Flemington Racecourse railway line

Flemington Racecourse
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
Status	Operational; special events only
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Current operator(s)	Metro Trains
Route
Start	Flemington Racecourse
Stops	5
End	Flinders Street
Distance travelled	7.8 km (4.8 mi)
Average journey time	17 minutes
Service frequency	4–60 minutes during special events
Line(s) used	Flemington Racecourse Tocumwal City Loop
On-board services
Disabled access	Yes
Technical
Rolling stock	Comeng, Siemens Nexas. Xtrapolis 100
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC overhead
Track owner(s)	VicTrack
Route map 7.8 Flemington Racecourse 1 7.0 Showgrounds 1 Tocumwal line to ● Craigieburn, ● Seymour and ● Shepparton 5.6 Newmarket ■ 1 4.7 Kensington 1 Deniliquin line ●●●●●●●●●● via South Kensington CityLink Moonee Ponds Creek Upfield line to ● Upfield 2.9 North Melbourne ●●●●●●● 1 North East and Western lines to ● Albury, Central (Sydney) & Adelaide Parklands City Loop ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● via Flagstaff 1.2 Southern Cross ●●●●●●●●● 1 0.0 Flinders Street ●●●●●●●●●●●● 1 City Loop ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● via Parliament Hurstbridge line to ● Hurstbridge & ● Mernda Multiple lines ●●●●●●●●●● via Richmond

The Flemington Racecourse railway line is a commuter rail passenger train service in Melbourne, Australia. The full service operates between Flemington Racecourse in the inner suburb of Flemington and Flinders Street in the central business district. The service is part of the Public Transport Victoria metropolitan rail network.

Flemington Racecourse line services only operate during selected special events at Flemington Racecourse or Melbourne Showgrounds (or both), serving only their respective stations. Services usually do not serve Newmarket nor Kensington, and services for smaller events terminate and originate from Southern Cross instead of Flinders Street.

Transport

Yarra Trams operates one route a 20 minute walk from Flemington Racecorse Station

• 57: West Marinbynong - City Flinders Street

Description

Showgrounds station

Train at Flemington Racecourse station

The Flemington Racecourse line is a short branch off the Craigieburn line that serves the Melbourne Showgrounds and Flemington Racecourse. The line is fairly level and has only minor earthworks. It has one level crossing and one rail-over-road bridge.

The line has no regular services, as it only opens for special events: racedays at the racecourse such as the Melbourne Cup or Oaks Day, and large events at the Showgrounds such as the Royal Melbourne Show itself in September, or the Big Day Out in January. It is otherwise used to store trains between peak hours.

At times, services are quite intense, with trains running as frequently as every four minutes. Services are usually operated to either the Showgrounds or the Racecourse, though both stations are served on the rare occasion that there are major events at both places. Trains generally run express through Kensington and Newmarket stations.

History

The Flemington Racecourse branch from Newmarket was opened by the Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company in February 1861, but closed three years later, in July 1864. The line was taken over by the Victorian Railways and reopened in November 1867.

The line was electrified in 1918 for testing of electric trains, and therefore became the first electrified line in Melbourne. The first electric train ran a test trip from Newmarket to Flemington Racecourse station in October 1918.

Automatic signalling, using two-position signals, was provided in September 1919. The line also had sidings serving the Newmarket sale yards and other industries, and the line was operated as a siding most of the time, the points being connected to adjacent point levers and the signals being put out of use. When passenger services were operated on the line, the points were connected to the signal boxes and the signals were brought into use. This arrangement finished in the 1980s or 1990s when the sidings were closed.

Infrastructure

The line is double-tracked throughout, although a third track used to be available for down trains from the Showgrounds platform to the Racecourse, but it is now blocked at the Showgrounds end and used as a siding.

The Flemington Racecourse line has Melbourne's only example of two-position automatic signaling, apart from the Hurstbridge line between Greensborough & Hurstbridge. The short line has three mechanical signal boxes, including the Flemington Racecourse box opened in 1895.^[1]

Terminating facilities are provided at both the Showgrounds platform and the Racecourse. Stabling facilities are provided at the Racecourse. The Showgrounds has only one platform, on the up track, as trains terminate at the Showgrounds when that station is in use. However, down trains can be routed via the platform then back to the down line to the Racecourse if necessary.

Stations

Possible extension

Some have suggested, including a former lord mayor of the City of Melbourne, that the line is under utilised in periods outside of events at the racecourse and showgrounds (most of the year) and should be extended to the west to service suburbs such as Maribyrnong (including a new housing estate being proposed by the State Government) and Keilor whilst also servicing the nearby Victoria University campus and the Highpoint Shopping Centre.^[2]

References

External links

• Statistics and detailed schematic map at the VicSig enthusiast website