Melton railway line

Melton
Melton
Overview
Connecting lines	Sunbury, Ballarat & Geelong lines
Service
Type	Melbourne suburban service
System	V/Line, freight
Services	Peak hour local trains to Melton and Bacchus Marsh, off peak Ballarat services
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track to Caroline Springs station, single track with loops beyond
Route map
Route map
	Melbourne railways map.gif

The Melton railway line is the greater-metropolitan section of the Ballarat line in Victoria, Australia. It is incorporated into Melbourne's suburban railway network. Services are provided by V/Line as part of the Ballarat regional line service. The line runs between Southern Cross station in the CBD and Melton. It branches from the Sunbury line at Sunshine railway station, where it falls into myki ticketing Zone 2. It consists of dual track until Caroline Springs railway station where it becomes a single bi-directional track. There is another stretch of double track close to Rockbank railway station to facilitate the passing of trains.

The Victorian Transport Plan released in December 2008 proposed the progressive upgrade of the Melton line to support future urban development in the corridor. The Regional Fast Rail project to Ballarat has been completed. The construction of the new Caroline Springs railway station (Ravenhall) commenced in August 2015, and has now been completed with the first trains running on 29 January 2017. Another new station is planned for a new outer suburb of Toolern, between the existing Rockbank and Melton stations, as part of the Toolern urban development.^[1] However, no date for this new station has yet been determined. The PTV Network Development Plan published in 2013 provides for the progressive duplication of the remaining section of the line to improve service frequency, before ultimate electrification. It was expected that the number of services would double following the electrification of the Sunbury line and re-allocation of diesel rolling stock to Melton.

As part of Ballarat Line Upgrade, 17 kilometres of track between Caroline Springs and Melton will be duplicated with stabling facilities provided at Melton^[2].

There are a variety of trains on the line including Sprinter and VLocity type DMUs, as well as older locomotive-hauled carriages. All trains continue on to Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat or Ararat.

Ardeer railway station, with a train stopped in the platform

Line guide

Bold stations are termini, where some train services terminate; italic stations are staffed.

Branches from the Sunbury line at Sunshine.

Legend

0.0 km	Southern Cross	Zone 1
5.6 km	Footscray	Zone 1
12.3 km	Sunshine	Zones 1 & 2
	Sunbury line
	Kororoit Creek
15.1 km	Ardeer	Zone 2
	Western Ring Road
17.9 km	Deer Park	Zone 2
	Regional Rail Link
21.2 km	Caroline Springs	Zone 2
30.2 km	Rockbank	Zone 2
41.3 km	Melton	Zone 2
	Ararat & Ballarat lines