Flemington Racecourse railway line, Melbourne

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Flemington Racecourse line
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Glen Waverley line
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The Flemington Racecourse railway line is a suburban electric railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It has two stations, both in Metcard ticketing Zone 1.

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

[edit] Description

The Flemington Racecourse line is a short branch off the Broadmeadows line that serves the Royal Melbourne Show grounds and Flemington Racecourse. The line is fairly level and has only minor earthworks. It has one level crossing and one rail-over-road bridge.

The line has no regular services, as it only opens for special events: racedays at the racecourse such as the Melbourne Cup or Oaks Day, and large events at the Showgrounds such as the Royal Melbourne Show itself in September, or the Big Day Out in January. It is otherwise used to store trains between peak hours.

At times, services are quite intense, with trains running as frequently as every four minutes. Services are usually operated to either the Showgrounds or the Racecourse. It is rare for any trains to stop at both places.

[edit] History

The Flemington Racecourse branch from Newmarket was opened by the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Co. in February 1861, but closed three years later, in July 1864. The line was taken over by the Victorian Railways and reopened in November 1867.

The line was electrified in 1918 for testing of electric trains, and therefore became the first electrified line in Melbourne. The first electric train ran a test trip from Newmarket to Flemington Racecourse in October 1918.

Automatic signalling, using two-position signals, was provided in September 1919. The line also had sidings serving the Newmarket sale yards and other industries, and the line was operated as a siding most of the time, the points being connected to adjacent point levers and the signals being put out of use. When passenger services were operated on the line, the points were connected to the signal boxes and the signals were brought into use. This arrangement finished in the 1980s or 1990s when the sidings were closed.

[edit] Infrastructure

The line is double-tracked throughout, although a third track used to be available for down trains from the Showgrounds platform to the Racecourse, but it is now blocked at the Showgrounds end and used as a siding.

The Flemington Racecourse line has Melbourne's only example of two-position automatic signalling. The short line has three mechanical signal boxes, including the Flemington Racecourse box opened in 1895^[1].

Terminating facilities are provided at both the Showgrounds platform and the Racecourse. Stabling facilities are provided at the Racecourse. The Showgrounds has only one platform, on the up track, as trains terminate at the Showgrounds when that station is in use. However, down trains can be routed via the platform then back to the down line to the Racecourse if necessary.