The Frankston line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's third-longest metropolitan railway line, at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Frankston station in the south-east, serving 28 stations via South Yarra, Caulfield, Moorabbin, and Mordialloc. The line continues to Stony Point on the non-electrified Stony Point line. The line operates for approximately 20 hours a day (from approximately 4:00 am to around 11:30 pm) with 24 hour service available on Friday and Saturday nights. During peak hour, headways of up to 5 to 10 minutes are operated with services every 10–20 minutes during off-peak hours. The line was built to connect Melbourne with the rural towns of Caulfield, Moorabbin, and Frankston, amongst others. Significant growth has occurred since opening, with a plan to extend the Frankston line along part of the Stony Point line to Baxter. Mordialloc station was officially opened on 19 December 1881 by Sir Thomas Bent, a corrupt politician who was the Minister of Railways, and later becoming the Premier of Victoria between 1904 and 1909 and had purchased land in Melbourne’s south east to build a train line toward it and then re-sell the land for significant profit. The first train to arrive at Mordialloc was a special service from Princes Bridge, which collected school children from the Brighton area. Further specials occurred during the day, with proper timetabled services commencing the following day. Six services were provided upon opening and, apart from two services, all were shuttle services operating between Caulfield and Mordialloc. The section of track from Caulfield to Mordialloc was duplicated in 1888. In 1883 the line between Richmond station and South Yarra was quadrupled to accommodate an increase in train services due to the opening of Frankston and Sandringham lines.
In 1885, a number of level crossing removal works occurred between Flinders Street station and South Yarra due to an increase in freight and passenger operations. These crossings were removed through a combination of lowering and raising the corridor. Power signalling was provided between Richmond and Hawksburn at the same time, then on to Caulfield in 1921.
Electrification of the line to Frankston occurred in three stages during 1922. In March 1922, the section from South Yarra to Glen Huntly station was electrified, with the section to Mordialloc being electrified in June 1922, and the final section to Frankston being completed by August 1922. The electrification of the line allowed for the introduction of Swing Door electric multiple unit trains for the first time.
The introduction of power signalling on the line begun in 1933 with the section from Caulfield to Glen Huntly, with the remainder of the line converted in stages from 1958 to 1986. Triplication of the line from Caulfield to Moorabbin from two to three tracks was announced by Transport Minister Steve Crabb in 1984, at a cost of A$10 million. Construction of the additional track was designed to increase peak hour capacity and to provide express services on the corridor, with time savings of more than 10 minutes from Frankston. Work begun in July that year with a completion by the end of 1985. The introduction of services on the new track was delayed by two years till June 1987. Further plans announced in the 1970s included the extension of the third track to Mordialloc, however, these plans failed to materialise.
In 1981, Frankston line services commenced operations through the City Loop, after previously terminating at Flinders or Spencer Street stations. The commencement of operations involved the service stopping at three new stations—Parliament, Melbourne Central (formally Museum), and Flagstaff. The Loop follows La Trobe and Spring Streets along the northern and eastern edges of the Hoddle Grid. The Loop connects with Melbourne's two busiest stations, Flinders Street and Southern Cross, via the elevated Flinders Street Viaduct. This brought the cost of train fares down, improving system accessibility to the public. All stations between Patterson and Frankston were rezoned to Zone 2.
thumb|[[Southland railway station|Southland station was opened in November 2017|alt=The side platforms at Southland station, with a shelter in the foreground]]
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 projected to cost $13 million, and have two platforms and shelters with a projected usage of 1,400 passengers daily. The new station opened on 26 November 2017 as Southland station. In 2013, the line, along with the Werribee and Williamstown lines, were 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 these lines.
In 2021, the metropolitan timetable underwent a major rewrite, resulting in all Frankston line trains operating direct between Richmond and Flinders Street before continuing onto the Werribee and Williamstown lines. Under these changes, Frankston services no longer operate via the City Loop, with an additional 45 new services each week. The additional services upgraded frequencies to a train every 5 minutes in peak hour, every 10 minutes throughout the day, and every 20 minutes until midnight. From 1 February 2026, with the full operation of the Metro Tunnel, the Frankston line returned to the city loop.
Since February 2026, following the completion of the Big Switch, the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines began operating exclusively through the Metro Tunnel, while the Frankston line officially returned to the City Loop in the anticlockwise direction.
Future
Level Crossing Removals
thumb|Cheltenham station was lowered to remove the adjacent crossing at Charman road
The Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of all 23 remaining level crossings on the Frankston line, to be completed in stages from 2016 to 2029. Different removal packages have been announced in 2014, 2018, and 2022 to coincide with different state elections and to be delivered in stages up until 2029.
Baxter Extension
thumb|[[Baxter railway station|Baxter station on the Stony Point line, April 2008|alt=The tired single platform of Baxter station in a rural environment ]]
In 2013, as part of Public Transport Victoria's Network Development Plan for metropolitan rail, an extension of the Frankston line to Baxter was earmarked to begin in the "long-term", which would equate to at least 2033. The proposal would link Frankston to Baxter through an electrified dual-line following the Stony Point line. In 2018, the Liberal Party announced a project to extend electrified services to Baxter during the 2018 state election. The project would have included the removal of all crossings between Frankston and Baxter, duplication and electrification works, the reconstruction and redevelopment of the stations at Leawarra and Langwarrin respectively to facilitate electrification.
The Federal Liberals announced $450 million of joint funding for the project promised between the state and federal governments.
Again in the lead up to the 2022 state election, the Liberal opposition supported the electrification to Baxter. The incumbent Andrews government made no commitments to the Baxter rail extension, instead continuing construction on level crossing removal works along the Frankston line and the delivery of the Metro Tunnel and Suburban Rail Loop. On Friday nights and weekends, services run 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours.
thumb|Qube Holdings's [[BlueScope steel train towards Long Island in May 2022]]
Freight operations occur (usually) twice-daily, with Qube Holdings operating services to the Long Island steel mills and the Port of Hastings. Trains to Melbourne run approximately at 4 am and during the mid-afternoon, while trains from Melbourne run approximately at midnight and noon.
Train services on the Frankston 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.
Stopping patterns
Legend — Station Status
- ◼ 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<br>Night Network services do not operate via the City Loop
- ● – All trains stop
- ◐ – Some services do not stop
- ▲ – Only inbound trains stop (trains operate counter-clockwise through the City Loop all day)
- ▼ – Only outbound trains stop
- | – Trains pass and do not stop
{| class="wikitable defaultcenter col1left"
! colspan="9" style="background:#;" |<span style="color:white;">Frankston Services</span>
|+
!Station
!Zone
!Local
!Ltd Express
!Carrum
!Mordialloc
!Cheltenham
!Moorabbin
!Shuttle
|-
|◼
| rowspan="13" |1
|●
|●
|●
|●
|●
|●
| rowspan="23" |
|-
|◼Southern Cross
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|-
|◼Flagstaff
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|-
|◼Melbourne Central
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|-
|◼Parliament
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|▲
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
| || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
| || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
|◻ || ●|| || ●
|●
|●
|●
|-
|◻ || ● || ▲ || ●
|●
|●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ●
|●
|●
|●
|-
|◻ || ●|| || ●
|●
|●
|●
|-
|◻ || rowspan="3" | 1/2 || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
| || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
| || rowspan="16" | 2 || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|●
|-
| || ● || || ● || ●
|●
| rowspan="14" |
|-
|◻ || ● || || ● || ●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ● || ●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ● ||●
| rowspan="11" |
|-
| || ● || ● || ●
|●
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ●
|●
|▼
|-
| || ● || ● || ●
| rowspan="8" |
|▼
|-
| || ● || ● || ●
|▼
|-
| || ● || ● || ●
|▼
|-
| || ● || ● || ●
|▼
|-
|◼ || ● || ● || ●
|▼
|-
| || ● || ● || rowspan="3" |
|▼
|-
| || ● || ●
|▼
|-
|◼ || ● || ●
|▼
|}
Operators
thumb|259x259px|[[Connex Melbourne operated the line for 5 years from 2004 until 2009]]
The Frankston line has had a total of 7 operators since its opening in 1881. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1881 until the 1999 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line. These operators, Victorian Railways, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Public Transport Corporation, and Bayside Trains have a combined operational length of 118 years. Two years later, rival train operator Connex Melbourne took over the M>Train operations including the Frankston line. Metro Trains Melbourne, the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. The private operators have had a combined operational period of years.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Past and present operators of the Frankston line:
!Operator
!Assumed operations
!Ceased operations
!Length of operations
|-
|Victorian Railways
|1881
|1983
|102 years
|-
|Metropolitan Transit Authority
|1983
|1989
|6 years
|-
|Public Transport Corporation
|1989
|1998
|9 years
|-
|Bayside Trains (government operator)
|1998
|1999
|1 years
|-
|M>Train
|1999
|2004
|5 years
|-
|Connex Melbourne
|2004
|2009
|5 years
|-
|Metro Trains Melbourne
|2009
|incumbent
| years (ongoing)
|}
Route
The Frankston line forms a somewhat linear route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Frankston. The route is long and is predominantly doubled tracked, however between Flinders Street station and Richmond, the track is widened to 12 tracks, narrowing to 6 tracks between Richmond and South Yarra before again narrowing to 4 tracks between South Yarra and Caulfield. After Caulfield station, the track again narrows to 3 tracks, which is remain till Moorabbin when the track narrows to two tracks. The centre track is signalled for bidirectional operation, allowing for express trains overtaking stopping trains in the peak direction. After changing from Werribee and Williamstown services at Flinders Street, Frankston line traverses mainly flat country with few curves and fairly minimal earthworks for most of the line. However, between South Yarra and Malvern, the rail corridor has been lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings, and between Malvern and Caulfield, the corridor has been raised on an embankment for the same reason. After Caulfield, the line formerly had numerous level crossings, however, all have now been abolished through numerous rail trenches and rail bridges. From Mentone, the line is never more than ~ from the eastern shore of Port Phillip Bay, and runs alongside the Nepean Highway for much of its length. At Frankston station, electrified services terminate with Metro Trains operated diesel services continuing to Stony Point. Most of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs and some industrial areas, with small sections of the line passing through more open countryside, passing by open fields and farms. In 2023, Glen Huntly station was lowered as part of level crossing removal works. In 2025, Parkdale station was elevated, In 2026, Mordialloc was elevated with Highett, and Seaford stations being elevated from 2029 for similar works. Aspendale station will also be lowered from 2029.
{| class="wikitable"
!Station
!Image
!Accessibility
!Opened
!Terrain
!Train connections
!Other connections
|-
|Parliament
|frameless|100x100px
| rowspan="5" |Yes—step free access
|22 January 1983
|Ground level
|
|-
|Flinders Street
|frameless|100x100px
|1854
!Closed These train sets are the oldest on the Melbourne rail network and subsequently will be replaced by the mid-2030s. Siemens Nexas EMUs are also widely featured on the line, originally built between 2002 and 2005 these train sets feature more modern technology than the Comeng trains. The final type of rolling stock featured on the line is the X'Trapolis 100 built by Alstom between 2002 and 2004, and 2009 and 2020. All of these rolling stock models are widely used on other lines across the metropolitan network and work as the backbone of the network.
Alongside the passenger trains, Frankston 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. Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line, Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad.
Accessibility
alt=The platforms at a train station showing the footbridge|thumb|The rebuilt [[Bonbeach railway station|Bonbeach station has tactile boarding indicators and elevators]]
In compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992, all stations that are new-built or rebuilt are fully accessible and comply with these guidelines. The majority of stations on the corridor are fully accessible, however, some stations have not been upgraded. These stations do feature ramps, however, they have a gradient greater than 1 in 14.
Projects improving station accessibility have included the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades and other individual station upgrade projects. These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 68% of Frankston line stations classed as fully accessible. This number is expected to grow within the coming years with the completion of level crossing removal works on the corridor by 2029.
Signalling
The Frankston line uses three position signalling which is widely used across the Melbourne train network. Three position signalling was first introduced in 1915, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling in 1976.
References
External links
- Frankston line timetable
- Network map