Rail System
City Loop

All services travel through the city loop, consisting of three underground stations (Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and Parliament), and two above ground stations (Flinders Street and Southern Cross - formerly known as Spencer Street). Flagstaff is closed on weekends and public holidays. All lines travel into the underground section first before the above ground stations in the mornings on weekdays, while in the afternoons all lines travel in the opposite direction on weekdays and on weekends. There are timetabled exceptions during the peak periods. There is one exception - the South Yarra line where weekend services run into the underground section first before the above ground stations.

Clifton Hill line

This line emerges from the city loop at Jolimont and travels through Collingwood to Clifton Hill where the line splits in two. The northern section travels through Northcote, Preston, Reservoir, Thomastown and Lalor before terminating at Epping. The north east section travels through Fairfield, Ivanhoe, Heidelberg, Macleod, Greensborough, Eltham and Diamond Creek before terminating at Hurstbridge.

This service is in desperate need of improvement, with a third line needed between the city loop exit and Clifton Hill. There is one single track on the north west section that needs to be duplicated - between Heidelberg and Rosanna (the section between Clifton Hill and Westgarth has been dealt with). The section beyond Greensborough also needs to be duplicated.

Burnley line

This line emerges from the city loop at Richmond - the biggest non city station in Melbourne. This line is the busiest in Melbourne, with a split at Burnley and the spur travelling through Kooyong, Glen Iris, Mount Waverley and Syndal before terminating at Glen Waverley. The main line continues through Hawthorn and Camberwell, with a split at that point and the spur travelling through Burwood and Ashburton to the terminal at Alamein. The main line continues through Canterbury, Surrey Hills, Box Hill, Blackburn, Nunawading and Mitcham before reaching Ringwood where the main line divides. The north east section travels through Croydon and Mooroolbark before terminating at Lilydale, and the south east section travels through Bayswater, Boronia and Ferntree Gully before terminating at Belgrave.

I was brought up on this line so I know it like the back of my hand. Alamein services only run to Flinders Street during the peak periods, and otherwise originate at Camberwell. When I was young they did run to Flinders Street during the week outside of peak times allowing the Lilydale and Belgrave services to run express from Camberwell to Richmond before that was stopped. It should start again. A fourth line is also needed between Burnley and Box Hill - such is the busy nature of the line - and a third line is needed between Box Hill and Ringwood. Room has been made for it deliberately between Box Hill and Blackburn as a part of the removal of the level crossing at Middleborough Road. Work has begun on the removal of the level crossing at Springvale Road which may also include room for this. There is also another duplication needed, between Mooroolbark and Lilydale, as well as between Ferntree Gully and Belgrave although this might be difficult beyond Upper Ferntree Gully.

South Yarra line

This line also emerges from the city loop at Richmond, before heading for South Yarra where a spur splits off and travels through Prahran, Elsternwick, Brighton and Hampton before terminating at Sandringham. The main line continues through Toorak and Malvern before getting to Caulfield where the line splits. The south section travels through Bentleigh, Moorabbin, Highett, Cheltenham, Mentone, Mordialloc, Chelsea, Carrum and Seaford before terminating at Frankston. The south east section travels through Carnegie, Oakleigh, Clayton, Springvale and Noble Park before reaching Dandenong where a spur travels to the terminal at Cranbourne while the main section travels through Narre Warren, Berwick and Beaconsfield before terminating at Pakenham.

I have a few peeves with this line. The first is the mixed up signalling system between Richmond and Caulfield. At present, the four lines run as two sets of two lines - the Dandenong and the Frankston. This is a nightmare during the peak period and holds back the usage of express services, and also gets in the way of the V\Line services going through this section. The signalling should be changed so that all stopping trains and all express trains on both lines are combined to free up the timetable - much like it is between Richmond and Burnley on Burnley line.

The second peeve is the lack of a third line beyond Caulfield. This would also help with the V\Line services and bring Pakenham and Cranbourne closer to Melbourne. The third peeve is the Sandringham line and the fact that it is the only line in the entire system that doesn't have direct access to the city loop during the week - and yet it does on the weekends! I've never been able to make sense of that!

Western line

This line emerges from the city loop at North Melbourne and travels in the opposite direction through the underground loop stations to the other lines. The north section and the north west section spur off straight away with the north travelling through Flemington, Brunswick, Coburg and Fawkner before terminating at Upfield. The north west section travels through Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds, Essendon, Pascoe Vale, Glenroy, Broadmeadows and Roxburgh Park before terminating at Craigieburn. The western section travels to Footscray where it splits in two with the western section travelling through Sunshine and St.Albans before terminating at Sydenham (also known as Watergardens). The south west section travels through Yarraville before getting to Newport where a spur splits off to Williamstown. The main line travels through Altona, Laverton and Hoppers Crossing before terminating at Werribee.

Since 1999 I have become more familiar with this area as I moved out to the western suburbs from the east. The biggest annoyance out this way is the fact that V\Line service needs prevent the increase of peak services, especially on the Sydenham line. It affects all the lines except for Upfield. I'd like to see the Ballarat and Bendigo services be diverted along the route the standard gauge line takes - and maybe take the Seymour services as well although that would add time to the journey. It would free up the Sydenham line for more peak services and maybe some expresses. This is also a problem on the Werribee line although a third line would probably be the preference there as shifting the Geelong services off would be much more difficult. These issues are apparently in hand (see the V/Line article for the details). A new station at Coolaroo is in the process of being built.

Tram System

Melbourne's extensive tram system covers the inner south east and eastern suburbs as well as parts of the northern suburbs. All the trams are inner suburban with the exception of Bundoora, Vermont South and to an extent Box Hill. As well as some places also covered by the rail system, the trams also cover the suburbs of Fitzroy, Carlton, Kew, Balwyn, Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and St.Kilda.

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