First railway On 7 September 1851, a public meeting called for the construction of Australia's first railway to link Melbourne and Sandridge (now known as
Port Melbourne), which led to the establishment of the privately owned
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in 1853. On 8 February 1853, the Government also approved the establishment of the
Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company and the
Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company. Work began in March 1853 on the Sandridge railway line, stretching from the Melbourne (or City) terminus (on the site of modern-day
Flinders Street station) to Sandridge. The line was owned and operated by Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, opening in 1854. In 1855, the Government conducted enquiries and carried out surveys into country railways. On 1 April 1856, the
Railway Department was established as part of the Board of Land and Works with
George Christian Darbyshire being appointed Engineer in Chief. On 23 May of that year the
Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company was taken over by the Government. Trains were ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company of the
United Kingdom. The first train was locally built by
Robertson, Martin & Smith, however, owing to delays in shipping. Australia's first steam locomotive was built in ten weeks and cost
£2,700. Forming the first
steam train to travel in Australia, it made its maiden trip on 12 September 1854. The opening of the line occurred during the period of the
Victorian gold rush—a time when both Melbourne and Victoria undertook massive capital works, each with its gala opening. The inaugural journey on the Sandridge line was no exception. According to the
Argus newspaper's report of the next day: "Long before the hour appointed . . . a great crowd assembled round the station at the Melbourne terminus, lining the whole of
Flinders Street".
Lieutenant-Governor Sir Charles Hotham and Lady Hotham were aboard the train—which consisted of two
first-class carriages and one-second class—and were presented with
satin copies of the railway's
timetable and
bylaws. The trip took 10 minutes, none of the later stations along the line having been built. On arriving at
Station Pier (onto which the tracks extended), it was hailed with gun salutes by the warships
HMS Electra and
HMS Fantome. By March 1855, the four engines ordered from the UK were all in service, with trains running every half-hour. They were named
Melbourne,
Sandridge,
Victoria, and
Yarra (after the
Yarra River over which the line crossed).
Early private companies station building on
Swanston Street The
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company opened Melbourne's second railway on 13 May 1857, a line from the Melbourne (or City) Terminus to
St Kilda. The line was later extended by the
St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company, which opened a line from St Kilda to
Brighton in 1857. That line was extended to
Windsor in 1860, connecting with the St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company line from St Kilda. The new line replaced the indirect
St Kilda and Windsor line to the city, which was closed in 1867. Another suburban line was built by the
Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in 1860, running from
North Melbourne to
Essendon, with a branch line from
Newmarket to
Flemington Racecourse, which opened in 1861. On the eastern side of the city, the
Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company opened a branch line from Richmond to
Burnley and
Hawthorn in 1861. By that point, the railways of Melbourne were a disjointed group of city-centric lines, with various companies operating from three unconnected city terminals—
Princes Bridge,
Flinders Street, and
Spencer Street stations. The smaller companies quickly encountered financial problems. The
St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company and
Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company were absorbed by the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in 1865, forming the
Melbourne and Hobsons Bay United Railway Company. The
Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company was taken over by the Victorian Government in 1867. The Melbourne and Hobsons Bay United Railway Company was not taken over by the
Victorian Government until 1878. The terminals themselves were linked in 1879, when the track was built at street level along the southern side of Flinders Street, connecting with
Spencer Street station, although the track was only used at night, for freight traffic. It was not until 1889 that the two-track
Flinders Street Viaduct was built between the two city terminus stations. The outward expansion also continued, with major trunk lines being opened in rural Victoria. The Victorian Railways extended its line to
Broadmeadows in 1872, as part of the line to
Seymour and
Albury-
Wodonga. In 1879, the
Gippsland line was opened from South Yarra to
Caulfield,
Pakenham and
Bairnsdale. The
Frankston line began with the opening of a line from Caulfield to
Mordialloc in 1881, reaching the terminus in 1882. A second new suburban railway line was opened from Spencer Street Station to
Coburg in 1884, and extended to
Somerton in 1889, meeting the main line from Spencer Street to Wodonga. Land developers opened a private railway from Newport to
Altona in 1888, but it was closed in 1890, due to lack of demand. The line from Hawthorn was extended, to
Camberwell in 1882,
Lilydale in 1883, and
Healesville in 1889. A short branch two station was also opened from Hawthorn to
Kew in 1887. The Brighton Beach line was also extended to
Sandringham in 1887. In 1888, railways came to the northeastern suburbs with the opening of the
Inner Circle line from
Spencer Street station via
Royal Park station to what is now
Victoria Park station, and then on to
Heidelberg. A branch was also opened off the Inner Circle in
Fitzroy North, to
Epping and
Whittlesea in 1888 and 1889. At the same time as the Outer Circle, a railway was opened from Burnley to
Darling and a junction with the Outer Circle at
Waverley Road (near the current
East Malvern station). A stub of the future Glen Waverley line, it was cut back to Darling in 1895. Railway building during the land boom hit a peak with the construction of the
Rosstown Railway between Elsternwick and Oakleigh. Built by
William Murry Ross, the line was planned in the 1870s to serve a sugar beet mill near Caulfield. Construction commenced in 1883, followed by rebuilding in 1888. Ross's debts grew, and he attempted to sell the line many times without success. It never opened to traffic and was later dismantled. The stock market crash of early 1890s led to an extended period of economic depression in Victoria and put an end to most railway construction until the next decade. By the 1900s, the driving force for new railway lines was agriculturalists in what are now Melbourne's outer suburbs. In the
Dandenong Ranges a narrow gauge
762 mm line was opened from Upper Ferntree Gully to
Belgrave and
Gembrook in 1900 to serve the local farming and timber community. In the
Yarra Valley, a branch was opened from Lilydale to
Yarra Junction and
Warburton in 1901. Part of this line is now listed on the
Victorian Heritage Register. In 1901, in preparation for the occasion of a royal visit by the
Duke of York, the first Australian
royal train was assembled in Melbourne. The
Heidelberg line was extended to
Eltham in 1902 and
Hurstbridge in 1912. The freight-only
Mont Park line was also opened in 1911, branching from
Macleod. Finally, on the
Mornington Peninsula, a branch was built from
Bittern to
Red Hill in 1921. The report was considered by the Government and the Railway Commissioners, and Merz was engaged to deliver a second report based on their feedback. Delivered in 1912, this second report recommended an expanded system of electrification to 240 route km. of existing lines (463 track km), and almost 800 suburban carriages (approximately 130 trains). The works were approved by the State Government in December 1912. Rolling stock construction continued, with several older suburban carriages converted for electric use as the
Swing Door trains, while the first of the
Tait trains were introduced as steam-hauled carriages. Track expansion was also carried out, with four tracks being provided between South Yarra and Caulfield, as well as grade separation from roads. Victorian Railways in 1918 opened the
Newport Power Station, the largest power station in the urban area, to supply electricity as part of the electrification project. The
State Electricity Commission of Victoria was formed in 1921 but did not take over Newport A power station until 1951. Driver training continued on this line until 18 May 1919, when the first electric train ran between
Sandringham and
Essendon, simulating revenue services. Electric services started on 28 May 1919 with the first train running to Essendon, then on to Sandringham, with full services starting the next day. Electrification on the outer ends of the Hurstbridge line was completed by 1926, the
Whittlesea line to
Thomastown was electrified in 1929, and the Burnley – Darling line was extended to
Glen Waverley in 1930 to become the
Glen Waverley line.
Post-War rebuilding train in the
Newport Railway Museum, January 2007 Railways experienced increased patronage into the 1940s, but railway improvements recommended in the
Ashworth Improvement Plan were delayed until after
World War II. It was not until 1950 that the
Victorian Railways were able to put their
Operation Phoenix rebuilding plan into action. The delivery of the
Harris trains, the first steel suburban trains on the network, enabled the retirement of the oldest of the
Swing Door trains. Railway lines were extended during this period to encompass Melbourne's growing suburbia. The
Ashburton line was extended along the old Outer Circle track formation to
Alamein station in 1948. A great deal of track amplification was also undertaken, with several single-line sections eliminated. The Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave section of the
Gembrook narrow gauge line was converted to
broad gauge and electrified in 1962. The remainder of the line was closed in 1954 but has been progressively reopened by the
Puffing Billy Railway. The
Gippsland line was electrified in 1954 as part of the works being carried out on the line, but suburban services to Pakenham did not start until 1975. During this rebuilding, several little-used lines were closed on the edges of Melbourne. The Bittern to Red Hill line and the Kew branch both closed in 1953, the line between
Lalor railway station and
Whittlesea closed in 1959, and the Lilydale to
Warburton line closed in 1964. The final stages of the rebuilding stretched into the 1970s, with track amplification carried out to
Footscray, and
Box Hill, and the first deliveries of the stainless steel
Hitachi trains. Detailed planning for the
Doncaster line also commenced in that period and, by 1972, the route was finalised. Despite rising costs, state governments of the period continued to give assurances that the line would be built but, by 1984, land reserved for the line had been sold. The project ran for over 14 years, opening progressively between 1981 and 1985. The loop was designed and constructed to improve the capacity of Flinders Street and Spencer Street stations to handle suburban trains and to offer easier connections for users. These recommendations and cuts were not enacted, however many uneconomical branch lines were closed throughout the rest of the state. The branch from
Baxter to
Mornington was closed in 1981, but the line south of
Moorooduc is now operated by the
Mornington Railway as a tourist route. The
Metrol train control centre was opened in 1980 to coordinate trains throughout the network using computer software that remains in use today. Public transport in Melbourne was also reorganised, with the
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) formed in 1983 to coordinate all train, tram and bus services in the city to improve interoperability. , August 2007 , opened in 2007. The early 1990s saw further changes, with the MTA reborn as the
Public Transport Corporation, trading as "The Met". State governments of both sides of politics began to push for reform of the railway network, proposing the conversion of the Upfield, Williamstown and Alamein lines to light rail. Those proposals were not proceeded with, and the Upfield line received a series of upgrades to replace labour-intensive manual signalling systems.
Federal government funding was made available for the electrification of the
South Gippsland line, which was completed in 1995. Rationalisation of the
Jolimont rail yard commenced, enabling the creation and expansion of
Melbourne Park in 1988 and 1996, and the future construction of
Federation Square in 2001. After the election of the
Kennett government in 1992, several controversial reforms to the operation of the railway system were initiated. Guards were removed from suburban trains and train drivers took over the task of door operation. Stations were de-staffed, and the
Metcard ticketing system was introduced to replace the scratch-card system.
Privatisation In 1998, "The Met" was split into two operating units—Hillside Trains and Bayside Trains―each franchised to a different private operator. Ownership of land and infrastructure of rail and tram services was transferred to a new Victorian Government agency,
VicTrack. In addition, a statutory office was created in Government—the
Director of Public Transport—with specific responsibility for entering into franchise agreements with public transport operators to operate rail and tram services throughout Victoria. By 1999, the
privatisation process was complete, with
Connex Melbourne and
M>Train operating half of the network. In 2003, the parent company of M>Train (
National Express) withdrew from operating public transport in Victoria, and half of the suburban network was transferred to Connex as part of a renegotiated contract. The franchising contracts contained provisions for the new operators to refurbish the Comeng trains, and to replace the older
Hitachi trains. Connex purchased
Alstom X'Trapolis sets, while M>Train chose
Siemens Nexas units. In May 2005, the State Government commissioned a A$25 million study into the feasibility of a
third track for the Dandenong line to increase capacity for the rapidly growing suburban area. The cost of the triplication process was expected to be as high as A$1 billion, as project activities would have included the organization of corresponding bus services for the rail line, changes to stations and platforms along the line, and the improvement of the signalling system. This project was ultimately sidelined and not delivered by the Brumby Government. In 2006, Professor
Paul Mees and a group of academics estimated that privatisation had cost taxpayers $1.2 billion more than if the system had remained both publicly owned and operated. With the franchise extensions in 2009, taxpayers were to pay an estimated $2.1 billion more by 2010. However, the
Institute of Public Affairs released its report on Melbourne's privatisation, which assessed it as a modest success and observed that a 37.6% increase in patronage on the metropolitan rail system had reversed years of patronage decline due to poor quality services. The Auditor General of Victoria also performed a comprehensive audit report into the franchises and found that "the franchises represent reasonable value for money".
Ridership boom and Metro Trains Melbourne Beginning in the mid-2000s, a rapid increase in patronage of Melbourne's train network occurred. In the three years between the
financial year 2005 and 2008, rail patronage grew by 35 per cent. Trips grew from 148 million in 2004 to more than 200 million in 2008. In November 2007,
Singapore's
SMRT Transit and
Hong Kong's
MTR Corporation Limited expressed interest in taking control of Melbourne's suburban rail network from Connex in November 2009, when their contract was to be reviewed. On 25 June 2009, Connex lost its bid to renew its contract with the Victorian Government. Hong Kong backed and owned
MTR Corporation took over the Melbourne train network on 30 November 2009, operating as a locally themed consortium
Metro Trains Melbourne. MTR is a non-public railway owner and operator in Hong Kong where it is well known for constructing Transit Oriented Developments (TODS) above and around its stations. Metro began operation on 1 December 2009, promising to draw on its international experience to improve Melbourne's rail operations. Transport minister
Lynne Kosky stated that the Government's A$10.5 billion, 10-year major transport plan, announced in May 2006, had significantly underestimated the usage rates of public transport. Original assessments had forecast increases of around 3–4%, far short of the 10% seen year-on-year. The State Government responded by purchasing new trains and introducing a new ticketing option that enabled commuters to pay a reduced fare if their journey finished by 7 am. In 2008, the Brumby Government announced a $14.1 billion
Victorian Transport Plan to augment Melbourne's rail network. The plan included: • The
Metro Tunnel, costing more than $4.5 billion, consists of an underground train network —the first new underground rail line since the construction of the
City Loop 25 years earlier— from Dynon to South Yarra. Aimed at "relieving overcrowding on the busy suburban lines from Melbourne’s west," the underground line was also designed to provide direct rail access to Melbourne University, the Women's Hospital and the Royal Children's Hospital. • Rolling stock, $2.65 billion for up to 70 new trains, including 32
High Capacity Metro Trains. • Rail extensions to Cranbourne East and Mernda, and electrification to Melton. • Improvements to train operations, for $200 million. • Upgrades to metro stations, costing $50 million, and new stations in growth areas for $220 million. • A Park & Ride expansion package costing $60 million. • The previously reduced Early Bird ticket was also made free as part of these changes, following a trial on the Frankston and Sydenham lines. Following the investment announcement, the plan for the introduction of more than 200 new weekly train services was released to tackle overcrowding on the city's busiest train lines, a problem that had been attributed to a lack of trains and falling reliability. On 1 May 2009, the State Government announced that they had committed $562.3 million in the 2009 State Budget for the extension of the
Epping line 3.5 kilometres north to South Morang. Construction started in 2010 and was completed in 2012.
Network development and level-crossing removals In May 2011, operations commenced on a new metropolitan timetable, rewritten for the first time since 1996 with over 600 additional weekday services added. In 2012, a Public Transport Development Authority trading as
Public Transport Victoria (now
Transport Victoria) was established to coordinate, plan and regulate the state's public transport services, including the metropolitan rail system. In the same year, the
Metcard ticketing system was discontinued, completing the controversial network-wide roll-out of the new
Myki smart card system. On 27 March 2013, Public Transport Victoria published its
Network Development Plan – Metropolitan Rail, detailing a 4-stage plan spread over 20 years to redevelop Melbourne's rail system into a "metro-style" network, by separating train lines and creating point-to-point lines, upgrading to high-capacity signalling and ordering new trains. was rebuilt in 2018 along with four other stations on the
Gippsland and
South Gippsland lines as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project, which eliminated nine-level crossings on the corridor using elevated rail. A key campaign promise of the
Andrews government before
its election in 2014 was to remove 50
level crossings in eight years, the most intensive such program in Melbourne's history. Because of Melbourne's generally level topography, the suburban rail network was constructed with a large number of level crossings. By 2014, over 170 remained, due to a lack of funding for grade separations after 1918. The Government's
Level Crossing Removal Project became a resounding political success, despite concerns it was creating poor value-for-money infrastructure and controversy about the selection of elevated rail as a method for removing some crossings. By 2018, 29 level crossings had been fully grade-separated, well ahead of the government's original schedule, and a further 25 crossings were added to the program to be completed by 2025. The project includes rebuilding or upgrading 27 train stations, such as
Bentleigh and
Clayton railway stations, or laying new tracks, such as the duplication of of single-track railway between
Heidelberg and the rebuilt
Rosanna stations. Large sections of elevated rail have been built on the
Gippsland line, and further sections were planned for the
Mernda and
Upfield lines, including a section on the Mernda line in
Preston. in Melbourne's north, part of an rail extension that opened in August 2018. In mid-2015, the
Regional Rail Link project was completed. It created a new
Deer Park–West Werribee railway line in the city's west, with stations at
Wyndham Vale and
Tarneit, as well as adding a pair of non-electrified tracks between
Sunshine and Southern Cross for regional trains. Although the project was intended to provide routes for regional trains to Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo segregated from electrified Metro services, rapid population growth in areas served by the new line meant that V/Line trains had to perform the role of an outer suburban service, causing significant delays and overcrowding. A redesigned network map was released by PTV at the end of 2016, which replaced an emphasis on fare zones with a delineation of individual lines and service patterns. The new map also incorporated regional services and was designed to be accessible to passengers with the most common types of
colour blindness. Metro's contract to operate the suburban network was renewed in 2017 for a further seven years. The renegotiated contracts included higher monthly performance targets, which Metro failed to meet six times in the first year of the contract's operation. Construction of an extension of the South Morang line to
Mernda commenced in 2016 and was opened on 29 August 2018. The project included of new electrified railway, new stations at
Middle Gorge and
Hawkstowe, and a new terminus at a rebuilt
Mernda station. In April 2019, the Victorian Government announced that Public Transport Victoria would be merged with
VicRoads under a new
Department of Transport and Planning, providing public-facing transport information using the brand "Transport Victoria". == Future ==