Melton railway line

Melton railway line, Melbourne
Line details
Tracks	Double track to Deer Park station, single track with loops beyond
Used by	V/Line, freight
Service pattern	Peak hour local trains to Melton and Bacchus Marsh, off peak Ballarat services
Connections	Sunbury & Ballarat lines
Railways in Melbourne
	List of stations; Freight railways; Closed railways; Proposed railways;

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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 just west of Deer Park 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 is scheduled for completion in 2016. 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.

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. Myki cards are valid only until Melton station.

File:2007-09-ARD-stn.jpg

Ardeer railway station, with a train stopped in the platform