowering the rail line under the roads with a rebuilt Hetherdale station built as part of the project.[7] Union and Mont Albert Roads have also been removed by lowering the rail line in May 2023.[8] The removals also included closing Mont Albert and Surry Hills stations with a new station built in-between called "Union."[9] The final crossing to be removed on the corridor will be at Bedford Road in Ringwood by lowering the rail line in 2025.[10] At the end of these removals, the Belgrave line will be fully level crossing free between the city and Ferntree Gully station, with crossings at Alpine St, Ferntree Gully, and Hilltop Rd, Upper Ferntree Gully, not currently slatered for removal.

Network and operations

Services

Services on the Belgrave line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily.[11] In general, during peak hours, train frequency is 5 minutes on the Ringwood corridor (combined with the Lilydale line) and 10 minutes in the AM peak on the Pakenham Line while during non-peak hours the frequency is reduced to 15–30 minutes throughout the entire route.[12] On Friday nights and weekends, services run 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours.[13]

Train services on the Belgrave line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters.[14]

Stopping patterns

Legend — Station status

  • ◼ Premium Station – Station staffed from first to last train
  • ◻ Host Station – Usually staffed during morning peak, however this can vary for different stations on the network.

Legend — Stopping patterns
Some services do not operate via the City Loop

  • ● – All trains stop
  • ◐ – Some services do not stop
  • ▼ – Only outbound trains stop
  • | – Trains pass and do not stop
Belgrave Services[15]
Station Zone Local Ltd Express Blackburn UFTG Shuttle
◼ Flinders Street 1 ● ● ● ●
◼ Southern Cross ◐ ◐ ◐ ●
◼ Flagstaff ◐ ◐ ◐ ●
◼ Melbourne Central ◐ ◐ ◐ ●
◼ Parliament ◐ ◐ ◐ ●
◼ Richmond ● ● ● ●
◻ East Richmond ◐ | ◐ |
◼ Burnley ● | ◐ |
◻ Hawthorn ● | ◐ |
◼ Glenferrie ● ◐ ● ▼
◻ Auburn ● | ◐ |
◼ Camberwell ● ◐ ● ▼
◻ East Camberwell ● ◐ ● |
◻ Canterbury 1/2 ● ◐ ● |
◻ Chatham ● ◐ ● |
◻ Union (under construction)
◼ Box Hill 2 ● ● ● ●
◻ Laburnum ● ◐ ◐ ▼
◼ Blackburn ● ● ● ●
◼ Nunawading ● ◐ ●
◼ Mitcham ● ● ●
◻ Heatherdale ● ◐ ●
◼ Ringwood ● ● ● ●
◻ Heathmont ● ◐ ● ●
◼ Bayswater ● ● ● ●
◼ Boronia ● ● ● ●
◼ Ferntree Gully ● ◐ ● ●
◼ Upper Ferntree Gully ● ● ● ●
◻ Upwey ● ◐ ●
◻ Tecoma ● ◐ ●
◼ Belgrave ● ● ●

Operators

Route

Map
Interactive map of Belgrave line in eastern Melbourne (click to view)

The Belgrave line forms a mostly curved route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Belgrave. The route is 41.8 kilometres (26.0 mi) long and is predominantly doubled tracked, however between Flinders Street station and Richmond, the track is widened to 12 tracks, narrowing to 4 tracks between Richmond and Burnley before narrowing to 3 tracks between Burnley and Box Hill. Finally, the line narrows to two tracks between Box Hill and Ferntree Gully before narrowing to a single track to its terminus.[16] After Ferntree Gully passing loops and island platforms are present at Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, and Belgrave. After departing from its terminus at Flinders Street, the Belgrave line traverses both flat and hilly country with some curves (more towards the end of the line) and fairly minimal earthworks for most of the line. Sections of the line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings.[17] Despite some removals, there are a small number of level crossings still present with no current plans to remove them.

The line follows the same alignment as the Alamein, Glen Waverley, and Lilydale lines with the four services splitting onto different routes at Burnley. The Alamein, Belgrave, and Lilydale services continue till the Alamein line splits off at Camberwell, with the two services continuing together till Ringwood. After departing Ringwood station, the Belgrave line heads south with the Lilydale line heading in an eastern direction.[18] Almost all of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs, however, the rail line becomes peri-urban towards its terminus in Belgrave.[18]

Stations

The line serves 31 stations across 49 kilometres (30 mi) of track. The stations are a mix of elevated, lowered, underground, and ground level designs. Underground stations are present in the City Loop and Box Hill, with the majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals.[19][20]

Station Accessibility Opened Terrain Train connections Other connections
Flinders Street Yes—step free access 1854[21] Lowered
16 connections
 Trams Buses
Southern Cross 1859[21] Ground level
27 connections
 Trams Buses Coaches
Flagstaff 1985[21] Underground
10 connections
 Trams
Melbourne Central 1981[21] Trams Buses
Parliament 1983[21] Trams
Richmond No—steep ramp 1859[22] Elevated
8 connections
 Trams Buses
East Richmond Yes—step free access 1860[22] Ground level
3 connections
 Trams
Burnley No—steep ramp 1880[22]
Hawthorn 1881[22] Lowered
2 Connnections
 Trams Buses
Glenferrie 1882[22] Elevated Trams
Auburn Ground level Buses
Camberwell Lowered Trams Buses
East Camberwell 1900[22] Ground level
1 connection
Canterbury 1882[22] Elevated Buses
Chatham 1927[22] Ground level
Union Yes—step free access 2023[22] Lowered Buses
Box Hill 1882[22] Underground Trams Buses Coaches
Laburnum 1958[22] Elevated Buses
Blackburn 1882[22] Ground level
Nunawading 1888[22] Lowered Buses Coaches
Mitcham 1882[22] Buses
Heatherdale 1958[22]
Ringwood 1882[22] Ground level Buses Coaches
Heathmont 1926[22] Buses
Bayswater 1889[22] Lowered
Boronia 1920[22]
Ferntree Gully 1889[22] Ground level
Upper Ferntree Gully No—steep ramp
Upwey 1901[22]
Tecoma 1924[22]
Belgrave 1900[22]
Station Histories
Station Opened[23] Closed[23] Age Notes[23]
Parliament 22 January 1983 41 years
Melbourne Central 26 January 1981 43 years
  • Formerly Museum
Flagstaff 27 May 1985 39 years
Southern Cross 17 January 1859 165 years
  • Formerly Batman's Hill
  • Formerly Spencer Street
Flinders Street 12 September 1854 169 years
  • Formerly Melbourne Terminus
Princes Bridge 8 February 1859 1 October 1866 7 years
2 April 1879 30 June 1980 101 years
Botanic Gardens 2 March 1859 c. April 1862 Approx. 3 years
Punt Road 8 February 1859 12 December 1859 10 months
  • Replaced by Swan Street (200m further along line)
Richmond 12 December 1859 164 years
  • Formerly Swan Street
East Richmond 24 September 1860 163 years
  • Formerly Church Street
Burnley 1 May 1880 144 years
  • Formerly Burnley Street
Pic Nic 24 September 1860 6 October 1895 35 years
Hawthorn 13 April 1861 163 years
Glenferrie 3 April 1882 142 years
  • Formerly Glenferrie Road
Auburn 3 April 1882 142 years
  • Formerly Auburn Road
Camberwell 3 April 1882 142 years
East Camberwell 14 May 1900 124 years
Canterbury 1 December 1882 141 years
Chatham 1 April 1927 97 years
Surrey Hills 13 August 1883 17 February 2023 139 years
Union TBA
  • Under construction
Mont Albert 11 August 1890 17 February 2023 132 years
Box Hill 1 December 1882 141 years
Laburnum 13 July 1958 66 years
Blackburn 25 December 1882 141 years
Nunawading 4 June 1888 136 years
  • Formerly Turnstall
Mitcham 25 December 1882 141 years
Heatherdale 7 September 1958 65 years
Ringwood 1 December 1882 141 years
Heathmont 1 May 1926 98 years
Bayswater 4 December 1889 134 years
Boronia 16 June 1920 104 years
Ferntree Gully 4 December 1889 134 years
  • Formerly Lower Ferntree Gully
  • Also spelt Lower Fern Tree Gully / Fern Tree Gully
Upper Ferntree Gully 4 December 1889 134 years
  • Also spelt Upper Fern Tree Gully
18 December 1900 30 April 1954 53 years
  • As narrow gauge interchange
Upwey 3 June 1901 30 April 1954 52 years
  • As narrow gauge
19 February 1962 62 years
  • As broad gauge
Tecoma 1 February 1924 30 April 1954 30 years
  • As narrow gauge
19 February 1962 62 years
  • As broad gauge
Belgrave 18 December 1900 30 April 1954 53 years
  • As narrow gauge
  • Formerly Monbulk
19 February 1962 62 years
  • As broad gauge

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

The Belgrave line uses X'Trapolis 100 electric multiple unit (EMU) trains operating in a two three-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage and can accommodate of up to 432 seated passengers in each six car configuration.[24] The trains were originally built between 2002 and 2004 as well as between 2009 and 2020 with a total of 212 three-car sets constructed. The trains are shared with 7 other metropolitan train lines and have been in service since 2003.[24]

Alongside the passenger trains, Belgrave line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are: the shunting train; designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives, for track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition, the overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection, and the infrastructure evaluation carriage designed for general infrastructure evaluation.[25] Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line, Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad.[25]

Accessibility

In compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, all stations that are new-built or rebuilt are fully accessible and comply with these guidelines.[26] Half of stations on the corridor are fully accessible, however, there are some stations that haven't been upgraded to meet these guidelines.[27] These stations do feature ramps, however, they have a gradient greater than 1 in 14.[27] Stations that are fully accessible feature ramps that have a gradient less than 1 in 14, have at-grade paths, or feature lifts.[27] These stations typically also feature tactile boarding indicators, independent boarding ramps, wheelchair accessible myki barriers, hearing loops, and widened paths.[27][28]

Projects improving station accessibility have included the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades, and individual station upgrade projects.[29][30] These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 58% of Glen Waverley line stations classed as fully accessible. Future station upgrade projects will continue to increase the number of fully accessible stations overtime.

Signalling

  • Richmond to Ferntree Gully—Automatic Block Signalling
  • Ferntree Gully to Belgrave—Automatic and Track Control

References

  1. ^ Chronological List of events on the Puffing Billy Railway Archived 2 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Traffic". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. August 1981. p. 185.
  3. ^ "Bayswater Level Crossing Removal Project". Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Traffic". Herald Sun. April 2016.
  5. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (13 June 2022). "Goodbye Scoresby Road level crossing". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  6. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (21 June 2022). "Mountain Highway, Bayswater". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b "The level crossings at Blackburn Road and Heatherdale Road are now gone. | Premier of Victoria". www.premier.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  8. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (2 February 2023). "Union Road, Surrey Hills". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  9. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (22 June 2022). "Final designs for the new Union Station and precinct". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  10. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (20 February 2023). "Bedford Road, Ringwood". Victoria’s Big Build. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  11. ^ "More Melburnians could hop on a train or tram every 10 minutes under ambitious Greens proposal". ABC News. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  12. ^ "New timetable train line information – Public Transport Victoria". 1 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Melbourne Weekend Night Network Train Map" (PDF). 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Where do train replacement buses come from?". ABC News. 15 November 2016. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  15. ^ Victoria, Public Transport. "Belgrave Line". Public Transport Victoria. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  16. ^ Carey, Adam (4 June 2015). "Multimillion-dollar Richmond railway station revamp in limbo". The Age. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  17. ^ Wong, Marcus (10 May 2021). "Level crossing removals in 1920s Melbourne". Waking up in Geelong. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  18. ^ a b Wray, Tyson. "Melbourne's train lines definitively ranked from best to worst". Time Out Melbourne. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  19. ^ Lee, Robert S. (2007). The railways of Victoria 1854–2004. Rosemary Annable, Donald S. Garden. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Publishing. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2. OCLC 224727085. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Major Construction Begins On First Level Crossing Removal | Premier of Victoria". www.premier.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d e "What year did your railway station open? | Public Transport Users Association (Victoria, Australia)". Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "What year did your railway station open? | Public Transport Users Association (Victoria, Australia)". Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  23. ^ a b c Anderson, Rick (2010). Stopping All Stations. Clunes, Victoria: Full Parallel Productions. ISBN 978-0646543635. OCLC 671303814.
  24. ^ a b "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. 1 March 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  25. ^ a b "NETWORK SERVICE PLAN | Addenda". 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011.
  26. ^ "Accessibility – Public Transport Ombudsman Victoria". www.ptovic.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  27. ^ a b c d "Station accessibility features". Metro Trains Melbourne. 2023. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  28. ^ "Accessing public transport". City of Melbourne. n.d. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  29. ^ "Left behind: the fight for accessible public transport in Victoria". the Guardian. 12 June 2022. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  30. ^ Victoria’s Big Build (17 October 2022). "Urban design framework". Victoria’s Big Build. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
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