Port Melbourne railway line

Railway line in Australia

The Port Melbourne railway line is a former railway line in Melbourne, Australia, opened in September 1854, that is now a light rail line. It was instigated by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to carry passengers arriving in Victoria at Station Pier and to alleviate the high cost of shipping goods using small vessels up the Yarra River to Melbourne. The line's conversion to light rail occurred in 1987; it is now served by tram route 109.

Work began on laying the railway in March 1853 under the supervision of the company's Engineer in Chief James Moore. Four locomotives, together with rolling stock, were ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company, of the United Kingdom, but because of manufacturing delays the first locomotive had to be built locally. Robertson, Martin & Smith, a local foundry and engineering company, built a small makeshift locomotive to the design of the railway company's engineer in ten weeks at a cost of £2,700. Its trial run was only three days before the railway's opening.

The line was opened on 12 September 1854. It ran for from the "City Terminus" on the site of present day Flinders Street station, crossing the Yarra River via the Sandridge Bridge, to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). According to the Argus newspaper's report of the next day, "Long before the hour appointed a great crowd assembled round the station at the Melbourne terminus, lining the whole of Flinders Street". Lieutenant Governor Charles Hotham and Lady Hotham were aboard the train, which consisted of two first class carriages, one second class carriage and, next to the locomotive, an open third class carriage holding the band of the 40th Regiment. The line was closed on 10 October 1987, three months after the closure of the St Kilda railway line. The last service departed the station at 18.03, with freight services to Montague continuing until 16 October of the same year. Melbourne tram route 109 now operates on the converted track. The section from Southbank Junction to Port Melbourne was converted to light rail, requiring the conversion from broad gauge 1600 used by the Melbourne rail network to sg tram track, as well as reducing the overhead voltage from 1,500 V DC to 600 V DC required for the trams. Additionally, low level platforms were built on the sites of the former stations to accommodate the trams which contained steps to street level. Low floor trams have since been introduced to the route.

Bold stations are termini.