19th century

The Monbulk Creek trestle bridge remains a feature of the Gembrook line, now used for the Puffing Billy tourist line

A rail branch was constructed from Ringwood to Upper Ferntree Gully in December 1889. A narrow-gauge 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) line was opened from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook station in December 1900, the second of four experimental narrow-gauge lines built by the Victorian Railways.^[6] These two lines would become joined and standardised to form the Belgrave railway line in the 20th century.

20th century

In 1921, the narrow-gauge section from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave was converted to automatic signalling, the first such instance on single track in the Southern Hemisphere.^[7] This section was then reverted to Staff and Ticket safeworking in 1930. Electrification of the railway to Upper Ferntree Gully was implemented in November 1925.

Following a landslide in 1953, the narrow-gauge line was formally closed in April 1954, although services resumed as far as Belgrave for some "farewell specials", and then for the Puffing Billy Preservation Society until services ceased again in February 1958.^[8]

The line was partly duplicated between Bayswater and Lower Ferntree Gully (now Ferntree Gully) in February 1957.^[8]

The closing of the narrow-gauge line to Gembrook enabled the first stage of its planned rebuilding to Emerald as part of the suburban electrified system to proceed. This first stage, as far as Belgrave, of the new, broad-gauge, electrified extension opened in February 1962.^[8] It initially operated on the Staff and Ticket system but was converted to automatic signalling in March 1964, with the section from Ferntree Gully to Upper Ferntree Gully being converted the following day. Ringwood to Bayswater was converted to automatic signalling in June 1974, as was Bayswater to Ferntree Gully in July 1977. In December 1982, Ringwood -Bayswater was duplicated.^[9]

The Comeng trains were introduced to the Melbourne railway system in 1981, alongside the opening of the City Loop. Initially, along with the Belgrave line, they were only allowed to operate on the Alamein, Dandenong, Glen Waverley and Lilydale lines due to the trains 3.05-metre width.^[10]

21st century

A preserved Victorian Railways Tait train at Belgrave station on 8 March 2022.

A 2007 restructure of train ticketing in Melbourne involved the removal of Zone 3, with these stations being re-classified to Zone 2.^[11] This brought the cost of train fares down, improving system accessibility for the public.

In April 2016, plans to potentially run a regular revenue Tait set service on the Belgrave line was announced. This came following La Trobe MP Jason Wood's push for the idea as part of the greater "Puffing Billy master plan". The Tait service would be aimed at tourists visiting Puffing Billy. In November 2016, $1 million was committed to restoring a Tait set currently stored at the Newport Workshops. The Tait service is expected to originate at Flinders Street station as a direct service to Belgrave bypassing the City Loop.^[12]

Level Crossing Removals

The rebuilt Bayswater station viewed from the removed level crossing.

The Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of seven level crossings between the city and Ferntree Gully station, to be completed in stages from 2016 to 2025. In 2016, two level crossings were removed at Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road, Bayswater, through the rail under method.^[5] These two removals also included a rebuilt Bayswater station and upgraded stabling facilities.^[13] A further two crossings were removed at Blackburn Road, Blackburn, and Heatherdale Road, Ringwood in January 2017.^[14] Both of these removals involved lowering the rail line under the road, with a rebuilt Heatherdale station built as part of the project.^[14] Union and Mont Albert Roads have also been removed by lowering the rail line in May 2023.^[15] The removals also included closing Mont Albert and Surrey Hills stations, with a new station built in-between called "Union."^[16] The final scheduled crossing to be removed on the corridor will be at Bedford Road in Ringwood by lowering the rail line in 2025.^[17] At the conclusion of these removals, only two crossings will remain.

Services

Services on the Belgrave line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily.^[18] In general, during peak hours, train frequency is ~7 minutes on the Ringwood corridor (combined with the Lilydale line) and 15 minutes in the AM peak on the Belgrave Line while during non-peak hours the frequency is reduced to 20–30 minutes throughout the entire route.^[19] During certain periods of the day, services operate as a shuttle to Ringwood due to lower demand. On Friday nights and weekends, services run 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours.^[20]

Train services on the Belgrave line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters.^[21]

Operators

The Belgrave line has had a total of 6 operators since its opening in 1889. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1889 until the 1999 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line.^[23] These operators, Victorian Railways, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Public Transport Corporation, and Hillside Trains have a combined operational length of 110 years. Hillside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded Connex Melbourne. Metro Trains Melbourne, the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. Both private operators have had a combined operational period of 24 years.^[24]

Route

Belgrave line
km zone Multiple lines via North Melbourne City Loop 1.2 Southern Cross ●●●●●●● 1 2.5 Flagstaff ●●● 1 3.1 Melbourne Central 1 4.3 Parliament ●● 1 0.0 Flinders Street ●● 1 0.1 Princes Bridge (closed) Hurstbridge & Mernda lines to Jolimont City Loop 1.8 Botanic Gardens (closed) 2.3 Punt Road (Hoddle Highway) 2.6 Richmond ●●●●●●■ 1 Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham & Sandringham lines to South Yarra 3.1 East Richmond ■■ 1 4.1 Burnley ●■ 1 Glen Waverley line to Glen Waverley 4.9 Pic Nic (demolished) 5.0 Yarra River 5.7 Hawthorn ■ 1 Kew line to Kew (dismantled) 6.9 Glenferrie ■ 1 7.7 Auburn 1 9.0 Camberwell ●■ 1 Alamein line to Alamein 9.8 East Camberwell 1 Outer Circle line to Fairfield (closed) 11.0 Canterbury 1/2 11.7 Chatham 1/2 12.6 Surrey Hills (demolished) 12.9 Union 1/2 13.4 Mont Albert (demolished) 14.9 Box Hill ■ 2 16.6 Laburnum 2 17.4 Blackburn 2 19.5 Nunawading 2 19.7 Springvale Road (State Highway) 21.2 Mitcham 2 23.2 Heatherdale 2 23.4 EastLink 24.5 Ringwood ● 2 Lilydale line to Lilydale 26.9 Heathmont 2 28.4 Bungalook Creek 28.8 Dandenong Creek 29.4 Mountain Highway 29.5 Bayswater 2 32.1 Boronia 2 34.2 Blind Creek 34.7 Ferntree Gully 2 36.4 Upper Ferntree Gully 2 37.0 Burwood Highway 38.9 Upwey 2 Ferny Creek 40.1 Tecoma 2 40.7 Creek 41.3 Belgrave (Broad-gauge) 2 41.4 End of Metro area 42.0 Belgrave (Narrow-gauge) Gembrook line (Puffing Billy Railway)
broad gauge 2 ft 6 in narrow gauge

The Belgrave line forms a mostly curved route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Belgrave. The route is 41.8 kilometres (26.0 mi) long and predominantly double-tracked, however, between Flinders Street station and Richmond, the track is widened to 12 tracks, narrowing to 4 tracks between Richmond and Burnley before narrowing to 3 tracks between Burnley and Box Hill. Finally, the line narrows to two tracks between Box Hill and Ferntree Gully before narrowing to a single track to its terminus.^[25] After Ferntree Gully, passing loops and island platforms are present at Upper Ferntree Gully, Upwey, and Belgrave. After departing from its terminus at Flinders Street, the Belgrave line traverses both flat and hilly country, with some curves (more towards the end of the line) and fairly significant earthworks for parts of the line. Sections of the line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings.^[26] Despite some removals, there are a small number of level crossings still present, with no current plans to remove them.

The line follows the same alignment as the Alamein, Glen Waverley, and Lilydale lines, with the four services splitting onto different routes at Burnley. The Alamein, Belgrave, and Lilydale services continue till the Alamein line splits off at Camberwell, with the two services continuing together till Ringwood. After departing Ringwood station, the Belgrave line heads south, with the Lilydale line heading in an eastern direction.^[27] Almost all of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs, however, the rail line becomes peri-urban towards its terminus in Belgrave.^[27]

Stations

The line serves 31 stations across the 49-kilometre (30-mile)-long track. The stations are a mix of elevated, lowered, underground, and ground level designs. Underground stations are present in the City Loop and Box Hill, with the majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals.^[28][29]

Station	Accessibility	Opened	Terrain	Train connections	Other connections
Flinders Street	Yes—step free access	1854[30]	Lowered	16 connections  Alamein line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Flemington Racecourse line   Frankston line   Gippsland line   Glen Waverley line   Hurstbridge line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sandringham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line   Werribee line   Williamstown line
Southern Cross		1859[30]	Ground level	27 connections  Alamein line   Albury line   Ararat line   Ballarat line   Bendigo line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Echuca line   Flemington Racecourse line   Geelong line   Gippsland line   Glen Waverley line   Hurstbridge line   Lilydale line   Maryborough line   Mernda line   NSW TrainLink Southern   Pakenham line   Seymour line   Shepparton line   Sunbury line   Swan Hill line   The Overland   Upfield line   Warrnambool line   Werribee line   Williamstown line
Flagstaff		1985[30]	Underground	10 connections  Alamein line   Craigieburn line   Cranbourne line   Glen Waverley line   Hurstbridge line   Lilydale line   Mernda line   Pakenham line   Sunbury line   Upfield line
Melbourne Central		1981[30]
Parliament		1983[30]
Richmond	No—steep ramp	1859[31]	Elevated	8 connections  Alamein line   Cranbourne line   Frankston line   Gippsland line   Glen Waverley line   Lilydale line   Pakenham line   Sandringham line
East Richmond	Yes—step free access	1860[31]	Ground level	3 connections  Alamein line   Glen Waverley line   Lilydale line
Burnley	No—steep ramp	1880[31]
Hawthorn		1881[31]	Lowered	2 connections  Alamein line   Lilydale line
Glenferrie		1882[31]	Elevated
Auburn			Ground level
Camberwell			Lowered
East Camberwell		1900[31]	Ground level	1 connection  Lilydale line
Canterbury		1882[31]	Elevated
Chatham		1927[31]	Ground level
Union	Yes—step free access	2023[31]	Lowered
Box Hill		1882[31]	Underground
Laburnum		1958[31]	Elevated
Blackburn		1882[31]	Ground level
Nunawading		1888[31]	Lowered
Mitcham		1882[31]
Heatherdale		1958[31]
Ringwood		1882[31]	Ground level
Heathmont		1926[31]
Bayswater		1889[31]	Lowered
Boronia		1920[31]
Ferntree Gully		1889[31]	Ground level
Upper Ferntree Gully	No—steep ramp
Upwey		1901[31]
Tecoma		1924[31]
Belgrave		1900[31]

Rolling stock

A Metro Trains Melbourne X'Trapolis 100 train arriving at Mitcham station

The Belgrave line uses X'Trapolis 100 electric multiple unit (EMU) trains operating in a two three-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage, and can accommodate up to 432 seated passengers in each six car configuration.^[33] The trains were originally built between 2002 and 2004 as well as between 2009 and 2020, with a total of 212 three-car sets constructed. The trains are shared with 7 other metropolitan train lines and have been in service since 2003.^[33]

Alongside the passenger trains, Belgrave line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are: the shunting train, designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives; for track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition, the overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection, and the infrastructure evaluation carriage, designed for general infrastructure evaluation.^[34] Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line, Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad.^[34]

Accessibility

The rebuilt Union station features elevators alongside stairs

All stations that are new or rebuilt are fully accessible.^[35] Projects improving station accessibility have included the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades, and individual station upgrade projects.^[36][37] These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 58% of Belgrave line stations classified as fully accessible.

Signalling

The Belgrave line uses three-position signalling with automatic block signalling (ABS) and automatic and track control (ATC) safeworking systems.^[38][39] Three position signalling was first introduced on the line in 1919, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling by 1960.^[40] Automatic and track control are used with the centre line between Burnley and Box Hill, and between Ferntree Gully and the line's terminus in Belgrave.