Werribee railway line, Melbourne

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Melbourne's railway lines

City Loop
Caulfield group
Frankston line
Pakenham line
Sandringham line
Cranbourne line
Northern group
Upfield line
Werribee line
Broadmeadows line
Sydenham line
Williamstown line
Flemington Racecourse line
Burnley group
Lilydale line
Glen Waverley line
Belgrave line
Alamein line
Clifton Hill group
Hurstbridge line
Epping line
Greater-metropolitan
Stony Point line
Melton line
Sunbury line
Craigieburn line

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The Werribee railway line is a suburban electric railway in Melbourne, Australia. It has 15 stations, in Metcard ticketing Zones 1 and 2.

The Werribee line is the suburban portion of the regional line to Geelong and Warrnambool, although most trains deviate from the main line to run via Altona.

1 Description
2 Infrastructure
3 History
4 List of stations
5 External links, maps, and timetables

[edit] Description

The line traverses the flat plains of Melbourne's western suburbs, and after leaving the Sydenham line at Footscray, has no significant earthworks. The area around the outer end of the line has seen significant residential growth in recent years.

[edit] Infrastructure

The Werribee line is double track from South Kensington, although it runs alongside the Sydenham line to Footscray, making a four-track section. From shortly after Newport, the two tracks are signalled for bidirectional operation, although it is rare these days for trains to not use left-hand running. At Altona Junction, just after the start of bidirectional operation, the Altona line diverges. This is a single-track branch which rejoins the main line at Laverton. Passing loops are provided at Westona and at Laverton Loop, a crossing loop just before the branch rejoins the main line.

Automatic block signalling applies throughout the line. Terminating facilities are provided at South Kensington (never normally used), Newport, and Laverton (not normally used). Newport is also the location of the Newport Railway Workshops, formerly the main workshops of the Victorian Railways. Stabling facilities are provided at Newport Workshops, and trains are also stabled overnight in the platform at Werribee.

[edit] History

Early in 1857, the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Co. opened the Werribee to Little River section of the line they were building between Newport and Geelong, Victoria, then in June of that year, opened the section between Werribee and a temporary station near Newport, known as Greenwich. The intention was to connect to the Williamstown line being built by the Melbourne, Mount Alexander, and Murray River Railway Co., with whom they had arranged permission to run the former company's trains over the latter company's tracks to Melbourne, but the Williamstown line was not yet ready.

However, by October of 1857, construction of the Williamstown line was sufficiently advanced to allow the Geelong trains to run to the terminus at Williamstown Pier, so Greenwich was closed and a connection was made to the Williamstown line towards Williamstown. From Williamstown Pier, passengers could connect to a ferry across Hobson's Bay to Port Melbourne.

The Williamstown line opened in January 1859, so the connection near Newport towards Williamstown was removed and replaced with a connection to Newport, and through running of Geelong trains to Melbourne commenced.

In April 1885, a short branch was opened off the Werribee line just past Newport to Williamstown Racecourse, and in November 1888 a branch was opened off the Racecourse branch to Altona, Victoria, terminating at a station named Altona Beach. This branch was opened by the Altona and Laverton Bay Freehold and Investment Co. Ltd. in order to encourage people to buy their land in the area. However, the line closed less than two years later, in August 1890.

A portion of the Altona Beach line near Williamstown Racecourse was leased by the Victorian Railways (VR) in 1906 to store race trains, and sometime between 1911 and 1919 the line must have been reopened for goods trains, as a siding was built from Altona Beach to the Melbourne and Altona Colliery Co. mine. From November 1917 the VR worked the line on behalf of the then owners, Altona Beach Estates Ltd., but to a relocated Altona Beach station, short of the original terminus.

The VR electrified the Williamstown line and the branch to Williamstown Racecourse in August 1920. In October 1924, the VR took total control of the Altona Beach line, and electrified it in October 1926.

Automatic Block Signalling was commissioned between South Kensington and Yarraville in August 1927, and to Manor (beyond Werribee) the following March, except for a short section at Newport (between Newport A box and Newport B Box) which was not done until March 1946.

The Williamstown Racecourse branch closed in May 1950.

Duplication of the Werribee line occurred in the 1960s, the first section being between a crossing loop named Rock Loop and Laverton in May 1965, followed by Newport B Box to Rock Loop in October 1967, and Laverton to Werribee in September 1968. The Altona branch was converted to Automatic Block Signalling in October 1967.

In September 1984, electrification was extended from Altona Junction to Werribee, whilst in January 1985, the Altona line was extended to Westona. In April 1985 Altona to Westona, which had temporarily been operated by Staff and Ticket safeworking, was converted to Automatic Block Signalling, and a few days later the line was extended to Laverton on the Werribee line. Since then, all Werribee suburban trains have run via Altona, except for empty (placement) trips and a few peak-period services.

[edit] List of stations

Bold stations are terminuses, italic stations are staffed.

Branches from the City Loop at Southern Cross and Flagstaff stations.

Zone 1
North Melbourne (NME) – Upfield and Broadmeadows lines branch
South Kensington (SKN)
Footscray (FSY) – Sydenham line branches
Seddon (SEN)
Yarraville (YVE)
Spotswood (SPT)
Newport (NPT) – Williamstown line branches, shuttle service to Williamstown, branch to Newport Railway Workshops
(Mobiltown, closed)
(Paisley, closed, on main lie)
(Galvin, closed, on main line)
Seaholme (SHE)