Alamein line

Alamein
Building at Willison station on the Alamein line, June 2024
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
System	Melbourne railway network
Status	Operational
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Predecessor	Outer Circle (pre 1898) Flinders Street – Ashburton (1898–1924) Riversdale – Deepdene (1900–1925) Riversdale – East Kew (1925–1943) Flinders Street – Ashburton ^ (1924–1948) ^ are electric services
First service	4 July 1898; 126 years ago (1898-07-04)
Current operator(s)	Metro Trains
Former operator(s)	Victorian Railways (VR) (1898–1974) VR as VicRail (1974–1983) MTA (The Met) (1983–1989) PTC (The Met) (1989–1998) Hillside Trains (1998–2000) Connex Melbourne (2000–2009)
Route
Termini	Flinders Street Alamein
Stops	18 (including City Loop stations)
Distance travelled	14.9 km (9.3 mi)
Average journey time	27 minutes (not via City Loop)
Service frequency	15–30 minutes weekdays peak 15 minutes weekdays off-peak 20 minutes weekend daytime 30 minutes nights 60 minutes early weekend mornings Most weekday peak services operate through to the City. Shuttles to/from Camberwell station operate at all other times
Line(s) used	Alamein, Outer Circle
Technical
Rolling stock	X'Trapolis 100
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC overhead
Track owner(s)	VicTrack
Route map Legend h:mm km zone 1.2 Southern Cross ●●●●●●● 1 1.3 Flagstaff ●●● 1.9 Melbourne Central 3.0 Parliament ●● 0:00 0.0 Flinders Street ●●●● 0:03 2.6 Richmond ●●●●●●■ Swan St ■ 0:05 3.1 East Richmond ■■ 0:07 4.1 Burnley ●■ Swan St ■ Yarra River 0:09 5.7 Hawthorn ■ Burwood Rd ■ Power St Glenferrie Rd ■ 0:11 6.9 Glenferrie ■ 0:13 7.7 Auburn Burke Rd ■ 0:15 9.0 Camberwell ●●■ 0:18 10.5 Riversdale ■ Riversdale Road ■ 0:19 10.9 Willison 0:21 12.1 Hartwell Toorak Road ■ 0:23 12.9 Burwood 0:25 14.2 Ashburton High Street 0:27 14.9 Alamein 1 h:mm km zone This diagram: view talk edit

The Alamein line is a commuter railway line on the Melbourne metropolitan railway network serving the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, the line is coloured dark blue and is one of the four lines that constitute the Burnley group. It is the city's second shortest metropolitan railway line at 14.9 kilometres (9.3 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Alamein station in the east, serving 18 stations via Burnley, Camberwell, Riversdale, and Ashburton.^[1]

The line operates for approximately 19 hours a day (from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 am) with 24 hour service available on Friday and Saturday nights. During peak hours, headways of up to 15 minutes are operated with services every 10–30 minutes during off-peak hours.^[1] Trains on the Alamein line run with one or two three-car formations of X'Trapolis 100 trainsets.

Sections of the Alamein line opened as early as 1898, with the line fully extended to Alamein by 1948.^[2] The Alamein line was originally part of the Outer Circle line which operated from 1890 until its closure in 1897. The line was built to connect Melbourne with the suburb towns of Camberwell and Ashburton, amongst others previously served by the Outer Circle line. Minor upgrades have occurred since its opening, including historical level crossing removal works and regular infrastructure upgrades.^[3][4]