Alamein railway line, Melbourne

For other uses of the name Alamein, see Alamein.

The Alamein railway line is a suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia. It serves part of the City of Boroondara, to the east of the central business district. It has 6 stations and branches from the Belgrave and Lilydale lines at Camberwell station. It is entirely within Metcard ticketing Zone 1.

The Alamein line is the only remaining section of what was originally the Outer Circle line, stretching from Fairfield to Oakleigh. The section of the Outer Circle from Camberwell station to Ashburton station was closed on December 9 1895, only to be reopened on July 4 1899 as the Ashburton line. This line was electrified on October 30 1924. The line was later extended to Alamein station to serve a newly-built housing estate, and opened on June 28 1948 as the Alamein line.

The line was also the first in the city to receive new Metlink-branded signage, including the new, blue colour-code for the train network, and signs directing passengers to connecting tram and bus services.

Infrastructure

The line consists of dual tracks between Camberwell station to just before Ashburton station; changing to a single, bi-directional track for the rest of the distance. The shortness of this section of track, however, stops it from becoming a serious bottleneck. The maximum permissible train speeds range from 65 km/h on most of the dual track sections, to 40 km/h on the single track, and a crawling 15 km/h over the single tram/train level crossing on the line. There is a crossover point at Riversdale station, which allows trains to turn back when they cannot proceed. This, however, means that if there were a blockage beyond this first station, the entire line would be immobilised. There is also a single, rarely-used siding at Ashburton station.

Proposed closure/extension

Although moves were made to close the line in the 1980s, the Alamein line has remained open. However, passengers often have to change trains at Camberwell station to catch a shuttle service.

Railway enthusiasts as well as public transport activists have called for the line to be extended along the old Outer Circle reservation south of Alamein station. The proposed extension would interchange with the Glen Waverley line at East Malvern station, include a new station at the sprawling Chadstone Shopping Centre, and continue on to join the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines at Oakleigh station. This proposal is not currently being considered by the State Government, however.

Cultural references

The Alamein line was the stage for an elaborate practical joke played on the residents of the area by comedian Barry Humphries. While on a train, Humphries was met at each station between Camberwell and Alamein by a waiter who would serve another course of an elaborate breakfast, much to the annoyance of the relatively conservative residents of the suburbs concerned.

Cartoonist Jeff Hook drew a daily cartoon for the newspaper The Herald Sun, and would often use the station name "Doowrub". This was Burwood station in reverse. Burwood was the home of former Premier Jeff Kennett.

List of stations

Bold stations are terminuses, italic stations are staffed.

Branches from the Belgrave and Lilydale lines at Camberwell.

• Riversdale (off-peak terminus from city only)
• Willison - formerly Golf Links
• Hartwell - formerly Hartwell Hill
• Burwood - formerly Hartwell
• Ashburton - formerly Norwood
• Alamein

External links, maps, and timetables

• Timetables (http://www.victrip.com.au/timetables/timetable_options.php?type=train&id=MTNALM)
• Official line map (http://www.victrip.com.au/images/uploaded/MPGI2517_Train_Alamein_DL.jpg)
• Statistics and detailed schematic map (http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&section=lineguide&line=Alamein) at the VicSig (http://www.vicsig.net/) enthusiast website