The Upfield line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In October 1889, it was extended to Somerton. However a major infastructure upgrade in the late 1990s saw the plans for closure abandoned.
With the future of the rail line secured, and patronage growth in the 2000s, infrastructure upgrades were carried out on the line. They included replacing sleepers, upgrading signalling technology, removing level crossings, introducing new rolling stock, and improving station accessibility. Duplication of the line followed, starting with North Melbourne to Royal Park in September 1888, then Royal Park to South Brunswick (now Jewell) in May 1889, Brunswick to Coburg in December 1891, and South Brunswick to Brunswick in August 1892. In October 1889, the line was extended from Coburg to connect to the North East line at Somerton.
20th century
Coburg - Somerton closure and reopening to Fawkner (1900–1928)
The line from Coburg to Somerton closed in July 1903, but was reopened as far as Fawkner three years later in December 1906. Normal passenger services were re-extended to Fawkner in 1914, and the line was electrified in December 1920.
Fawkner - Somerton railmotor ("The Beetle") (1928 - 1956)
thumb|AEC railmotor near [[Fawkner railway station|Fawkner, 1953|left]]In March 1928, despite strong resistance from the Railways Commissioners, the state government ordered the reopening of the section from Fawkner to Somerton for passengers. An extremely basic passenger service was provided by an AEC railmotor, which connected with electric trains at Fawkner and was nicknamed "the Beetle".
Stations were reinstated at Campbellfield and North Campbellfield, equipped with low-level platforms and basic waiting sheds. In May 1956, the line from Fawkner to Somerton was closed for the second time.
Reopening to Somerton and electrification to Upfield (1959–1970)
Three years after the railmotor service to Somerton was withdrawn in 1959, the line from Fawkner to Somerton reopened again for goods trains and the electrification and suburban service was extended from Fawkner to Upfield to cater for workers at the new Ford automotive factory In June 1961, that arrangement was extended to apply for the whole of Sunday and, in October 1961, it was further extended to include services after 7:30pm between Mondays and Saturdays. In October 1968, electric staff safeworking was introduced on the Upfield to Somerton section. In April 1972, the Macaulay to Royal Park section was similarly converted. After discussions with local councils, unions, the public, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority, two options were floated. These options included:
- The conversion of the entire line, or part of the line to light rail
- The closure of large amounts of the line and instead running the light rail via Sydney Road
alt=A historical level crossing at night.|left|thumb|Tinning Street crossing was permanently closed in 1998, with ~20 people gathered at the site during the final train service, including local members of state and federal parliament [[Carlo Carli (Australian politician)|Carlo Carli and Kelvin Thomson.]]
These proposals were put to rest in April 1995, when it was announced that $23 million would be spent upgrading the line.
21st century
During the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Royal Park station played a critical role in the running of the games, as it was centrally located to the athletes village and the State Netball and Hockey Centre. The line and station became heavily utilised during the games, with increased security and staff presence at the station.
Future
Level Crossing Removals
alt=The elevated railway station platform at Coburg, showing the buildings on each side|thumb|[[Coburg railway station|Coburg station was rebuilt in conjunction with the removal of 4 crossings.]]
In 2017, a level crossing was removed at Camp Road, Campbellfield by lowering the rail line underneath the road. The rail line was elevated from Coburg to Moreland stations in 2020 to remove four level crossings. Crossings were removed at Bell Street, Moreland Road, Munro Street, and Reynard Street, with both Coburg and Moreland stations rebuilt as part of these removals.
Eight further level crossings between Anstey and Royal Park stations are planned to be removed by 2030, at Albert Street, Albion Street, Brunswick Road, Dawson Street, Hope Street, Union Street, Victoria Street, and Park Street. At the end of these removals, the Upfield line will have 10 remaining crossings not slated for removal. As part of this project, Jewell, Brunswick and Anstey stations are set to be closed and replaced by two new stations: the new northern station is currently planned to be located near Hope Street, approximately 200 metres south of the current Anstey station, and the new southern station is planned to be located between Union Street and Dawson Street, approximately 200 metres north of the current Jewell station. Both stations will be approximately 450 metres away from the current Brunswick station.
The decision to build two stations in different locations instead of rebuilding all three generated criticism from residents and the local council. Local newspaper Brunswick Voice reported that the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Danny Pearson, claimed "the decision to build two stations followed 18 months of technical and engineering assessments which found fewer stations would boost capacity on the line in the future and deliver more open space", noting that "[the government claimed] the plan would also minimise the impact to heritage in the area, but [the politician] provided no detail about whether the three station buildings and the historic boom gate operators' cabins would be preserved".
Reopening to Somerton & Wallan extension
Highlighted in the 2018 Victorian Rail Plan, a proposal exists to reopen the line from Upfield to Somerton, along with electrification and extension of suburban services to Wallan. The 2018 Victorian Rail Plan has proposed the following projects take place as part of the Wallan extension:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Stage
!Project
!Notes
|-
|Stage 2 (Metro Tunnel Day One)
|Rerouting of Seymour and Shepparton services via the Upfield line instead of the Craigieburn line
|This project was meant to be completed by the opening of the Metro Tunnel in 2025. However, as of the tunnel opening in November 2025 there hasn't been any progress
|-
|Stage 3
|Somerton to Craigieburn quadruplication
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|Stage 4
|Extension of the Upfield line to Wallan
- Electrifying the Somerton link
- Electrifying the regional track between Craigieburn and Wallan
- Upgrading Wallan and Donnybrook stations
- Constructing a new station at Lockerbie
- Reopening Beveridge station
|}
In 2018, the government announced that a business case would be completed to further investigate the possibility for these series of projects to commence.
Network and operations
Services
Services on the Upfield line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily. The Upfield line has one of the least-frequent peak-period services in Melbourne's railway network due to the single track between Gowrie and Upfield. This results in peak train frequencies being every 15–20 minutes, while outside the peak the frequency is reduced to 20–30 minutes throughout the entire route. On Wednesdays, some Upfield line services terminate at Batman, operating as limited-stop trains via Flinders Street, Southern Cross, North Melbourne, Royal Park and Coburg, and return to the city via the City Loop.
Train services on the Upfield 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>Some services do not operate via the City Loop
- ● – All trains stop
- ◐ – Some services do not stop
- ▲ - Only inbound trains stop
- ▼ - Only outbound trains stop
- | – Trains pass and do not stop
{| class="wikitable defaultcenter col1left"
! colspan="4" style="background:#;" |Upfield Services
|+
!Station
!Zone
!Upfield
|-
|◼ || rowspan="14" | 1 || ◐
|-
|◼ || ◐
|-
|◼ || ◐
|-
|◼ || ●
|-
|◼ || ◐
|-
|◼ || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
|◼ || ●
|-
| || rowspan="3" | 1/2 || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
| || ●
|-
|◼ || rowspan="2" | 2 || ●
|-
|◼ || ●
|}
Operators
The Upfield line has had a total of 7 operators since its opening in 1884. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1884 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 121 years.
Bayside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded as M>Train. In 2002, M>Train was placed into receivership and the state government regained ownership of the line, with KPMG appointed as receivers to operate M>Train on behalf of the state government. 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 Upfield line:
!Operator
!Assumed operations
!Ceased operations
!Length of operations
|-
|Victorian Railways
|1884
|1983
|105 years
|-
|Metropolitan Transit Authority
|1983
|1989
|6 years
|-
|Public Transport Corporation
|1989
|1998
|9 years
|-
|Bayside Trains (government operator)
|1998
|1999
|1 year
|-
|M>Train
|1999
|2004
|5 years
|-
|Connex Melbourne
|2004
|2009
|5 years
|-
|Metro Trains Melbourne
|2009
|incumbent
| years (ongoing)
|}
Route
The Upfield line forms a linear route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Upfield. The route is long, making it the fifth shortest line on the Melbourne metropolitan network. Exiting the city, the Upfield line traverses mainly flat country with few curves and fairly minimal earthworks for most of the line. Some sections of the line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings. Despite some removals, there are a number of level crossings still present with no current plans to remove them. Rare in Melbourne, the line travels underneath the CityLink tollway beside the Moonee Ponds Creek for a portion of the line, before rising up a lengthy hill and winding through Royal Park until it reaches Jewell railway station. Notably, the line has one of the lowest proportion of premium stations amongst Melbourne's railway lines, with only three stations past the North Melbourne junction classified as premium stations.
{| class="wikitable"
!Station
!Image
!Accessibility
!Opened
!Terrain
!Train connections
!Other connections
|-
|Flinders Street
|frameless|100x100px
| rowspan="7" |Yes—step free access
|1854
|Lowered
|
|
|-
|Southern Cross
|frameless|100x100px
|1859
!Closed These train sets are the oldest on the Melbourne rail network and subsequently are planned to be replaced by 2026. The more common of rolling stock is the Siemens Nexas EMUs which are widely featured on the line, originally built between 2002 and 2005 these train sets feature more modern technology than the Comeng trains.
Alongside the passenger trains, Upfield 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.
- Modernised doors to reduce the boarding times at stations to under 40 seconds
- Passenger information systems to display that train's journey in real time
- Higher energy efficiency to work with a lower network voltage, to fit in line with modern rail systems overseas
- New interior designs including tip-up seating to allow space for wheelchair spaces.
- Designated bicycle storage areas
- Passenger operated automatic wheelchair ramps located behind driver cabs
- 6 car fully walk through carriages
Accessibility
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 the stations on the corridor are fully accessible, however, there are some stations that haven't been upgraded to meet these guidelines. 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 individual station upgrade projects. More than 90% of Upfield line stations are now classed as fully accessible.