Melbourne Suburban Railway

Technology

Modern day suburban (or metropolitan) railway networks are economic arteries, connecting the central business districts of many cities around the world to their workers in the suburbs. The deployment of suburban railways around the world coincided with the development of cities and has contributed significantly to urban sprawl. Suburban railway networks are advantageous for metropolitan regions as they can operate over long distances and at a higher capacity than other forms of transport such as trams and buses.

The Melbourne Suburban Railway network, officially known as Metro Trains Melbourne, is just one example of many suburban railway networks around the world that are designed to connect the Central Business District of its city to the surrounding suburbs. Today, the network operates 226 electric trains on 15 lines along 998 kilometres of railway track (Metro Trains Melbourne , 2024).

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  Metro Trains Melbourne Network Map
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  X'Trapolis Metro Train at Southern Cross Station Melbourne

Origins of the passenger railway

The development of the suburban railway network as a mode of transport in Melbourne can be attributed to several prior events. Whilst the following events did not occur in Melbourne, instead in the modern-day United Kingdom, each introduced a component of the technologies which formed both the early and modern-day Melbourne suburban railway network. These are as follows:

1. Deployment of Passenger Railway Systems - Oystermouth Railway

The Oystermouth Railway was the first passenger railway service to commence operation and did so in 1807 (Shaw-Taylor & You, 2018). This service-connected Swansea and Oystermouth with rail wagons being pulled by horses.

2. Deployment of the Locomotive - Stockton & Darlington Railway

The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825 and whilst built to transport freight and not passengers, it was the first railway to use a steam locomotive (Shaw-Taylor & You, 2018). The opening of this railway line was a catalyst for the development of further locomotive hauled railways in the immediate future (Darroch, 2014).

3. Deployment of Locomotive Hauled Passenger Railway System - Liverpool to Manchester Railway

The Liverpool to Manchester Railway opened in 1930 and is widely attributed as being the first locomotive hauled passenger railway service to enter operation (Shaw-Taylor & You, 2018). George Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive was the first to be used on the railway, capable of reaching almost 50kmh (30mph) (Shaw-Taylor & You, 2018).

4. Deployment of Underground Metropolitan Railway – London Underground

London’s Metropolitan Railway saw the world’s first underground railway open in 1863 connecting the busy London stations of Paddington & Farringdon (Darroch, 2014). The opening of the Underground quickly saw other cities construct and operate their own underground railways. Melbourne, like many other cities globally, would incorporate underground railways service into its network.

As seen above, the deployment of passenger transport on rails, the introduction of the locomotive to railways, the combination of both and the introduction of sub-surface railways all contributed to the suburban railway system adopted in Melbourne.

Context

Before the Railway

The city of Melbourne was established in 1835 on Port Phillip, just 19 years before its first steam railway opened for operation. Melbourne was established by farmers and pastoral workers from Tasmania who sought after more land for agriculture (Records and Archives Branch of the City of Melbourne, 1997). In the short period of time between the establishment of the city and the opening of its first railway, transportation around the newly established city and surrounds was primarily undertaken by foot, horse drawn wagons or other animal hauled methods and by ship through Port Phillip. As the port established at Sandridge (modern day Port Melbourne) experienced increases in import and exports through the 1840s, transporting both people and goods from the port to the city and surrounds became of increasing importance (Harrigan, 1954).

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  Map of Port Phillip

Limitations of foot traffic and animal drawn vehicles

Although the distance between Melbourne and Sandridge was walkable, it was a very unpopular method of transportation, especially in adverse weather conditions and for people carrying luggage and goods. Furthermore, Animal drawn wagons and carts where ultimately limited in their capacity for carrying passengers or goods between the port at Sandridge and the city. Horse drawn vehicles were often unpleasant, slow, unreliable, and caused significant road damage over time. It is these limitations and the increase in demand for transport which made a faster and higher capacity locomotive-hauled railway a popular alternative.

Invention

The invention of the steam locomotive and its deployment on the Stockton and Darlington and Liverpool to Manchester Railways in England allowed for the development of the suburban railway network in Melbourne (as mentioned in section 1). Steam locomotives use coal as a source of thermal energy to heat water in and convert it to steam, this steam is held in the boiler and causes an increase in pressure. The pressurised steam drives the wheels of locomotive by pushing pistons which are connected to a crank mechanism, creating the rotating motion required (Bathurst Rail Museum, n.d).

The deployment of the suburban railway in Melbourne would see improvements made to the transport mode in its early development. The permanent adoption of steel wheels and steel rails in 1868, moving away from the use of iron rails commonly seen in England saw a significant improvement in the durability of both locomotives and track infrastructure (Harrigan, 1954).

Early Market Development

The decision to build Australia’s first steam locomotive railway between the city of Melbourne and Sandridge (modern day Port Melbourne) was in response to the growing industrial activity in the Sandridge area and the increase in ship movements in and out of the port. The success of railways in the United Kingdom prompted many entrepreneurs in Melbourne to investigate building their own railway services in the city. This resulted in the first public meeting for railway entrepreneurs being held on the 7th of December 1851 (Harrigan, 1954). Whilst this meeting attracted interest from potential stakeholders in a railway service, the impact of the gold rush on the city’s population and economy was significant and no definitive action was taken on a railway service until August 1952, when the Melbourne & Hobson’s Bay railway company was formed. W.S Chauncey was subsequently appointed Chief Engineer on the 17th of August 1952 and the official approval to construct the railway line passed on the 20th of January 1953, with the Act of Incorporation (Lee, 2007). The official opening of the Melbourne to Sandridge railway occurred on the 12th of September 1854.

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  First Locomotive used by the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company
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  Railway Pier at Sandridge

The first year of operation for the Melbourne & Hobson’s Bay Railway Company’s first line was a success, with shareholders receiving an 8% dividend and the capacity for transport between Melbourne & Sandridge increasing significantly (Harrigan, 1954). This success prompted the investigation for the construction of more railway lines and creation of more railway companies. The market appetite for railways following the opening of the Melbourne to Sandridge line is reflected in the opening of the branch line to St. Kilda in May 1857, its subsequent extension to Brighton by the St. Kilda & Brighton Railway Company and the Melbourne & Suburban Railway Company’s lines from Princes Bridge to Hawthorn and Windsor (Dee, 2006; Lee, 2007).

The Role of Policy

During the birthing phase of the Victorian suburban railway network, several key policies shaped its design and patronage.

Gauge Policy

Following the appointment of W.S Chauncey as Chief Engineer in 1852, prior to the opening of the Melbourne-Sandridge Railway, a decision was to be made on the gauge width for the railway line. Chauncey advised the company to adopt the broad-gauge system using a rail spacing of 1600mm (5 feet 3 inches), the same rail gauge which was to be adopted by the Sydney Railway Company (Lee, 2007). Chauncey believed that a standardised rail gauge should be adopted across Australia for the future development of the continent’s railways, and thus wanted to align with the gauge already decided upon in NSW. It should be noted that Sydney would change its decision and adopt the standard gauge of 1435mm with its first railway in 1855 (Wardrop, 2022). The effect of this policy can still be seen today with Melbourne still operating a broad-gauge system and Sydney operating a standard-gauge system.

Building Tickets

To boost ridership on its services, the United Company began to distribute ‘building tickets’ to those who built houses along the railway corridors to Brighton and Elsternwick in October 1865 (Harrigan, 1954). This policy created an incentive for people to build their houses and live along these railway corridors, resulting in increased ridership from these areas to the city.

Growth

Government Purchases United Company

Following the opening of the Melbourne to Sandridge Line, the extension to St. Kilda and Brighton, and the lines to Hawthorn and Windsor, the Melbourne & Hobson’s Bay United Railway Company purchased their competitors services and by 1865 operated all 26km of track. By 1870, the United Company would operate over 240 daily services. In 1872 the Victorian Government purchased the United Company’s shares for £1,320,820 pounds (Harrigan, 1954). The newly amalgamated network of railway lines developed significantly in the 1880s into a radial system connecting the city to the surrounding suburbs in all directions.

Introduction of Rail Motor Cars

The growth period of the Melbourne Suburban Railway saw the development of rail technology and subsequent improvement of passenger service. The first railway motor car was introduced in May 1883, combining an engine cabin containing a vertical boiler and motor into a carriage capable of carrying 40 passengers. These motor cars operated on the Fairfield to Oakleigh and Essendon to Broadmeadow lines until their withdrawal from service in the late 1890s (Harrigan, 1954).

Construction of the new Flinders Street Station

The rapid expansion of the railway network in the late 19th Century resulted in a significant increase in daily train services reaching the city of Melbourne. By 1900 it was evident that the existing station at Flinders Street, originally built for the Melbourne-Sandridge Railway was unable to provide the required capacity needed as expansion continued. In May 1900, the “Green Light” syndicate by James Fawcett and H.P.C Ashworth, two Victorian rail officials, was chosen to provide their design for a new station on Flinders Street (Lee, 2007). The large, French renaissance style station was completed in 1909 and officially opened in 1910, serving as the main station for the city of Melbourne (Victorian Railways , 1965).

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  Flinders Street Station Opening

The Electrification of the Suburban Railway

The electrification of the railway was initially considered in 1896 by A.W Jones from the General Electric Company. C.H. Merz was appointed in 1907 to further investigate electrifying Melbourne’s Suburban lines and proposed the electrification of 200km (124 miles) of track by 1912 at a cost of £2,227,000 (Harrigan, 1954). Little action was taken on Merz’s initial plan and in 1911 the Victorian Government requested an updated plan in which the cost rose to £3,991,000 (Harrigan, 1954).

The first railway power station was constructed at Newport in 1913 with a production capability of 60,000 kW. The First World War saw significant delays to the electrification programme, with the first generator becoming operational in 1918. It would not be until 1919 that the first electric line commenced operation. By April 1923, the suburban railway network was electrified with the opening of the final stage between Heidelberg and Eltham (Victorian Railways , 1965). The cost of the project had risen to 6,270,000 pounds by its completion (Harrigan, 1954). At this time Melbourne boasted one of the most expansive electrified railway networks in the world.

The electrification of the suburban railway proved to be a great success. Passengers were offered a faster, quieter, and smoother railway service at a lower cost, which significantly boosted ridership in the 1920s and 1930s (Harrigan, 1954). The Electrification of the network brought the suburban railway into the modern era and can be considered the end of the growth phase of the system.

Maturity

By 1949, the Melbourne suburban network had grown in ridership to 182 million in that year compared to 123 million in 1919 when electric operations began (Wardrop, 2022). However, two major factors would cause rapid decline in the usage of the network in the 1940s and 1950s.

Decrease in Patronage - The Deployment of the Motor Car

The private motor vehicle significantly changed the way Melbournians travelled in the years following the 1940s (Lee, 2007). Using a car to travel from home to work became commonplace and there was a significant increase in trips between homes and workplaces that were not in the city of Melbourne. The suburban railway had and still has the disadvantage of being a radial network, where its design is primarily to transport passengers from the suburbs to the city. Thus, the increase in trips to other suburban areas for work and the convenience of the motor vehicle played a major factor in the decline in patronage in the mid to late 20th century (Wardrop, 2022).

Decrease in Patronage - Industrial Action

The Mid 20th century saw a significant increase in the influence of union movements in Victoria. Industrial action taken by the union movements on the Melbourne Suburban Railway did much to destroy confidence in the transport system (Lee, 2007). Concurrent to this, the state of the railway network had severely declined, with overcrowded trains and poor infrastructure causing frequent disruption to service and passenger discomfort. Several instances of industrial action taken by the union movement over conditions such as pay and working conditions caused frequent disruption to the system. Some of the major disruptions are listed below:

1. April 1947: Industrial action at Newport power station caused a 23-day disruption to service.
3. June-August 1949: Coal strikes halved train services during the week and completely halted weekend trains for 6 weeks.
5. October-December 1950: Industrial strike saw the halting of train services for 55 days.

The above are three examples of many industrial strikes which took place on the railway network in the 1940s and 1950s and are attributed to the 20% decrease in annual ridership between 1949 and 1951 (Lee, 2007). Industrial disputes continued well into the 1970s. Consistent disruptions to service caused a lack of faith amongst Melbournians in the network and further encouraged the use of motor cars.

Saving the Network - New Trains & The City Loop.

By 1978, 88% percent of trips in Melbourne were made by car and annual train patronage had dropped to 94.3 million in the same year. By 1983, the network was operating at a loss of $286 million per year. With the intention of stopping the decline in rail patronage, the Victorian Government ordered the production of 300 Comeng (Commonwealth Engineering) railcars which were to be locally manufactured at Dandenong (Lee, 2007). These trains would have automatic doors, be airconditioned and use improved materials with the aim of reducing operating and maintenance costs over their lifecycle. These cars arrived on the network in 1981 and proved a success, providing a more comfortable and reliable journey for customers. As a result, 270 more railcars were ordered in 1985 (Lee, 2007).

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  ComEng Trains entered service in 1981 (Still in service in 2024).

Another initiative undertaken by the Victorian Government was the construction of the city loop tunnels. Until the 1980s, the city of Melbourne was served only by 2 major stations at Flinders St. and Spencer St. (now Southern Cross). From these two stations, it was common for passengers to switch to a tram, bus or walk to their place of work. The Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Act was passed in January 1971 and saw the creation of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority (Lee, 2007; Mees, 2008). The authority oversaw the construction of quadruple tunnels travelling around the city with new sub-surface stations at Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and Parliament. The loop system opened in January 1981, providing increased capacity across all suburban lines, providing new station locations in the city, and reducing pressure on Flinders and Spencer St. stations (Mees, 2008). The new trains and stations played a significant role in the recovery of patronage leading into the 21st century.

Saving the Network - Additional Policies

Several policies were created in between the 1970s and 1990s to attempt to recover patronage levels on the network. Smoking was banned on all services in November 1976 and intermodal ticketing was trialled at the same time to make services more comfortable and ticketing simpler. The Transport Act in July 1983 brought the railway network, tram network and bus network under a new organisation nicknamed “The Met” in an additional effort to improve the reliability of all transport modes and simplify ticketing (Lee, 2007). Between 1983 and 1989, the suburban railway network and trams and buses shared the same tickets and liveries on their vehicles. Electronic ticketing machines were introduced in 1996 to further simplify the ticketing process and make transactions faster with the intent of attracting more patronage.

Saving the Network – Privatisation of Melbourne’s Suburban Railway

Under Jeffery Kennett’s Liberal Government, the Public Transport Reform Program began to privatise much of the railway’s operations. A significant change made by the Kennett government was the removal of guards from trains, which reduced the required staff for network operations to increase reliability and cut costs. Following a major industrial strike in 1997, the government privatised the suburban railway, splitting the operations across two companies, Hillside and Bayside Trains (Lee, 2007). The privatisation of the suburban railway was aimed at improving reliability and reducing the impacts of industrial action on the network. Various iterations of private operation of Melbourne’s railway network have existed since 1997. The network is still privatised as of 2024, being run under “Metro Trains Melbourne”, a joint venture between MTR, John Holland and UGL Rail (Metro Trains Melbourne , 2024; Victorian Auditor-General's Office , 2023).

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  Metro Trains Melbourne Livery on a Siemens Train

Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative analysis of annual patronage on the Melbourne Metro Trains network using a three-parameter logistic function has been undertaken using information from several sources including data from Alex Wardrop’s “A Tale of Two Systems”, and several reports released by Victorian Government Agencies (Wardrop, 2022; Public Transport Victoria , 2013; Public Transport Victoria , 2014; Public Transport Victoria , 2012; Public Transport Patronage Trends in Australasian Cities , 2015). Using the three-parameter logistic function allows for the identification of growth peak and decline periods and passenger projections.

The equation for the Three Parameter Logistic Function is shown below:

S(t)=S_max/(1+e^((-b(t-t_i )) ) )

Where: S(t) is the predicted annual patronage for year t S_max is the saturation level for patronage (in thousands) t is the chosen year t_i is the inflection time b is an estimated coefficient

An appreciation for the fluctuating nature of passenger patronage on Melbourne’s suburban railway network since 1900 prompted the creation of two models, one during the phase of the network’s electrification (1900-1930) and a second model with annual patronage from 1900 to 2022. As will be seen, using data over a 30-year period from 1900 during the electrification phase of the railway produces a logistic curve with a strong fit. However, using data over a 120 year period produces a very weak fitting curve due to several events that have occurred over the life of the network.

Model 1 (1900-1930)

The model using data from 1900-1930 produces an r-squared value of 0.945, just under the acceptable threshold of 0.95 for the three-parameter logistic function. This means that 94.5% of values fit within the regression and for this time, the logistic curve is a strong fit.

Table 1 - Model 1 Values

Variable	Value
S_max	246000
b	0.073813684
r^2	0.945552202
t_i	1919.213734

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  Model 1 - Actual Vs. predicted Passengers (1900-1930)

Model 2 (1900-2022)

Creating a model using a the three-parameter logistic function yields an r-squared value of 0.222, well below the generally accepted threshold of 0.95. this means that only 22.2% of values fit the regression. As can be seen in the model, there is a fluctuation in annual ridership growth and decline over the 122-year period, with noticeable local peaks in, 1949 and 2019. As explained previously, the electrification of the network resulted in substantial patronage growth in the 1920s, and upgrades to the network in the 1970s and 1980s also resulted in substantial patronage growth up until the global peak in 1919 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These fluctuations make it extremely difficult to fit a three-parameter logistic function as reflected in the r-squared value meaning that the curve is not a strong fit.

Furthermore, this model is constrained by the following limitations & assumptions: Data is only available from 1900 onwards (railway service begun in 1854). Data collection methods have changed between 1900 and 2022. Data is collected from ticketing & station entries and thus does not count fare evaders.

Using model two to estimate the birthing, growth, maturity and decline periods of the Victorian suburban railway thus proves difficult. Using the data, the growth period can be estimated to be between 1900 and 1940 with the maturity period being between 1940 and 1970 with decline occurring post 1970. The period between 1996 and 2010 can be potentially classified as a second growth period.

Table 2 - Model 2 Values

Variable	Value
S_max	250000
b	0.01224524
r^2	0.22229096
t_i	1939.13808

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  Model 2 - Actual Vs. predicted Passengers (1900-2022)