Warburton railway line, Melbourne

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The Warburton diesel greater-metropolitan railway line, in Melbourne, Australia, was a railway branching off from the Healesville line at the present terminus, Lilydale, extending into the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

1 History
2 Services
3 Current status
4 List of stations
5 See also
6 Links

[edit] History

The route between Lilydale and Warburton was originally proposed to be built as one of four experimental narrow gauge lines. However, this proposal was overturned and the Warburton line opened as broad-gauge railway on Wednesday, 13th of November, 1901. The length from Lilydale to Warburton was slightly over 37km, and it remained like this until the last train ran, on Sunday, 1st of August, 1965, although it was officially closed on the 29th of July.

[edit] Services

Throughout its life, the Warburton line had both passenger and freight services (passenger services generally running as a shuttle between Lilydale and Warburton stations), although passenger services dwindled during the later years.

[edit] Current status

While the track was dismantled in the 1970s, the Warburton line is still very much visible. The right-of-way is intact (except for a short section under lease to Mount Lilydale College), as are all of the bridges except the one of Maroondah Highway, which is long gone. The land formerly used by the line is now used for the Warburton Rail Trail, a pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian trail.