The Webb Dock 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia.

History

On 27 February 1986, the Webb Dock line was opened by Minister for Transport

Tom Roper Thomas William Roper (born 6 March 1945) is a former Australian politician. He was born in Chatswood and attended North Sydney Boys High School before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Sydney University. From 1967 to 1968 he was National ...

. It was built as a freight line to service the

Webb Dock Webb Dock is a port facility at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne, Victoria constructed progressively from 1960, by dredging and land fill at the mouth of the Yarra River. It includes roll-on/roll-off facilities handling motor vehicle import and expor ...

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

port in Melbourne, with provision for the line to be converted to

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...

. This attracted some controversy, as the line used 1,600 mm broad gauge, which was criticised by ANL, claiming that it was costing the shipping industry millions of dollars per year (ANL contributed to the building of the line, and used dual gauge within its area of the dock). The line commenced near

Spencer Street station Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Victoria, Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, Melbourne, Spencer Street, between Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins ...

, passing through what is now

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

, before 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 a bridge and then running west, parallel to Lorimer Street. It turned south at Todd Road, before turning west, parallel to Wharf Road, and beneath the

West Gate Bridge The West Gate Bridge is a steel, box girder, cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, spanning the Yarra River just north of its mouth into Port Phillip. It carries the West Gate Freeway and is a vital link between the inner ci ...

, to

. After being opened, the line spent months with few (if any) trains using it, reportedly due to a clerk's dispute and shunters strike. By July 1986, trains were running on a regular schedule most nights. It was last used in 1992 and formally closed on 14 June 1996 as part of the construction of the Docklands Stadium. The bridge over the Yarra River was converted to a footbridge. Much of the line west of the

Bolte Bridge The Bolte Bridge is a large twin cantilever road bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Bolte Bridge carries a total of eight lanes of traffic – four lanes northbound and four lanes southbound. While officially only 490 metres in leng ...

remains in situ. Earlier plans for the line included running it via the

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...

beachfront. However, after opposition from local residents, the plans were dropped. Th
Victorian Freight Plan
calls for a freight link to Webb Dock.

References

External links

Weston Langford galleryWongm's Gallery
{{Victorian Railway Lines, state=collapsed Closed Melbourne railway lines Railway lines opened in 1986 Railway lines closed in 1996 5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Australia 1986 establishments in Australia 1996 disestablishments in Australia