Mornington railway line, Melbourne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mornington railway line, Melbourne
Line details
Opened	1889
Closed	1981
Fate	Tourist railway operated by the Mornington Railway Preservation Society
Tracks	Single track
Connections	Stony Point line
Railways in Melbourne
List of stations Freight railways Closed railways Proposed railways

For current tourist railway operations on the line, see Mornington Railway

The Mornington railway line, in Melbourne, Australia, was a rural railway branching off from the Stony Point railway line at Baxter. The line had a life of 92 years, opening in 1889, and closing in 1981.

[edit] History

A branch was opened of the Gippsland Railway from Caulfield to Mordialloc in 1881 and Frankston in 1882. This line was extended to Baxter in 1888 and branches were opened to Hastings and Mornington in 1889.

When opened, the line had two stations: the terminus of Mornington and intermediate station Moorooduc. Between 1920 and 1930 RMSP 16 was opened between Moorooduc and Mornington, closing again by 1940.^[1] Between 1930 and 1940 Mornington Racecourse station was opened, on the Melbourne side of RMSP 16 approximately half way to Moorooduc. Between 1960 and 1970 Mornington Racecourse was renamed to Tanti Park, and between 1970 and 1980 RMSP 16 was reopened.^[1]

Closure between the junction at Baxter and Mornington occurred in 1981, with a short section of the line from the former Mornington terminus to RMSP 16 removed and a Supermarket built on the site of the former Mornington station. The rest of the line lay idle until 1984 when the Mornington Railway Preservation Society was formed with the long term ambition of restoring a tourist railway service along the line. Tourist trains now operate on the line.^[2]