Lilydale station is the terminus for Melbourne's Lilydale suburban railway line offering half hourly metropolitan rail services. It was rebuilt in November 2021 as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project, with the railway line being raised above Maroondah Highway. The original 1882 station building has been preserved in its original location, with the current station and bus interchange located on the opposite side of the highway.
Lilydale has segregated bicycle facilities including the start of the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail which follows the course of the Lilydale-Warburton railway line that was built in 1901 but closed in 1964.
The heritage-listed original Lilydale Railway Station building
The railway from Hawthorn to Lilydale opened in 1882, providing a fast and reliable connection to Melbourne for the first time. As happened at so many other locations on the outskirts of Australia's capital cities, the opening of the line heralded a period of unprecedented development, attracting new residents, industry and manufacturing, and tourism.
Lilydale became a pleasure resort in its own right, and a major interchange point following the opening of the railway to Healesville in 1889 and Warburton in 1901. By the 1960s, the popularity of road transport to those destinations led to dwindling passenger numbers. With the closure of the Warbuton line in 1965, and the Healesville line in 1983, Lilydale once again became a terminus station.
An outer suburb of Melbourne, Lilydale is 34 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Situated in the Yarra Valley, it is notable as the burial site of Dame Nellie Melba (Lilydale Cemetery). Lilydale is both a residential area of metropolitan Melbourne and an industrial area on the city's rural-urban fringe.
The Lilydale-Warburton railway lin branched off from the Healesville line at the present terminus, Lilydale. The route between Lilydale and Warburton was originally proposed to be built as one of four experimental narrow gauge lines, but the recommendation was not accepted and the Warburton line opened as a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) railway on Wednesday, 13 November 1901. The line from Lilydale to Warburton was slightly over 37 kilometres long. The last train ran on Sunday, 1 August 1965, although the official closure was on 29 July 1965.
Throughout its life the Warburton line had both passenger and goods services. Although passenger services generally ran as a shuttle between Lilydale and Warburton stations), some were operated by so-called E trains, which consisted of either two electric swing-door cars (generally known as "dog boxes") or two Tait cars, hauling a number country carriages on services that ran express for most of their journey from Flinders Street station to Ringwood, except for a stop at Box Hill. At Lilydale, the country carriages were detached, and hauled by a steam locomotive to their destination at Warburton, with the reverse arrangement for the return trip.
Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, Seville
Although the track was dismantled in the 1970s, the Warburton line right-of-way is intact, except for a short section leased to Mount Lilydale Mercy College. All the bridges are still in place, except the one that previously crossed the Maroondah Highway. A new bridge, allowing the highway to be safely crossed by cyclists and pedestrians, was completed in 2011. The route formerly used by the line is now the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail, a pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian trail.
Photo: Yarra Valley Railway
The Healesville railway line was the non-electrified continuation of the suburban Lilydale line, extending into the Yarra Valley. The line closed in the 1980s, but a heritage railway group, the Yarra Valley Railway, is working to retain part of the line between Yarra Glen and Healesville. The Lilydale railway line was extended to Yarra Flats (now known as Yarra Glen) on 15 May 1888.
The extension of the line from Yarra Glen to Healesville on 1 March 1889 required a 1 in 40 climb into a 154.4 metre tunnel with a corresponding descent at nearly the same grade. Opened at the same time was the intermediate station of Tarrawarra.
Traffic on the line included timber, livestock, milk and dairy products. Early timetables included regular goods services specifically for transporting milk. The last regular steam passenger service was hauled in August 1964. From that time until the closure of the line in 1980, passenger services were run using diesel-electric rail motors. As from 9 December 1980 all services were withdrawn, except for some goods services to Coldstream. The line was officially closed to all traffic on 10 March 1983.
Work on the Yarra Valley Trail is underway in building a network of trails, connecting Lilydale, Yarra Glen, and Healesville, with a vision to link up to the Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail, creating a valley-wide loop. Yarra Ranges Council has incorporated input from Wurundjeri on the planning, heritage, education, activation and management of the trail system. Wurundjeri see opportunities for education, interpretation and management.
Healesville Railway Station
The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne. Train rides on the heritage Walker Railmotor depart Healesville Station hourly from 10am to 4pm every Sunday, Public Holiday and Wednesday during School Holidays.
Location: 20 Healesville-Kinglake Rd, Healesville VIC 3777.
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