Glen Waverley railway line

Glen Waverley railway line, Melbourne
Line details
Commenced 1890
Completed 1930
Length 22.25 km (13.83 mi)
Stations 12
Tracks Double track throughout
Used by Metro Trains Melbourne
Service pattern Stopping all stations, some peak expresses
Rolling stock Hitachi, Comeng, X'Trapolis
Connections Alamein,Belgrave and Lilydale lines
Former connections Outer Circle line
Railways in Melbourne

The Glen Waverley railway line is a suburban electric railway in Melbourne, Australia. It branches from the Lilydale line at Burnley station. It has 12 stations in Metlink ticketing Zones 1 and 2.

Contents

Description

The Glen Waverley line leaves the Lilydale line at Burnley and crosses the Yarra River to follow the Monash Freeway and the valley of Gardiners Creek through seven stations to Holmesglen. Next it rises through Jordanville and Mount Waverley stations before reaching a peak just over 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level west of Lawrence Road. After this the line descends rapidly to a bridge across a valley before the next station, Syndal. The line rises and falls again to the terminus, Glen Waverley.

The journey from Holmesglen to the terminus involves some of the steepest grades in Melbourne (1 in 30).

Despite the heavy grades, earthworks are fairly moderate. The line has several level crossings in the Gardiners Creek section, but the rest of the line crosses roads by means of bridges over or under the railway. The level crossings include two of Melbourne's four locations where the railway crosses tram lines. These are at Glenferrie Road near Kooyong Station and at Burke Road near Gardiner Station.

Infrastructure

The line is double track throughout, and controlled by automatic block signalling. Intermediate terminating facilities are provided only at Darling, although it is not normally used. Stabling facilities are provided at the junction (Burnley) and the terminus (Glen Waverley).

History

A line known as the Outer Circle was originally developed to link the Gippsland line with Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station). The Outer Circle opened in 1890 from Oakleigh (on the Pakenham line) to Riversdale.

At the same time, what became the Glen Waverley line opened from Burnley to Darling, junctioning with the Outer Circle at Waverley Road (near the modern East Malvern). The Outer Circle was closed in sections between 1893 and 1897 and the Burnley – Waverley Road line was cut back to Darling in 1895.

The city connection was made over a line built by the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company from Princes Bridge station to Punt Road (Richmond) in 1859, and their branch line from Richmond to Burnley opened in 1861.

The Burnley – Darling line was electrified in 1920 and extended to Glen Waverley in 1930 to become the Glen Waverley railway line.

The 1950s saw the line undergo major upgrades, including the first centralised traffic control installation in Australia. Commissioned in September 1957 and 6 miles (9.7 km) in length, the Victorian Railways installed it as a prototype for the North East standard project.[1]

Line guide

Bold stations are termini, where some train services terminate; italic stations are staffed; and stations with an asterisk (*) are manned only during morning peak.

Branches from the Belgrave, Lilydale and Alamein lines at Burnley.

Glen Waverley railway line
Legend
0.0 km Flinders Street (FSS) Zone 1
Belgrave and Lilydale lines
4.1 km Burnley (BLY)* Zone 1
Belgrave & Lilydale lines
CityLink
Yarra River
5.8 km Heyington (HEY) Zone 1
7.0 km Kooyong (KYG) Zone 1
8.4 km Tooronga (TGA)* Zone 1
9.4 km Gardiner (GAR) Zone 1
10.3 km Glen Iris (GIR) Zone 1
11.4 km Darling (DLG) Zones 1 & 2
Outer Circle line
Outer Circle line
12.5 km East Malvern (EMV) Zones 1 & 2
Monash Freeway
14.4 km Holmesglen (HOL)* Zones 1 & 2
16.4 km Jordanville (JOR) Zone 2
17.8 km Mount Waverley (MWY) Zone 2
19.6 km Syndal (SYN)* Zone 2
20.9 km Glen Waverley (GWY) Zone 2

References

  1. ^ Leo J. Harrigan (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Public Relations and Betterment Board. p. 176. 

External links