The St Kilda railway line is a former railway line in Melbourne,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Operation

The line was opened by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in 1857. It ran for 4.5 kilometres from the Melbourne (or City) Terminus (on the site of modern-day Flinders Street station), crossing the Yarra River via the Sandridge Bridge, to branch off from the Port Melbourne line and after stopping at three stations along the line – South Melbourne, Albert Park, Middle Park – ending at St Kilda. For a short time early in the line's history, there was a short connection provided to the then Brighton line at Windsor, however this link was removed shortly after the direct link was provided to Bay Street from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. The line was taken over by the

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...

in 1878, to become part of Victorian Railways. The line was electrified in 1919.

Closure

The line was originally to be closed in 1981, and replaced with buses as recommended in the Lonie Report. Plans were sufficiently advanced for Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines to have taken delivery of six Volgren bodied Volvo B10M buses before it was decided to retain the rail service after much opposition. Along with the Port Melbourne line, the conversion of the line to light rail was first announced on 13 January 1983, by the Victorian state government. Cost estimates at the time was of around $6 million. The line was officially closed on 31 July 1987, and reopened as part of the Melbourne tram network on 21 November 1987. Melbourne tram route 96 now operates on the converted track. The section from Southbank Junction to St Kilda was converted to light rail, requiring the conversion from

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

used by the Melbourne rail network to tram track as well as reducing the overhead voltage from 1,500 V DC to 600 V DC required for the trams. The new tram route now continues down Fitzroy Street and the Esplanade to terminate at

Acland Street Acland Street is a street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach Acland Street runs o ...

Line guide

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Kilda railway line Closed Melbourne railway lines 5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1857 Railway lines closed in 1987 1857 establishments in Australia 1987 disestablishments in Australia Railway line