The St Kilda railway line is a former railway line in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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 The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne. The proposal met ...

in 1857. It ran for 4.5 kilometres from the

(or City) Terminus (on the site of modern-day

Flinders Street station Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...

), crossing the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

via the

Sandridge Bridge The Sandridge Bridge is a historic bridge, originally carrying a railway, over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs diagonally to the river's banks and is long. In 2006 it was redeveloped as a pedestrian and cycle path fe ...

, to branch off from the Port Melbourne line and after stopping at three stations along the line –

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

, 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 Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, however this link was removed shortly after the direct link was provided to

Bay Street Bay Street is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial services industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Stre ...

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 Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

. The line was

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

in 1919.

Closure

The line was originally to be closed in 1981, and replaced with buses as recommended in the

Lonie Report The Victorian Transport Study, better known as the Lonie Report, was an extensive study of freight and passenger transport within the state of Victoria, Australia. The study was set up on 13 June 1979 by the Government of Victoria, and the repor ...

. Plans were sufficiently advanced for

Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was an Australian bus and coach operator in Melbourne. History Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was formed in 1954 when a multitude of operators who operated route 1 Gardenvale to Melbourne City Centre and 2 Middle Br ...

to have taken delivery of six

Volgren Volgren is an Australian bus and coach body manufacturer. History Volvo Buses, VolGrenda Corporation, gren was formed in 1977 by Melbourne bus operator Grenda Corporation in Dandenong, Victoria. Because Grenda held the Volvo Buses dealership i ...

bodied

Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

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

. 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 Trams are a major form of Transport in Melbourne, public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the States of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. As of May 2017, the Melbourne tramway network consists of of dou ...

on 21 November 1987.

Melbourne tram route 96 Melbourne tram route 96 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Brunswick East to St Kilda Beach. The 13.9 kilometre route is operated out of Southbank depot with C2 and E class trams. History The line opened as a cab ...

now operates on the converted track. The section from Southbank Junction to St Kilda was converted to light rail, requiring the

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "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 The Melbourne rail network is a passenger and freight train system in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan passenger rail network is centred on the Melbourne CBD and consists of 222 stations across 16 lines, which ser ...

tram track Tramway track is used on tramways or light rail operations. Grooved rails (or girder rails) are often used to provide a protective flangeway in the trackwork in city streets. Like standard rail tracks, tram tracks consist of two parallel st ...

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 Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...