Frankston railway line

The Frankston railway line is a 42.7 km commuter rail passenger train service in Melbourne, Victoria. It operates between Flinders Street in the Melbourne central business district and Frankston through the south-eastern suburbs including Richmond, South Yarra, Armadale, Malvern, Caulfield East, Glen Huntly, Ormond, McKinnon, Bentleigh, Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Mentone, Parkdale, Mordialloc, Aspendale, Edithvale, Chelsea, Bonbeach, Carrum, Seaford, and Frankston. The line continues on to Stony Point as the non-electrified Stony Point line from Frankston, however, there are no through services between Stony Point and the city. It is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne and is part of the Public Transport Victoria metropolitan rail network. Between Caulfield and the city, the Frankston line acts as a de facto local service whilst Pakenham/Cranbourne line trains run express.

Description

The Frankston line runs south from Caulfield, functioning from the main line to Pakenham and Gippsland, and runs through built-up areas for its entire length. From Mentone the line is never more than about from the eastern shore of Port Phillip, and runs alongside the Nepean Highway for much of its length.

After Caulfield, the line traverses flat country and had fairly minor earthworks, and numerous level crossings. The level crossing near Glenhuntly station is one of Melbourne's three remaining crossings with tram tracks, and the only one with three railway tracks crossing two tramway tracks. However, since the completion of the removal of level crossings at Bentleigh, McKinnon and Ormond in 2016, there have been a number of level crossings removed along the line as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project. By the time this project is completed, level crossings will only remain at 9 locations along the line - down from around 30 prior to the project's commencement. This means the line is no longer relatively flat and now has numerous trenches and viaducts along its length.

Infrastructure

The Frankston railway line shares four tracks with the line to Dandenong and beyond from near Richmond to Caulfield, running next to the Sandringham line as far as South Yarra. From Caulfield, the Frankston line has three tracks to Moorabbin. The centre track is signalled for bidirectional operation, allowing for express trains overtaking stopping trains in the peak direction. From Moorabbin to Frankston the line is double track. Power signalling is provided throughout, and intermediate terminating facilities are provided at Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Mordialloc, Carrum and Kannanook. Stabling facilities for suburban trains are provided at Mordialloc, Kananook, and Frankston.

Services

Local and Express services operate on the Frankston Line. All trains travel direct to Flinders Street and do not travel around the City Loop. Express services operate exclusively during peak hours in the peak direction of travel. The Frankston Line has a 10-minute frequency off-peak and is one of the lines that operate a 20-minute frequency on weekday nights.

Local (Stopping all Stations)

Local trains stop all stations between Flinders Street and Frankston. The majority of services operating on the Frankston Line are local trains. Trains take around 66 minutes to complete the journey from Flinders Street to Frankston.

Express

Express trains operate in the peak direction of travel during weekday rush hour. Trains stop at Flinders Street, Richmond, South Yarra, Caulfield, Cheltenham and all stations between Cheltenham and Frankston. Citybound expresses makes an additional stop at Malvern. The travel time for express services is around 58–59 minutes.

Station Guide

Legend - Stations

* ◼ Premium station - Station staffed from first to last train
* ◻ Host station - Usually staffed during Morning peak, however this can vary for different stations on the network.

Legend - Stopping Patterns

* ● - All trains stop
* ▲- Citybound trains stop, Frankston bound trains pass
* , - Trains pass and do not stop

Note:

* Some services may start or terminate at intermediate stations.

Rolling Stock

All trains are operated as 6 carriage trains:

* X"Trapolis 100
*Siemens Nexas
*Comeng

History

The line from Caulfield to Mordialloc opened in December 1881 and was extended to Frankston in August 1882. It was electrified in three stages between March and August 1922.

Power signalling of the line was begun in 1933 with the section from Caulfield to Glenhuntly, and the remainder of the line was converted in a number of stages from 1958 to 1986. Amplification of the line from Caulfield to Moorabbin to three tracks was announced by then Transport Minister Steve Crabb in 1984, at a cost of $10 million to save 10 minutes on travel times from Frankston. Work begun in July that year and was due for completion by the end of 1985. However, it did not enter service until June 1987, with three track working commencing in July the same year. Plans in the 1970s included the third track to extend to Mordialloc, however those plans did not eventuate.

The current bridge over the Patterson River was provided in 1974, replacing the previous trestle bridge.

On 1 March 2007, Zone 3 in the Melbourne Metropolitan rail system was abolished (see Metcard). All stations between Patterson and Frankston are now in Zone 2.

In the early 2010s, the line, along with the Werribee and Williamstown lines, was upgraded as part of the Bayside Rail Project. The upgrade included station refurbishments, track, signal and electrical upgrades to allow X'Trapolis trains to operate on the line.

The 2021 January Timetable rewrite resulted in all Frankston line trains operating direct between Richmond and Flinders Street. Frankston services no longer operate via the City Loop.

Proposals

In their "People Plan" for the 2010 Victorian election, the Australian Greens proposed to extend electrification of the Frankston/Stony Point Line and add new stations at Langwarrin and Mornington onto the suburban train network, allowing for increased capacity, increased frequency and easier integration.

At the 2010 state election, both the Labor Party and the Liberal Party promised to provide a new Premium station between Highett and Cheltenham, to serve the Westfield Southland shopping centre. The station was to cost $13-million, would have had two platforms, and was predicted to be used by 1,400 passengers daily. The project was scheduled for completion by 2014, but nothing was done until after the 2014 state election. The Station opened on 26 November 2017.

In 2017 the Victorian Opposition leader Matthew Guy pledged to extend the Frankston train line to Baxter which would include making it electrified like the majority of Melbourne's train lines. The incumbent Victorian Labor Government pledged an extension of the Frankston Railway Line if they had won the 2018 Victorian state election following Mr Guy's announcement regarding this. The business case and recommendations for this electrification was completed in 2019.

In November 2018, Victorian State Government announced plans to remove two further level crossings at Neerim Road and Glen Huntly Road in Glenhuntly. Brand new Glenhuntly station is included in the project, as well as the elimination of tram-train square outside of station, which will separate tram and train services in the area.

Level Crossing Removals

20 level crossings on the Frankston Line have been identified for removal as part of the Victorian State Government's Level Crossing Removal Project. These crossings are:

* Neerim Road, Glen Huntly