Sandringham Railway Line - Service Changes

Service Changes

Services on the line originally ran via the St Kilda line, but from 1862 ran exclusively via the Cremorne route. In 1894, through services from Brighton Beach to Essendon were introduced, an arrangement that continued until 1973, when Sandringham services were altered to run through to the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines.

When the underground City Loop line was designed, it was not intended to cater for trains on the Port Melbourne, St Kilda, and Sandringham lines. However, a crossover was installed near Richmond to allow Sandringham trains to cross to the tracks used by the Frankston and Pakenham trains, which had access to the underground loop. In 1985, two Sandringham trains each way were altered to run via the underground loop, and in 1987, with the Port Melbourne and St Kilda lines now converted to light rail operation, all off-peak and many peak trains were routed via the underground loop.

However, congestion caused by merging with the Frankston and Pakenham services resulted in a number of changes to Sandringham trains operating via the underground loop, and today only weekend services run that way. Some weekday peak services are through-routed with Williamstown line services.