Belgrave railway line, Melbourne

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The Belgrave railway line is a broad gauge electric suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia. It branches from the Lilydale line at Ringwood station. It has eight stations, all of which are in Metcard ticketing Zone 2.

1 Description
2 Infrastructure
3 History
4 List of stations
5 See also
6 External links, maps, and timetables

[edit] Description

The Belgrave line heads south-east from Ringwood, cutting across the Dandenong Creek valley and skirting the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges to Upper Ferntree Gully. This section has a deep cutting at Heatherdale and at Boronia where the line has been lowered to pass under an adjacent intersection, but otherwise has moderate earthworks and numerous level crossings.

From Upper Ferntree Gully the line heads east taking the route of the former narrow gauge line to Belgrave, climbing steeply into the southern part of the Dandenong ranges. Earthworks are more extensive here, and all roads are crossed by means of bridges. Beyond Belgrave the narrow gauge line has been restored to working order and runs to the original terminus of Gembrook as the Puffing Billy Railway.

[edit] Infrastructure

The line is double track to Ferntree Gully, then single track to Belgrave, with passing loops and island platforms at Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, and Belgrave. The line is controlled by automatic block signalling.

Intermediate terminating facilities are provided at Bayswater and Upper Ferntree Gully. Bayswater is not normally used for terminating, but is also the location of a repair centre. Stabling facilities are provided at Bayswater, Upper Ferntree Gully, and Belgrave.

[edit] History

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

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^{[citation needed]}. 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 it was reopened as far as Belgrave for some "farewell specials" and then for the Puffing Billy Preservation Society until again closed in February 1958.

The line was partly duplicated—between Bayswater and Lower Ferntree Gully (now Fern Tree 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 Fern Tree Gully in July 1977. In December 1982, Ringwood to Bayswater was duplicated.