Hurstbridge line

The first section of the Hurstbridge Line opened between Victoria Park Station (then named Collingwood Station) and Heidelberg Station in May 1888.[6] At this time, the line was connected to other lines via a line from Royal Park Station to Clifton Hill Station, most of which comprised what was later known as the Inner Circle line. This connection was opened at the same time.[7]

The section from Flinders Street Station to Victoria Park Station, was built later than the rest of the line, which was originally connected to the suburban system via the now-closed Inner Circle railway line.[8] The section to Victoria Park Station runs through two tunnels under a low ridge just east of the city, but most of the line runs on an embankment that carries the line above numerous main roads and suburban side streets.

A more direct connection, between Princes Bridge and Victoria Park Station (as Collingwood Station was renamed at the same time) was opened in October 1901.[9] In June the following year, the line was extended to Eltham Station, and ten years later (in June 1912) to Hurst's Bridge (now Hurstbridge Station).[10] In 1912, the Mont Park branch line was built branching from Macleod Station to serve the newly built Mont Park Asylum.[9] Also in 1912, the line between Westgarth Station and Alphington Station was duplicated.

In 1919, a branch line opened to the Australian Paper Manufacturers paper mill just after Fairfield Station. This 1.1-kilometre (0.7 mi) brought freight traffic into the mill for its 75-year lifespan, before its closure in 1994.[11]

In April 1921, automatic signalling was implemented between Princes Bridge and Clifton Hill Station, and a few months later, the line (from Princes Bridge) was electrified to Heidelberg Station, followed by electrification to Eltham Station in April 1923, and Hurstbridge Station in August 1926.[12] In September 1926, the single-track section between Clifton Hill Station and Westgarth Station was converted to Lever Locking and Track Control signalling, followed by Alphington Station to Heidelberg Station in June 1927.[12]

In June 1949, the line between Ivanhoe Station and Heidelberg Station was duplicated and provided with automatic signalling.[13] The same was done to the Alphington Station to Ivanhoe Station section in December 1951.[13] Duplication continued between Heidelberg Station and Macleod Station in December 1958, except for a short section after Heidelberg Station where the line crosses a bridge then goes through a tunnel.[13] That section remained single tracked until 2018 when it was duplicated as part of the Level Crossing Removal at Lower Plenty Road near Rosanna Station.[14]

Macleod Station to Greensborough Station was duplicated and converted to automatic signalling in August 1979. The duplication also included a number of level crossing removals and a rebuilt Watsonia Station.[15] Macleod Station is the only station on the Hurstbridge Line with more than two platforms. A third platform was provided in the 1970s, and is used during peak periods to provide a place at which trains can originate or terminate.[15]

Weekend services commenced through running to Hurstbridge Station in April 1985.[16] Previously, weekend services between Eltham Station and Hurstbridge Station operated as a shuttle service, with passengers required to change trains at Eltham Station.[16] Prior to the timetable change, the shuttle service was provided by a double ended motored Tait train, and after their withdrawal in 1984, the shuttle service was provided by a 3 car Hitachi or Comeng train.[16]

In 2009, a short section between Clifton Hill Station and Westgarth Station was duplicated, including the construction of a second Merri Creek river crossing at Clifton Hill Station.[17][18] The rarely used centre running line at Clifton Hill Station was also removed at this time. One year later, the Burgundy Street bridge near Heidelberg Station was replaced. This bridge was upgraded again in 2019 as part of the Hurstbridge Line Duplication project.[14]

Since 2017, X'Trapolis 100 trains began operating on the line, replacing the Comeng train-sets. The new stock features three doors per side on each carriage with the ability to seat 432 passengers in each six-carriage configuration.[19]

The logo of the Hurstbridge Line Duplication project.

The rebuilt platforms at Rosanna station in March 2020.

In May 2016, the Victorian Government allocated funding for stage one of the Hurstbridge Line Duplication. The first stage involved:[20][14]

• Duplicating a 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) section of track between Heidelberg Station and Rosanna Station
• The removal of two level crossings at Grange Road, Alphington and Lower Plenty Road, Rosanna
• A newly elevated Rosanna Station
• The construction of a second rail bridge over Burgundy Street in Heidelberg
• The construction of a second tunnel for Flinders Street-bound trains under Darebin Street

Construction was coordinated on the level crossing removals and duplication so both projects would be delivered more efficiently, with fewer disruptions to passengers while work is carried out. Early works on the duplication began in June 2016, with major construction started in March 2017. On 6 October of that year, the former ground Rosanna Station closed for demolition. The 6-week 24/7 major construction blitz began on 16 March 2018 with the closure of the rail corridor to allow construction to ramp up. The new elevated Rosanna Station opened with the duplication of the single-track section completed on 30 April 2018, with 35 new and extended weekly train services between Eltham Station and the city loop introduced on 26 August of that year.

In May 2019, a second stage of track duplication was announced. When announced, the second stage originally involved:[5]

• Duplicating 3 km (1.9 mi) of track between Greensborough Station and Eltham Station and 1.5 km (0.93 mi) of track between Diamond Creek Station and Wattle Glen Station
• The full reconstruction of Greensborough Station and Montmorency Station
• The extension of platform 2 at Diamond Creek Station

Under this plan, the heritage listed Eltham Trestle Bridge would be retained as that section of track did not need to be duplicated due to other improvements on the line.[21][5] However, in June 2021, it was announced that the Greensborough to Eltham duplication was cut back to 2 km (1.2 mi) of track between Greensborough Station and Montmorency Station.[22] This was to avoid affecting an endangered Eltham copper butterfly habitat near Montmorency Station that was not discovered during prior environmental assessments of the project. The state government opted to cut back the duplication rather than to go through additional lengthy environmental approval processes, while claiming the revised duplication would not reduce the service frequency that was originally promised.[23][24] The Eltham Trestle Bridge remained unaffected by the revised duplication. The rest of the second stage also proceeded as planned.

Site investigations commenced in 2020, with early works on the corridor started in 2021 and construction kicked off throughout 2022, with a 2-week closure in September of that year seeing the raising of the second Plenty River rail bridge as well as other works. The 6-week 24/7 major construction blitz began on 16 March 2023 with the closure of the rail corridor to allow duplication works to ramp up. The duplication and opening of the new Greensborough Station and Montmorency Station occurred on 30 April 2023.[25] Other works including landscaping, the construction of car-parking, and other final works will continue until the end of 2023.

Delivered in conjunction with the Hurstbridge Line Duplication project, the Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of 3 level crossings on the line, to be completed in stages from 2018 to 2027. In 2018, 2 level crossings were removed at Grange Road, Alphington and Lower Plenty Road, Rosanna. The crossing at Grange Road in Alphington involved lowering the rail line into a trench under the road, with the rail line being elevated at Lower Plenty Road to create a rail bridge over the road.[26][27] As part of this removal, Rosanna Station was rebuilt.[28] In the lead up to the 2022 Victorian state election, the incumbent Andrews government announced the construction of a rail bridge to remove the level crossing at Ruthven Street near Macleod Station by 2027.[29] At the end of these removals, the Hurstbridge Line will have 13 remaining crossings on the corridor that aren't slated for removal.

Services on the Hurstbridge line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily.[1] In general, during peak hours, train frequency is 10–20 minutes in the AM peak on the Hurstbridge line while during non-peak hours the frequency is reduced to 20–30 minutes throughout the entire route.[3] After Eltham, frequencies are reduced due to infrastructure constraints. On Friday nights and weekends, services run 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours.[30]

Train services on the Hurstbridge line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters.[31]

Legend — Station status

• ◼ Premium Station – Station staffed from first to last train
• ◻ Host Station – Usually staffed during morning peak, however this can vary for different stations on the network.

Legend — Stopping patterns
Some services do not operate via the City Loop

• ● – All trains stop
• ◐ – Some services do not stop
• ▲ – Only inbound trains stop
• ▼ – Only outbound trains stop (trains operate clockwise through the city loop all day)
• | – Trains pass and do not stop

The Hurstbridge line has had a total of 6 operators since its opening in 1888. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1888 until the 1999 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line.[33] These operators, Victorian Railways, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Public Transport Corporation, and Hillside Trains have a combined operational length of 111 years. Hillside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded Connex Melbourne. Metro Trains Melbourne, the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. Both private operators have had a combined operational period of 24 years.[34]

The Eltham rail trestle bridge near Eltham Station is one of the longest in the southern hemisphere.

Hurstbridge railway line
km Multiple lines via North Melbourne City Loop 1.2 Southern Cross ●●●●●●● 2.5 Flagstaff ●●● 3.1 Melbourne Central 4.3 Parliament ●●●●●●● 0.0 Flinders Street ●●●●●●●●●● 0.1 Princes Bridge (closed) Multiple lines via Richmond City Loop 1.7 Jolimont ■■ 2.0 Jolimont Tunnel 2.2 West Richmond Tunnel 2.4 West Richmond 2.9 North Richmond ■■ 3.0 Victoria Street 3.6 Collingwood 4.1 Johnston Street 4.2 Victoria Park 4.5 Eastern Freeway 5.4 Clifton Hill ● 5.6 Heidelberg Road Mernda line to Mernda 5.7 Merri Creek 6.2 Westgarth Street 6.3 Westgarth ■ 7.2 Dennis 7.9 Fairfield Outer Circle line to Shenley (dismantled) APM Siding (demolished) 8.7 Grange Road 9.2 Alphington 9.5 Darebin Creek 10.0 Darebin 10.3 Upper Heidelberg Road 10.9 Ivanhoe 11.9 Eaglemont 12.6 Bell Street 12.8 Heidelberg 13.4 Heidelberg Tunnel 14.6 Rosanna 14.7 Lower Plenty Road Mont Park line to Mont Park (dismantled) 16.5 Macleod 18.7 Watsonia 19.1 Greensborough Highway 19.8 Grimshaw Street 21.8 Greensborough 22.1 Plenty River 22.8 Sherbourne Road 23.5 Montmorency 24.8 Sherbourne Road 25.6 Eltham Trestle Bridge & Diamond Creek 26.2 Eltham 27.4 Wattletree Road 29.6 Diamond Creek 29.9 Diamond Creek 30.0 Diamond Creek 30.2 Diamond Creek 31.2 Hurstbridge Road 31.4 Diamond Creek 33.8 Wattle Glen 36.8 Hurstbridge km

The Hurstbridge line forms a highly curved route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Hurstbridge. The route is 36.7 kilometres (22.8 mi) long and is doubled tracked up until Wattle Glen when the track narrows to only a single track.[21] After departing from its terminus at Flinders Street, the Hurstbridge line traverses both flat and hilly country with large amounts of curves and fairly significant earthworks for large parts of the line. The line also travels through the only three tunnels on the suburban electrified system, other than the Melbourne City Loop, although none of them are particularly long or deep. Sections of the line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings.[35] The line features four of the largest bridges on the suburban network: twin bridges over the Merri Creek, between Clifton Hill and Westgarth station, another on the up side of Darebin station, crossing Darebin Creek, and a wooden trestle bridge across the Diamond Creek.[36] At 195 m (640 ft) in length, this bridge is one of the longest curved wooden trestle bridge in use on a revenue railway in the southern hemisphere, and is the only wooden bridge still in use on a revenue railway in Melbourne.[36] Despite some removals, there are a large number of level crossings still present with no current plans to remove them. Somewhat unique to the Hurstbridge line, there are a decent number of private level crossings towards the end of the line.

The line follows the same alignment as the Mernda line with the two services splitting onto different routes at Clifton Hill. After departing Clifton Hill, the Mernda line heads north with the Hurstbridge line taking a windy alignment heading in an eastern direction.[37] Almost all of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs, however, the rail line becomes peri-urban towards its terminus in Hurstbridge.[37]

The line serves 28 stations across 36.7 kilometres (22.8 mi) of track. The stations are a mix of elevated, lowered, underground, and ground level designs. Underground stations are present only in the City Loop, with the majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals.[38]

Station	Accessibility	Opened	Terrain	Train connections	Other connections
Flinders Street	Yes—step free access	1854[39]	Lowered	16 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Flemington Racecourse line   Frankston line   Gippsland line   Glen Waverley line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sandringham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line   Werribee line   Williamstown line
Southern Cross		1859[39]	Ground level	27 connections  Alamein line   Albury line   Ararat line   Ballarat line   Belgrave line   Bendigo line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Echuca line   Flemington Racecourse line   Geelong line   Gippsland line   Glen Waverley line   Lilydale line   Maryborough line   Mernda line   NSW TrainLink Southern   Pakenham line   Seymour line   Shepparton line   Sunbury line   Swan Hill line   The Overland   Upfield line   Warrnambool line   Werribee line   Williamstown line
Flagstaff		1985[39]	Underground	10 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Glen Waverley line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line
Melbourne Central		1981[39]
Parliament		1983[39]
Jolimont		1901[39]	Lowered	1 connection  Mernda line
West Richmond			Ground level
North Richmond	No—steep ramp		Elevated
Collingwood			Ground level
Victoria Park		1888[39]	Elevated
Clifton Hill			Ground level
Westgarth	Yes—step free access
Dennis	No—steep ramp	1924[39]
Fairfield	Yes—step free access	1888[39]
Alphington	No—steep ramp
Darebin	Yes—step free access	1922[39]
Ivanhoe	No—steep ramp	1888[39]
Eaglemont		1926[39]
Heidelberg		1888[39]
Rosanna	Yes—step free access	1927[39]	Elevated
Macleod		1911[39]	Ground level
Watsonia	No—steep ramp	1924[39]	Lowered
Greensborough	Yes—step free access	1902[39]	Ground level
Montmorency		1923[39]
Eltham	No—steep ramp	1902[39]
Diamond Creek	Yes—step free access	1912[39]
Wattle Glen
Hurstbridge

One of Metro Trains Melbourne's infrastructure evaluation vehicles, the IEV100 used to evaluate the condition of the track.

The Hurstbridge line uses X'Trapolis 100 electric multiple unit (EMU) trains operating in a two three-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage and can accommodate of up to 432 seated passengers in each six car configuration.[41] The trains were originally built between 2002 and 2004 as well as between 2009 and 2020 with a total of 212 three-car sets constructed. The trains are shared with 7 other metropolitan train lines and have been in service since 2003.[41]

Alongside the passenger trains, Hurstbridge line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are: the shunting train; designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives, for track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition, the overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection, and the infrastructure evaluation carriage designed for general infrastructure evaluation.[42] Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line, Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad.[42]

Rosanna station, rebuilt in 2018, includes lifts, tactile boarding indicators, and other accessible features.

In compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, all stations that are new-built or rebuilt are fully accessible and comply with these guidelines.[43] Just over half of the stations on the corridor are fully accessible, however, there are some stations that haven't been upgraded to meet these guidelines.[44] These stations do feature ramps, however, they have a gradient greater than 1 in 14.[44] Stations that are fully accessible feature ramps that have a gradient less than 1 in 14, have at-grade paths, or feature lifts.[44] These stations typically also feature tactile boarding indicators, independent boarding ramps, wheelchair accessible myki barriers, hearing loops, and widened paths.[44][45]

Projects improving station accessibility have included the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades, and individual station upgrade projects.[46][47] These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 61% of Hurstbridge line stations classed as fully accessible. Future station upgrade projects will continue to increase the number of fully accessible stations overtime.

The Hurstbridge line uses three position signalling which is widely used across the Melbourne train network.[48] Three position signalling was first introduced on the line in 1921, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling in 2013.[49] Until early 2013, the Hurstbridge line was the last electrified railway in Melbourne to use a token system of safeworking. The Greensborough to Eltham section was controlled by the miniature electric staff system, and Eltham to Hurstbridge section by the staff and ticket system. If required, the latter section could be divided into two at Diamond Creek, to allow trains to cross at that station. In conjunction with these systems, trains through Greensborough, Eltham, and Hurstbridge stations continued to be controlled by some semaphore signals.[50] In the first few months of 2013, the staff systems and semaphore signals were replaced by electronic three-position coloured light signalling, controlled remotely from Epping.[51] The Greensborough-Diamond Creek section was converted on 3 February 2013, and the Diamond Creek-Hurstbridge section was converted on 22 March 2013.[52]