Upfield Rail Trail

__NOTOC__MelbourneBikePath


DESCRIPTION= The Upfield Bike Path in Brunswick
NAME= Upfield Rail Trail
LENGTH= Approx 7 km
DIFFICULTY= Easy
HILLS= Flat
HAZARDS= Numerous Road crossings. People exiting stations. Forklifts.
WATER=
PATH=Bitumen path
BUS=
TRAIN=Upfield railway line
TRAM=

The Upfield Rail Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Upfield railway line through the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. [ [http://maps.vicroads.vic.gov.au/website/bikes2b/viewer.htm VicRoads - Bicycle Facilities Map] ] [ [http://www.bigyak.net.au/gmaps/vicbiketrailsgmap.html?slct2=47 Melbourne and Geelong's shared paths in Google Maps] ] [ [http://www.bigyak.net.au/bike/bike.html#melgel Melbourne and Geelong's shared paths in Google Earth] ]

It stretches from Princes Park, through Brunswick and Coburg, to Fawkner. It was originally opened in the late 1980s.

Missing links have been progressively filled with the final work between Hope Street and Anstey railway station in Brunswick completed in August 2002. A section between Reynard and O'Hea Streets in Coburg with a signalled crossing at Bell St was completed by 2006 by City of Moreland Council and VicRoads.

Following the Path

The southern end of the Upfield Bike Path connects to the Capital City Trail on the old inner circle railway line reservation which provides access to the Merri Creek Trail at Rushall railway station; and in the other direction it passes near the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens before connecting with the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail.

Alternatively, at Park Street cyclists can join the Royal Parade bike path and on road bike lane which provides access to University of Melbourne main campus in Parkville.

City of Moreland Council has reported the number of people counted riding on the Upfield Bike Path and Sydney Road at Park Street has almost quadrupled from 1992 to 2003.

The Upfield path parallels Sydney Road shopping strip in Brunswick and Coburg, and is often used by pedestrians and cyclists for shopping, dog walking as well as commuter cycling.

Historic buildings along the path include the Brunswick Baths at Dawson Street and the Railway Hotel (now a Backpackers Hostel) at Albert Street, Brunswick.

Landmarks

Upfield railway line, Melbourne Zoo.

Connections

The path comes to a dead end in the north at Boundary Rd near Fawkner cemetery. It meets the Capital City Trail in the south.

The Western Ring Road Trail is 3km to the north, up Sydney Rd, from the most northerly end of the trail.

North end at coord|37.719074|S|144.961295|E.South end at coord|37.780251|S|144.957067|E.

References

* "Bike Paths Victoria" sixth edition, 2004. Edited and published by Sabey & Associates Pty Ltd. pp132. ISBN 0957959117
* "Bike rides around Melbourne" 2nd edition, 2006, Julia Blunden, Open Spaces Publishing, ISBN 0-9752333-2-7

Cultural References

Upfield Bike Path is the name and subject matter of a song by Melbourne indie band [http://www.virtual.net.au/~awithy/huon.htm Huon] .

The track appears on the compilation [http://spill-label.org/kraftworks.php Kraftworks] , which is published by the Spill label and contains various interpretations of Kraftwerk tracks performed at a show at The Empress Hotel, Melbourne on 27 November 1999 by various indie Australian musicians.

External links

* [http://www.brunswickbug.org/index.php?title=Upfield_Bike_Path Upfield Bike Path - description of the trail]