Lilydale line

Lilydale line
X'Trapolis 100 train at the platform of Lilydale station, the terminus of the Lilydale line.
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
System	Melbourne railway network
Status	Operational
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
First service	1 December 1882; 141 years ago (1882-12-01)
Current operator(s)	Metro Trains
Former operator(s)	Victorian Railways (VR) (1882–1974) VR as VicRail (1974–1983) MTA (The Met) (1983–1989) PTC (The Met) (1989–1998) Hillside Trains (1998–2000) Connex Melbourne (2000–2009)
Website	Official website
Route
Termini	Flinders Street Lilydale
Stops	27 (including City Loop stations)
Distance travelled	37.8 km (23.5 mi)
Average journey time	59 minutes (not via City Loop)
Service frequency	6–20 minutes weekdays peak 30 minutes weekdays off-peak 20 minutes weekend daytime 30 minutes nights 60 minutes early weekend mornings Double frequency between Flinders Street and Ringwood in combination with Belgrave line Extra services run between Flinders Street and either Blackburn or Ringwood on weekdays
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 ●●●●●●■ 0:05 3.1 East Richmond ■■ 0:07 4.1 Burnley ●■ 0:09 5.7 Hawthorn ■ 0:11 6.9 Glenferrie ■ 0:13 7.7 Auburn 0:15 9.0 Camberwell ●■ 0:17 9.8 East Camberwell 1 0:19 11.0 Canterbury 1/2 0:21 11.7 Chatham 0:23 12.9 Union 1/2 0:27 14.9 Box Hill ■ 2 0:29 16.6 Laburnum 0:31 17.4 Blackburn 0:34 19.5 Nunawading 0:36 21.2 Mitcham 0:39 23.2 Heatherdale 0:42 24.5 Ringwood ● 0:44 26.6 Ringwood East 0:48 29.8 Croydon 0:53 33.2 Mooroolbark 0:59 37.6 Lilydale 2 h:mm km zone This diagram: view talk edit

The Lilydale line is a commuter railway line on the Melbourne metropolitan railway network serving the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.^[1] 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 sixth-longest metropolitan railway line at 37.8 kilometres (23.5 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Lilydale station in the city's east, serving 27 stations via Burnley, Box Hill, Ringwood, and Croydon.^[2]

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 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours.^[3] Trains on the Lilydale line run in two three-car formations of X'Trapolis 100 trainsets.^[4]

Sections of the Lilydale line opened as early as 1859, with the line fully extended to Lilydale by 1882. The line was built to connect Melbourne and Ringwood with the rural towns of Croydon, Mooroolbark, and Lilydale, among others.

Since the 2010s, due to the heavily utilised infrastructure of the Lilydale line, significant improvements and upgrades have been made. Different packages of work have upgraded the corridor to replace sleepers, upgrade signalling technology, introduce new rolling stock, and remove remaining level crossings.^[5]