Glen Waverley line

Glen Waverley
City-bound X'Trapolis trains at Darling station.
Overview
Connecting lines	Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale lines
Former connections	Outer Circle line
Stations	12
Service
Type	Melbourne suburban service
System	Metro Trains Melbourne
Services	Stopping all stations, some peak services skip East Richmond, a small amount of services may run express from Richmond-Darling
Rolling stock	X'Trapolis 100
History
Commenced	1890
Completed	1930
Technical
Line length	21.3 km (13.24 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track throughout

The Glen Waverley railway line is a suburban electric railway in Melbourne, Australia, operated by Metro Trains Melbourne. It branches from the Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines at Burnley station. It has 12 stations in PTV ticketing zones 1 and 2.

History

19th century

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

In 1890, what would become the Glen Waverley line, opened from Burnley to Darling. The Burnley – Darling line was electrified in 1920 with a one station extension to East Malvern in 1929. In 1930, the line was extended to Glen Waverley and became the Glen Waverley railway line.

At the same time in 1890, a line known as the Outer Circle line opened, running from Oakleigh (on the Dandenong line) to Darling, continuing to Burnley (a further line of the Outer Circle junctioned north to Riversdale at Waverley Road, near to where East Malvern now is). The Outer Circle was closed in sections between 1893 and 1897, and the Burnley – Waverley Road line section was cut back to Darling in 1895.

20th century

In 1929, when the Glen Waverley line construction began its first extension from Darling to East Malvern, it was on the track of the Outer Circle line up to a short distance nigh of the new East Malvern station. The Outer Circle line would have begun its curve south towards Waverley Road and Oakleigh. The Glen Waverley line was to continue straight east and curve towards Holmesglen.

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. On 6 February 1956, the Toorak Road level crossing, between Kooyong and Tooronga stations, was the first in Victoria to receive boom barriers, replacing hand operated gates.

The Comeng trains were introduced to the Melbourne railway system in 1981. Initially, along with the Glen Waverley line, they were only allowed to operate on the Alamein, Belgrave, Dandenong and Lilydale lines, due to the width of the trains (10 feet (3.05 m)).

On 20 November 1989, a train collision occurred at Syndal station, when a passenger train collided with a stationary train.

Network and operations

Services

Local (stopping at all stations)

Citybound services, and outbound services on weekdays mornings, goes direct to Flinders Street.

Outbound trains on weekdays afternoons and weekends starts from Flinders Street and goes via the City Loop clockwise.

During the weekdays peaks, most outbound services and one citybound skip East Richmond.

• Every 10-15 minutes weekday daytime
• Every 7+1⁄2 minutes morning peak
• Every 20 minutes weekends daytime
• Every 30 minutes weekends and weekday evenings

Express

Operates only during the evening peak on weekdays. Express services skip all stations between Richmond and Darling.

Only two outbound services and one citybound service operates using this service pattern.

Route

The Glen Waverley line leaves the Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines at Burnley, and crosses the Yarra River and the Monash Freeway on the Heyington Bridge to follow the 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 one of Melbourne's three locations where the railway crosses tram lines, at Glenferrie Road near Kooyong station. The tramway crossing at Burke Road near Gardiner station was replaced with a rail-under-road bridge in 2015.

Stations

The line serves 20 stations across 21 kilometres (13 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.

Station	Accessibility	Opened	Terrain	Train connections	Other connections
Flinders Street	Yes—step free access	1854	Lowered	16 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Flemington Racecourse line   Frankston line   Gippsland line   Hurstbridge line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sandringham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line   Werribee line   Williamstown line
Southern Cross		1859	Ground level	26 connections  Alamein line   Albury line   Ararat line   Ballarat line   Belgrave line   Bendigo line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Echuca line   Flemington Racecourse line   Geelong line   Hurstbridge 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	Underground	10 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Hurstbridge line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line
Melbourne Central		1981
Parliament		1983
Richmond	No—steep ramp	1859	Elevated	8 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Cranbourne line   Frankston line   Gippsland line   Lilydale line   Pakenham line   Sandringham line
East Richmond	Yes—step free access	1860	Ground level	3 connections  Alamein line   Belgrave line   Lilydale line
Burnley	No—steep ramp	1880
Heyington	No—stairs required	1890
Kooyong	Yes—step free access
Tooronga
Gardiner			Lowered
Glen Iris	No—steep ramp		Ground level
Darling	Yes—step free access
East Malvern	No—steep ramp	1929
Holmesglen		1930
Jordanville
Mount Waverley
Syndal
Glen Waverley

External links

• Timetables
• Official line map
• Network map
• Statistics and detailed schematic map at the vicsig rail enthusiast website