The Cranbourne railway line operates along the inner section of the former South Gippsland line, which is currently disused between Cranbourne and the start of the private South Gippsland Tourist Railway in Nyora. The line, which begins at Dandenong Railway Station, was a single track after the Greens Road level crossing before 2022, with a crossing loop at Lynbrook towards the Cranbourne end of the line. The line is now fully duplicated.
Beyond Cranbourne there is a siding between Cameron Street and Berwick-Cranbourne Road near the Cranbourne "Shed" and the new Hunt Club Estate. The line then continues to Nyora, but this line has not seen regular trains since January 1998, no train at all since September 1999, and is overgrown, removed at many level crossings and unserviceable. The line traverses flat country which as been developed for industrial use.
The line passes through the industrial suburb of South Dandenong before reaching Lynbrook, the first station on the line. 10 km south east of Dandenong, Lynbrook is positioned on the South Gippsland Highway, slightly north-west of Cranbourne, and just south of the residential suburb of Hampton Park. Prior to 1994, the area now occupied by Lynbrook was part of Lyndhurst. The suburb was developed by VicUrban, starting in 1994. A special feature of the VicUrban development is the stormwater catchment which flows into the lake and wetlands where it is purified before being released into Dandenong Creek and into Port Phillip Bay. Banjo Paterson Park, a large recreation reserve, has many paths for walking and cycling, a barbecue area, a large children's playground, open spaces and a football / cricket oval.
Merinda Park railway station, opened on 24 March 1995, serves the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne North. In December 2019, plans were announced by the Level Crossing Removal Project to completely rebuild the station, as part of the Cranbourne line duplication. A second platform was added, and the main entrance moved to a more central location. Part of the new station opened on 18 March 2021, with the remainder of the station completed on 13 February 2022. The duplication also involved a new timetable for the Cranbourne line, with trains operating roughly every 10 minutes in the morning peak/
Cranbourne is located 43 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Prior to European settlement the Cranbourne area is thought to have been occupied by the Boonwurrung Aboriginal people. The first white settlers, the Ruffy brothers, arrived in 1836. They later opened the Cranbourne Inn. The area was greatly opened up by settlers from the 1860s. Cranbourne Post Office had opened on 1 August 1857. Cranbourne was, from 1860 until 1994, the administrative centre of the Shire of Cranbourne, (known for most of 1994 as the City of Cranbourne). The council building is still in existence, and is now used as a health care centre known as 'The Cranbourne Integrated Care Centre'.
To the south of Cranbourne is the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne (above), and the Cranbourne Racecourse and Recreation Reserve. Cranbourne also contains the Cranbourne Golf Club, the Amstel Golf Club, the Ranfurlie Golf Club and an indoor swimming pool. Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is made up of the Australian Garden, an award-winning, contemporary botanic garden surrounded by over 300 hectares of remnant native bushland. Cranbourne Gardens is recognised as a site of State significance for plant and wildlife conservation, home to over 25 endangered or rare and threatened species.
The Cranbourne Line runs on a section of the partially closed South Gippsland railway line. First opened in 1892, the South Gippsland line branched from the Orbost line at Dandenong, and extended to Port Albert. Much of it (the section up to Leongatha) remained open until December 1994 (passenger services finished the previous July). Today, only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne remains open for use. The section of the line from Nyora to Leongatha was used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway until it ceased operations in 2016. The section from Nyora to Welshpool, with extension trail to Port Welshpool and a portion of the former line at Koo Wee Rup, have been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail.
The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station to Punt Road (Richmond) and South Yarra in 1859 and extended to Dandenong in 1879. The South Gippsland railway line was opened from Dandenong to Cranbourne in 1888 and extended to Koo Wee Rup, Nyora and Loch in 1890, Korumburra and Leongatha in 1891 and Welshpool, Alberton and Port Albert in 1892. The section from Alberton to Port Albert was closed in the 1940s. A branch line was built from Alberton to Yarram and Woodside in 1921.
The line was well known for its sharp curves and spectacular scenery and was also one of the last lines to offer a 'Mixed Passenger and Goods' service in Victoria. The section from Yarram to Woodside was closed on 26 May 1953, with the section from Welshpool to Yarram closed on 26 October 1987 when the superphosphate freight services ceased. From this point until 30 June 1992, the track beyond Agnes, referred to as Barry Beach Junction received minimal usage, although a short branch leading from Agnes to Barry Beach was used extensively for goods traffic to serve the oil platforms in Bass Strait. After the withdrawal of this freight service the railway line beyond Leongatha was booked out of use for all rail traffic. This section of track was then dismantled in 1994, in which required the strengthening of the line's derelict trestle bridges in order to allow the track removal machine to dismantle the tracks.
Photo: Wailing Chang
On 24 July 1993, the last regular V/Line passenger train operated to Leongatha with locomotive P18 hauling the return passenger train with a set of 4 H type carriages. Following the withdrawal of all rail services beyond Koala Siding, the section of track from Nyora to Leongatha was transferred to the South Gippsland Railway on the 15th of December 1994. On 15 January 1998, all regular V/Line services ceased on the line after the withdrawal of the Australian Glass Manufacturing sand train, that operated between the sand mine at Koala Siding, situated between Lang Lang and Nyora railway stations, and the AGM siding at Spotswood. Since December 1999, no trains have operated beyond Cranbourne.
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