Frankston railway line, Melbourne

VictorianRailwayLineInfobox
type = mel
name = Frankston
yearcommenced =
yearcompleted = 1882
yearclosed =
fate =
lengthkm =
stations =
tracks = Quadruple to Caulfield, 3 to Moorabbin, remainder double track
users = Connex Melbourne, freight to Long Island
servicepattern = Off-Peak/Weekends - Express Malvern to South Yarra
RollingStock = south
connections = Sandringham, Pakenham, Cranbourne and Stony Point lines
formerconnections = Rosstown Railway

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The Frankston railway line is a bay-side suburban electrified railway in Melbourne, Australia. The line runs from the Melbourne 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.

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 convert|1|km|mi|1|lk=on 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, including one of Melbourne's four crossings of 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.

ervices

A complete journey between the Flinders Street and Frankston terminus 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.

Generally, services run express between Malvern and South Yarra, during peak times trains also do not stop at Malvern and often run express between Mordialloc, Cheltenham, Caulfield and South Yarra. Football extra services do not stop at South Yarra.

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 of 1922.

Power signalling 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. [cite journal | year = 1984 | month = June | title = Works | journal = Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages = page 221 ] However, it did not enter service until June 1986, with three track working commencing in July the same year. [cite journal | year = 1987 | month = September | title = Works | journal = Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages = page 221 ]

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 & Pakenham lines at "Caulfield".

References

External links

* [http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/route/view/6 Timetables]
* [http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/maps_stations_stops/metropolitan_trains/frankston_line_including_stony_point Official line map] (includes Stony Point)
* [http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&section=lineguide&line=Frankston Statistics and detailed schematic map] at the [http://www.vicsig.net/ vicsig] enthusiast website