South Kensington - West Footscray railway line
| South Kensington - West Footscray | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Type | V/Line passenger service | ||
| System | Freight, The Overland and NSW TrainLink XPT | ||
| Stations | None | ||
| Operation | |||
| Opened | 1929 | ||
| Number of tracks | Double track, broad and dual gauge | ||
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The South Kensington - West Footscray line is a railway line in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Linking South Kensington station on the Werribee line and associated freight terminals to Tottenham Yard and other freight lines, it is a primarily freight only line with no overhead wires, passenger stations or platforms. The most visible part of the line is the tunnel under Footscray station, which is often incorrectly called disused.
The line was opened on 21 October 1928 to allow freight trains to avoid suburban passenger train congestion at Footscray station, which was then only connected to Melbourne by a pair of tracks. Initially consisting of two broad gauge tracks, in 1962 the tracks were converted to dual gauge as part of the Melbourne to Sydney gauge standardisation project. Today the line is controlled by the Australian Rail Track Corporation as part of the North East standard gauge line. In 2008-2009 the conventionally signalled double track between Sims Street Junction and West Footscray was converted to bi-directional operation, with an additional standard gauge track constructed between West Footscray and Tottenham, at a cost of $45 million.
In recent years due to growing congestion on the above ground lines though Footscray, various proposals have been made for increased numbers of passenger services to use the line. In 2010 it was announced that the Regional Rail Link project would not use the freight lines, instead using new tracks to be built through Footscray.
Built as a double track railway, the line starts in the Spion Kop area of Melbourne Yard, near Moonee Ponds Creek and the CityLink flyover. It then runs west to South Kensington station, where there is a junction with the main passenger lines, before it runs south of the passenger platforms. Curving south-west, lines from North Dynon merge in, before crossing Dynon Road on an overpass. Sims Street Junction is reached, where the standard gauge line from Southern Cross station joins the line, as well as additional lines from the Port of Melbourne and South Dynon.
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