Hurstbridge line

The Hurstbridge Line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's seventh longest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street Station in central Melbourne to Hurstbridge Station in the north-east, serving 28 stations via Clifton Hill Station, Heidelberg Station, Macleod Station, Greensborough Station, Eltham Station, and Diamond Creek Station. 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 hour, headways of up to 15 minutes are operated with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains on the Hurstbridge Line run with a two three-car formations of X'Trapolis 100 trainsets. Sections of the Hurstbridge Line opened as early as 1888, with the line fully extended to Hurstbridge by 1912. The line was built to connect Melbourne with the rural towns of Greensborough, Eltham, and Hurstbridge, amongst others. Since the 2010s, due to the heavily utilised infrastructure of the Hurstbridge Line, significant improvements and upgrades have been made. An upgrade of the corridor from Heidelberg Station onwards is currently under construction, with improvements including the removal of level crossings, rebuilding stations, and the duplication of more than of track. Other works have included replacing sleepers, upgrading signalling technology, the introduction of new rolling stock, and station accessibility upgrades. The first section of the Hurstbridge Line opened between Victoria Park Station (then named Collingwood Station) and Heidelberg Station in May 1888. At this time, the line was connected to other lines via a line from Royal Park Station to Clifton Hill Station, most of which comprised what was later known as the Inner Circle line. This connection was opened at the same time. The section from Flinders Street Station to Victoria Park Station, was built later than the rest of the line, which was originally connected to the suburban system via the now-closed Inner Circle railway line.