Outer Circle railway line, Melbourne

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The Outer Circle was a steam-era suburban railway line, in Melbourne, Australia. It covered much of the modern City of Boroondara, including the suburbs of (from north to south) Kew, Camberwell, Burwood, Ashburton, and Malvern East. At its longest stage, it ran from Fairfield station, on what is today the Hurstbridge line, to Oakleigh station, on the current Pakenham and Cranbourne lines.

1 History
2 Services and closure
3 List of stations
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The Outer Circle was opened on May 30, 1890. When planned, its original purpose was to allow Government run trains from its isolated Gippsland line to run through to the Government's western and northern railways, bypassing the trackage of the Melbourne & Hobsons Bay United Railway Company, as well as serving potential future suburban development.

Its first purpose became redundant when the Government bought the ailing private railway in 1878 and subsequently completed a viaduct connecting Flinders Street and Spencer Street Stations in 1892, but the Outer Circle was completed and opened nonetheless.

Its other purpose became redundant during the depression of the 1890s, when new suburbs en route lay empty as a result of bank foreclosures.

[edit] Services and closure

It connected Camberwell station (on the modern Belgrave and Lilydale lines) with Oakleigh station to the south, via Riversdale on what is now the Alamein line. There was also a branch line from the closed Waverley Road station (near the modern East Malvern station - see Victorian Railway Maps 1860 - 2000) to Darling and Burnley. This was the first section of what is now the Glen Waverley line and was opened simultaneously with the Outer Circle. On March 24, 1891, the Circle was extended north through to Fairfield station (then called Fairfield Park station). This second section was soon closed, however, on April 12, 1893. On December 9, 1895, the section from Oakleigh to Ashburton station was closed and the Glen Waverley line was cut back to Darling. This was followed by the closure of the section from Camberwell to Ashburton on May 1, 1897.

However, two years later, on July 4, 1899, the Camberwell to Ashburton stretch reopened as the Ashburton line. This was followed, on May 14, 1900, by the reopening of much of the northern section of the line, through to Deepdene station, as the so-called Deepdene Dasher service. This ran from East Camberwell to Deepdene, with passengers from the city having to change at East Camberwell. While the Deepdene service ended in 1927, the Ashburton service remained. On October 30, 1924, the Ashburton line was electrified. It became the Alamein line, which still operates today, on June 28, 1948, after being extended to Alamein station to encompass a new housing estate.

Today, the northern section of the line, starting at East Camberwell, is a "rail-trail" walking and bicycle path. All of the closed stations have since been demolished, and very little of the infrastructure of the line is still in place. The track between Fairfield station and the Yarra River came into use as a paper train siding for the Australian Paper factory built on the site, and remained open until 1996. The rail bridge over the river was converted into a road bridge as part of the Chandler Highway.