Frankston railway line

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Frankston railway line, Melbourne
Line details
Completed 1882
Length 42.7 km (26.5 mi)
Tracks Quadruple to Caulfield, Triple to Moorabbin, then remainder - Double Track
Service pattern Stopping all stations
Express services during peak times
Rolling stock Hitachi, Comeng, Siemens
Connections Sandringham, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Stony Point lines
Former connections Rosstown Railway
Railways in Melbourne

The Frankston railway line is a bayside suburban electrified railway in Melbourne, Australia. The line runs from the City Loop to Frankston and continues on to Stony Point as the Stony Point line. Apart from suburban electric trains, the line is used by goods trains to and from the Steel mills near Hastings. The Frankston line is part of Melbourne's Metlink integrated ticketing system in Zones 1 and 2.

Description

The Frankston line runs south from Caulfield, functioning from the main line to Pakenham and Gippsland, and runs through built-up areas for its entire length. From Mentone the line is never more than about 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) from the eastern shore of Port Phillip, and runs alongside the Nepean Highway for much of its length.

After Caulfield, the line traverses flat country and has fairly minor earthworks, and has numerous level crossings. The level crossing near Glenhuntly railway station is one of Melbourne's four crossings with tram tracks, and the only one with three railway tracks crossing two tramway tracks.

Infrastructure

The Frankston railway line shares four tracks with the line to Dandenong and beyond from near Richmond to Caulfield, running next to the Sandringham line as far as South Yarra.

From Caulfield, the Frankston line has three tracks to Moorabbin. The centre track is signalled for bidirectional operation, allowing for express trains overtaking stopping trains in the peak direction. From Moorabbin to Frankston the line is double track.

Power signalling is provided throughout, and intermediate terminating facilities are provided at Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Mordialloc, and Carrum. Stabling facilities for suburban trains are provided at Mordialloc, Carrum, and Frankston.

Services

A complete journey between the Flinders Street and Frankston terminal stations takes approximately 58 minutes. In peak times express trains are run from Frankston, using the triplicated track for overtaking movements of other trains. Additional stopping all stations trains operate from the intermediate terminus. In off peak trains run stopping all stations, except for the stations shared with the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines.

Since the introduction of new Metro Trains Melbourne timetables on 6 June 2010, services stop at all stations between Malvern and South Yarra, with Pakenham and Cranbourne line services now running express in the inter-peak period. During peak times, most trains run express between Malvern and South Yarra and often run express between Cheltenham, Moorabbin, Caulfield and/or Malvern and South Yarra. Football extra services sometimes do not stop at South Yarra.[1]

History

The line from Caulfield to Mordialloc opened in December 1881 and extended to Frankston in August 1882. The Frankston line was electrified in three stages between March and August 1922.

Power signaling of the line was begun in 1933 with the section from Caulfield to Glenhuntly, and the remainder of the line was converted in a number of stages from 1958 to 1986. Amplification of the line from Caulfield to Moorabbin to three tracks was announced by transport minister Steve Crabb in 1984, at a cost of $10 million to save 10 minutes on travel times from Frankston. Work begun in July that year and was due for completion by the end of 1985.[2] However, it did not enter service until June 1986, with three track working commencing in July the same year.[3]

On 1 March 2007, Zone 3 in the Melbourne Metropolitan rail system was abolished (see Metcard), so that all stations between Patterson and Frankston are now in Zone 2.

The Australian Greens have proposed in their People Plan for the Victorian election 2010 (http://peopleplan.greens.org.au/map) to extend electrification of the Frankston/Stony Point Line and add new stations at Langwarrin and Mornington onto the suburban train network, allowing for increased capacity, increased frequency and easier integration.

In November 2010, both the Victorian Labor Party and the Victorian Liberal Party approved a Premium Station to be built between Highett and Cheltenham to serve the Westfield Southland shopping centre.[4] The railway station is to cost $13-million, it will have two Railway platforms and it is predicted to be used by 1,400 passengers daily. The project is expected to be completed by 2014.[5]

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 Cranbourne and Pakenham lines at Caulfield.

Frankston railway line
Legend
0.0 km Flinders Street (FSS) Zone 1
City Loop
2.4 km Richmond (RMD) Zone 1
Burnley group
CityLink
Yarra River, Cremorne Railway Bridge
4.2 km South Yarra (SYR) Zone 1
Sandringham line
5.4 km Hawksburn (HKN) Zone 1
6.7 km Toorak (TOR) Zone 1
7.4 km Armadale (ARM)* Zone 1
8.9 km Malvern (MAL)* Zone 1
10.6 km Caulfield (CFD) Zone 1
Cranbourne and Pakenham lines
12.2 km Glenhuntly (GHY)* Zone 1
Rosstown Railway
13.7 km Ormond (OMD)* Zones 1 & 2
14.5 km McKinnon (MCK) Zones 1 & 2
15.3 km Bentleigh (BEN) Zones 1 & 2
Elster Creek branch
16.1 km Patterson (PAT) Zone 2
17.2 km Moorabbin (MRN) Zone 2
18.8 km Highett (HIG) Zone 2
19.4 km Southland (STD) (Approved) Zone 2
21.2 km Cheltenham (CTM) Zone 2
23.1 km Mentone (MEN) Zone 2
24.7 km Parkdale (PKD) Zone 2
26.0 km Mordialloc (MOR) Zone 2
Mordialloc Creek
29.1 km Aspendale (ASP) Zone 2
30.4 km Edithvale (EDI) Zone 2
32.1 km Chelsea (CSA) Zone 2
33.4 km Bonbeach (BON) Zone 2
Patterson River
34.9 km Carrum (CAR) Zone 2
38.2 km Seaford (SEA) Zone 2
40.2 km Kananook (KAN) Zone 2
42.7 km Frankston (FKN) Zone 2
 Stony Point line

References

  1. ↑ "Metro Trains Melbourne". www.metrotrains.com.au. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
  2. ↑ "Works". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): page 221. June 1984. 
  3. ↑ "Works". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): page 221. September 1987. 
  4. ↑ "City of Kingston Historical Website - 'Railway Station at Bay Road'". Retrieved 2007-07-30. 
  5. ↑ , additional text.

External links

Main lines
Branch lines
Narrow gauge branch lines
Cross Country lines
V/Line services
Melbourne
Suburban services
(current)
Former lines
Goods lines
Tourist railways
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