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87-448: The Werribee line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne , Victoria , Australia . Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne , it is the city's ninth longest metropolitan railway line at 32.9 kilometres (20.4 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Werribee station in the south-west, serving 17 stations via Footscray , Newport , and Altona . The line operates for approximately 19 hours

174-510: A change of state government in 1982 saw the restitution of many services in July of that year. On 21 January 1985, the line was subsequently extended to Westona and, in April of that year, was extended from Westona to Laverton. In April 1985, Altona to Westona, which had temporarily been operated by Staff and Ticket safeworking , was converted to Automatic and Track Control, and a few days later,

261-651: A city's central business district, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others use fewer departures during off peak hours and weekends. Average speeds are high, often 50 km/h (30 mph) or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved. Some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains' travel distance varies between 15 and 200 km (10 and 125 miles), but longer distances can be covered when

348-529: A combined operational length of 140 years. Bayside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded M>Train . In 2002, M>Train was placed into receivership and the state government regained ownership of the line, with KPMG appointed as receivers to operate M>Train on behalf of the state government. Two years later, rival train operator Connex Melbourne took over the M>;Train operations including

435-465: 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 5–20 minutes are operated with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains on the Werribee line run with a two three-car formations of Comeng , Siemens Nexas , and X'Trapolis 100 trainsets. Part of the line initially opened in 1857 by

522-413: A headway rather than a published timetable and use dedicated tracks (underground or elevated), whereas commuter rail often shares tracks, technology and the legal framework within mainline railway systems, and uses rolling stocks with more seating and higher speed for comfort on longer city-suburban journeys. However, the classification as a metro or rapid rail can be difficult as both may typically cover

609-581: A metropolitan area exclusively, run on separate tracks in the centre, and often feature purpose-built rolling stock. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries (even across English-speaking countries) further complicates matters. This distinction is most easily made when there are two (or more) systems such as New York's subway and the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad , Paris' Métro and RER along with Transilien , Washington D.C.'s Metro along with its MARC and VRE , London's tube lines of

696-525: A new station in the "inner north", before connecting with at Parkville , Flagstaff , and Southern Cross stations. Exiting the CBD, the line would continue in a tunnel stopping at a new station in the suburb of Fishermans Bend , before crossing underneath the Yarra River and arriving at Newport station . The line would then exit the tunnel and travel further west to connect with the Werribee line bypassing

783-609: A regular passenger service, having guaranteed to cover any operating losses. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its government acquisition in 1859 until the 1999 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line. These operators, Victorian Railways , the Metropolitan Transit Authority , the Public Transport Corporation , and Bayside Trains have

870-583: A split six-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage. The primary rolling stock featured on the line is the Comeng EMUs, built by Commonwealth Engineering between 1981 and 1988. These train sets are the oldest on the Melbourne rail network and subsequently will be replaced by the mid 2030s. Siemens Nexas EMUs are also widely featured on the line, originally built between 2002 and 2005 these train sets feature more modern technology than

957-538: A station named Altona Beach , which was about a kilometre to the east of the current station. As a result of the collapse of the 1880s Land Boom , regular services to Altona Beach ceased after August 1890, and the Victorian Government declined the offer of the owners to gift it the line. In 1917, the owners of the estate entered into an agreement with the Victorian Railways (VR) to provide

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1044-935: Is especially the case for lines operated by Korail , such as the Gyeongui-Jungang Line , the Gyeongchun Line , the Suin-Bundang Line , or the Gyeonggang Line . Even some lines not operated by Korail, such as the AREX Line, the Seohae Line or the Shinbundang Line mostly function as commuter rail. Lastly, even for the "numbered lines" (1–9) of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway which mostly travel in

1131-603: Is heavily used by commuters in the Greater Tokyo Area , who commute between 100 and 200 km (62 and 124 mi) by Shinkansen . To meet the demand of commuters, JR sells commuter discount passes. Before 2021, they operated 16-car bilevel E4 Series Shinkansen trains at rush hour, providing a capacity of 1,600 seats. Several lines in China, such as the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway and

1218-417: Is often a case of asset sweating , by using a single large combined fleet for intercity and regional services. Loco hauled services are usually run in push-pull formation, that is, the train can run with the locomotive at the "front" or "rear" of the train (pushing or pulling). Trains are often equipped with a control cab at the other end of the train from the locomotive, allowing the train operator to operate

1305-1963: Is one suburban rail called the Chittagong Circular Railway . Another suburban railway called the Dhaka Circular Railway is currently proposed. Karachi in Pakistan has a circular railway since 1969. Tehran Metro currently operates the Line 5 commuter line between Tehran and Karaj . Turkey has lines connecting Başkentray , İZBAN , Marmaray and Gaziray . Major metropolitan areas in most European countries are usually served by extensive commuter/suburban rail systems. Well-known examples include BG Voz in Belgrade (Serbia), S-Bahn in Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland, Proastiakos in Greece, RER in France and Belgium, Servizio ferroviario suburbano in Italy, Cercanías and Rodalies ( Catalonia ) in Spain, CP Urban Services in Portugal, Esko in Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic), HÉV in Budapest (Hungary) and DART in Dublin (Ireland). London has multiple commuter rail routes: The Merseyrail network in Liverpool consists of two commuter rail routes powered by third rail, both of which branch out at one end. At

1392-470: Is operationally more like a typical metro system (frequent trains, an emphasis on standing passengers , short station spacings) than it is like commuter rail in other countries. Japanese commuter rail commonly interline with city center subway lines, with commuter rail trains continuing into the subway network, and then out onto different commuter rail systems on the other side of the city. Many Japanese commuter systems operate various stopping patterns to reduce

1479-526: Is still possible to tell them apart. Some operators, for example Thameslink , focus solely on commuter services. Others, such as Avanti West Coast and LNER , run solely intercity services. Others still, such as GWR and EMR , run a mixture of commuter, regional and intercity services. Some of these operators use different branding for different types of service (for example EMR brands its trains as either "InterCity", "Connect" for London commuter services, and "Regional") but even for those operators that do not,

1566-579: Is used in Australia (Sydney for example) to describe the regional trains operating beyond the boundaries of the suburban services, even though some of these "inter-city" services stop all stations similar to German regional services. In this regard, the German service delineations and naming conventions are clearer and better used for academic purposes. Sometimes high-speed rail can serve daily use of commuters. The Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail system

1653-590: Is widely used across the Melbourne train network. Three-position signalling was first introduced in 1927, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling in 1946. Past Werribee, three-position signalling continues further past Geelong . Commuter rail The term can refer to systems with a wide variety of different features and service frequencies, but is often used in contrast to rapid transit or light rail . Some services share similarities with both commuter rail and high-frequency rapid transit ; examples include New Jersey Transit in

1740-426: Is widely used in many commuter rail trains to increase capacity in rush hours. Carriages are usually not organized to increase seating capacity (although in some trains at least one carriage would feature more doors to facilitate easier boarding and alighting and bench seats so that they can be folded up during rush hour to provide more standing room) even in the case of commuting longer than 50 km and commuters in

1827-919: The Brisbane ( Queensland Rail 's City network ) and Perth ( Transperth ) systems in Australia, in some systems in Sweden, and on the Genoa-Casella line in Italy. Some countries and regions, including Finland , India, Pakistan, Russia , Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco ( BART ) in the US and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. Metro rail and rapid transit usually cover smaller inner-urban areas within 12 to 20 km (7 to 12 mi) of city centers, with shorter stop spacing, use rolling stocks with larger standing spaces, lower top speed and higher acceleration, designed for short-distance travel. They also run more frequently, to

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1914-769: The Chennai MRTS , also covers over 300 stations and carries more than 2.5 million people daily to different areas in Chennai and its surroundings. Other commuter railways in India include the Hyderabad MMTS , Delhi Suburban Railway , Pune Suburban Railway and Lucknow-Kanpur Suburban Railway . In 2020, Government of India approved Bengaluru Suburban Railway to connect Bengaluru and its suburbs. It will be unique and first of its kind in India as it will have metro like facilities and rolling stock. In Bangladesh, there

2001-555: The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company (G&MR) opened the Werribee to Little River section of the line they were building between Newport and Geelong. 2 years later in 1859, the government acquired the line and begun operations under the newly formed Victorian Railways (VR). The railway to Altona was constructed by the Altona Beach Estate Company, a private land developer, and opened on 9 November 1888 to

2088-570: The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company . The line was progressively finished within the next two years, allowing trains to travel from Melbourne to Geelong. In April 1885, a short branch was opened off the Werribee line just past Newport to Williamstown Racecourse , and in November 1888, a branch was opened off the Racecourse branch to Altona , terminating at a station named Altona Beach. The construction of these lines played important parts in

2175-528: The Greater Tokyo Area , Seoul metropolitan area , and Jabodetabek area have to stand in the train for more than an hour. Currently there are not many examples of commuter rail in Africa . Metrorail operates in the major cities of South Africa , and there are some commuter rail services in Algeria , Botswana , Kenya , Morocco , Egypt and Tunisia . In Algeria, SNTF operates commuter rail lines between

2262-845: The Guangshen Railway have more frequent metro-like service. The two MTR lines which are owned and formerly operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ( East Rail line and Tuen Ma line which is integrated from the former West Rail line and Ma On Shan line in 2021), then the "KCR" ), and MTR's own Tung Chung line connect the new towns in New Territories and the city centre Kowloon together with frequent intervals, and some New Territories-bound trains terminate at intermediate stations, providing more frequent services in Kowloon and

2349-585: The Jakarta city center with surrounding cities and sub-urbans in Banten and West Java provinces, including Depok , Bogor , Tangerang , Serpong , Rangkasbitung , Bekasi and Cikarang . In July 2015, KRL Commuterline served more than 850,000 passengers per day, which is almost triple of the 2011 figures, but still less than 3.5% of all Jabodetabek commutes. Other commuter rail systems in Indonesia include

2436-1023: The Metro Surabaya Commuter Line , Commuter Line Bandung , KAI Commuter Yogyakarta–Solo Line , Kedung Sepur , and the Sri Lelawangsa . In the Philippines, the Philippine National Railways has two commuter rail systems currently operational; the PNR Metro Commuter Line in the Greater Manila Area and the PNR Bicol Commuter in the Bicol Region . A new commuter rail line in Metro Manila,

2523-614: The North–South Commuter Railway , is currently under construction. Its North section is set to be partially opened by 2021. In Malaysia, there are two commuter services operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu . They are the KTM Komuter that serves Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley area , and the KTM Komuter Northern Sector that serves Greater Penang , Perak , Kedah and Perlis in

2610-767: The Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway , serve a similar role with many more under construction or planned. In South Korea, some sections of the high-speed rail network are also heavily used by commuters, such as the section between Gwangmyeong Station and Seoul Station on the KTX network ( Gyeongbu HSR Line ), or the section between Dongtan Station and Suseo station on the SRT Line. The high-speed services linking Zürich , Bern and Basel in Switzerland (200 km/h (120 mph)) have brought

2697-715: The Southern Shorthaul Railroad . Contrary to popular belief, the next generation of the X'Trapolis family of electric EMUs, the X'Trapolis 2.0, won't be introduced on the Werribee line. By the time the new trains entered service, the Werribee line will be through routed to the Sandringham line . In compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 , all stations that are new-built or rebuilt are fully accessible and comply with these guidelines. The majority of stations on

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2784-588: The Underground and the Overground , Elizabeth line , Thameslink along with other commuter rail operators , Madrid's Metro and Cercanías , Barcelona's Metro and Rodalies , and Tokyo's subway and the JR lines along with various privately owned and operated commuter rail systems. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in

2871-633: The Williamstown line being built by the Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company , with whom they had arranged permission to run the former company's trains over the latter company's tracks to Melbourne, but the Williamstown line was not yet ready. However, by October 1857, construction of the Williamstown line had sufficiently advanced to allow the Geelong trains to run to

2958-605: The Yamanote Line , Keihin Tohoku Line , Chūō–Sōbu Line services arguably are more akin to rapid transit with frequent stops, simple stopping patterns (relative to other JR East lines) no branching services and largely serving the inner suburbs; other services along the Chūō Rapid Line , Sōbu Rapid Line / Yokosuka Line , Ueno–Tokyo Line , Shōnan–Shinjuku Line etc. are mid-distance services from suburban lines in

3045-502: The 300 km/h (186 mph) Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway . The regional trains Stockholm – Uppsala , Stockholm– Västerås , Stockholm– Eskilstuna and Gothenburg – Trollhättan in Sweden reach 200 km/h (120 mph) and have many daily commuters. In Great Britain , the HS1 domestic services between London and Ashford runs at a top speed of 225 km/h, and in peak hours

3132-476: The Altona Loop. The Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of all remaining level crossings on the Werribee line, to be completed in stages from 2018 to 2030. In 2018, one level crossing was removed at Kororoit Creek Road, Williamstown North. The crossing was removed by raising the rail line onto a rail bridge above the road with partial duplication of the Altona Loop completed as part of

3219-526: The Altona Loop. After changing from Frankston services at Flinders Street, the Werribee line traverses mainly flat country with few curves and fairly minimal earthworks for most of the line. Few sections of the line has been elevated or lowered to remove level crossings. All remaining level crossings will be removed by 2030. The line follows the same alignment as the Williamstown line with the two services splitting onto different routes at Newport. The Werribee line continues on its south-western alignment, whereas

3306-584: The Altona Loop. The Werribee and Williamstown lines will be reconfigured to provide better and simpler service. This project was initially meant to be completed in the 2020s, however, no funding or planning has taken place, with the revised Victorian Rail Plan stating that the project would be completed under Stage 6 of the plan. As part of the Melbourne Metro 2, the Werribee and Williamstown lines would be reconfigured to provide simpler service. The Sandringham line would continue running to Williamstown with

3393-528: The Central Business Districts (CBDs) of these three cities within 1 hour of each other. This has resulted in unexpectedly high demand for new commuter trips between the three cities and a corresponding increase in suburban rail passengers accessing the high-speed services at the main city-centre stations ( Hauptbahnhof ). The Regional-Express commuter service between Munich and Nuremberg in Germany runs at 200 km/h (120 mph) on

3480-506: The Comeng trains. The final type of rolling stock featured on the line is the X'Trapolis 100 built by Alstom between 2002 and 2004, and 2009 and 2020. All of these rolling stock models are widely used on other lines across the metropolitan network and work as the backbone of the network. Alongside the passenger trains, Werribee line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are:

3567-570: The East Rail Line share tracks with intercity trains to mainland China . The three KCR lines are integrated into the MTR network since 2008 and most passengers do not need to exit and re-enter the system through separate fare gates and purchase separate tickets to transfer between such lines and the rest of the network (the exceptions are between the Tuen Ma line's East Tsim Sha Tsui station and

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3654-469: The Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades and other individual station upgrade projects. These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 76% of Werribee line stations classed as fully accessible. This number is expected to grow within the coming years with the completion of level crossing removal works on the corridor by 2029. The Werribee line uses three-position signalling which

3741-433: The Netherlands carry many commuters, while their equipment, range, and speeds are similar to those of commuter trains in some larger countries. The United Kingdom has a privatised rail system, with different routes and services covered by different private operators. The distinction between commuter and intercity rail is not as clear as it was before privatisation (when InterCity existed as a brand of its own), but usually it

3828-411: The Tsuen Wan line's Tsim Sha Tsui station . In Taiwan, the Western line in the Taipei - Taoyuan Metropolitan Area, Taichung Metropolitan Area and Tainan - Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area as well as the Neiwan - Liujia line in the Hsinchu Area are considered commuter rail. In South Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway includes a total of 22 lines, and some of its lines are suburban lines. This

3915-473: The U.S., German S-Bahn in some cities, the Réseau Express Régional (RER) in Paris, the S Lines in Milan, many Japanese commuter systems, the East Rail line in Hong Kong, and some Australasian suburban networks, such as Sydney Trains . Many commuter rail systems share tracks with other passenger services and freight . In North America, commuter rail sometimes refers only to systems that primarily operate during rush hour and offer little to no service for

4002-401: The Werribee line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters. Legend — Station status Legend — Stopping patterns Services do not operate via the City Loop The Werribee line has had a total of 10 operators since its opening in 1857. Early in 1857,

4089-426: The Werribee line in addition to the benefits seen on Geelong services. In January 2021, a major timetable rewrite resulted in increased frequencies and weekend daytime shuttle services being extended from Newport to Flinders Street . Peak hour weekday services now stop at South Kensington , which simplifies stopping patterns on the Sunbury line. In addition, peak hour frequencies were also made more consistent for

4176-662: The Williamstown line takes a southern alignment towards its final destination. Most of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs and heavy industrial areas with small pockets on non-urbanised spaces. The line serves 17 stations across 39.2 kilometres (24.4 mi) of track. The stations are a mix of elevated, lowered, and ground level designs. The majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals. From 2030, Spotswood station will be elevated as part of additional level crossing removal works. The Werribee line uses three different types of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that are operated in

4263-451: The Williamstown line. Metro Trains Melbourne , the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. The private operators have had a combined operational period of 29 years. The Werribee line forms a mostly straight route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Werribee. The route is 32.9 kilometres (20.4 mi) long and is fully doubled tracked from Flinders Street to its terminus, excluding during

4350-414: The area. However, the line closed less than two years later, in August 1890. A portion of the Altona Beach line near Williamstown Racecourse was leased by the Victorian Railways (VR) in 1906 to store race trains. Sometime between 1911 and 1919, the line reopened for goods trains with a siding built from Altona Beach to the Melbourne and Altona Colliery Company mine. From November 1917, the VR worked on

4437-467: The capital Algiers and its southern and eastern suburbs. They also serve to connect Algiers ' main universities to each other. The Dar es Salaam commuter rail offers intracity services in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania. In Botswana, the ( Botswana Railways ) "BR Express" has a commuter train between Lobatse and Gaborone . In Japan, commuter rail systems have extensive network and frequent service and are heavily used. In many cases, Japanese commuter rail

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4524-568: The city being reinstated to the Altona Loop. In June 2015, the completion of the Regional Rail Link allowed for the rerouting of Geelong and Warrnambool services via the 90 km of new track constructed between Little River and Deer Park stations. Instead of stopping at select stations on the Werribee line, services now stop at new stations at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit which are in Melbournes growing western suburbs. The separation of suburban and regional trains has reduced overcrowding, increased capacity, and improved service reliability on

4611-562: The corridor are fully accessible, however, there are some stations that haven't been upgraded to meet these guidelines. These stations do feature ramps, however, they have a gradient greater than 1 in 14. Stations that are fully accessible feature ramps that have a gradient less than 1 in 14, have at-grade paths, or feature lifts. These stations typically also feature tactile boarding indicators , independent boarding ramps, wheelchair accessible myki barriers, hearing loops , and widened paths. Projects improving station accessibility have included

4698-417: The dense parts of Seoul, some track sections extend far outside of the city, and operate large sections at ground level, such as on the Line 1 , Line 3 and Line 4 . In Busan, the Donghae Line , while part of the Busan Metro system, mostly functions as a commuter rail line. In Indonesia , the KRL Commuterline is the largest commuter rail system in the country, serving the Greater Jakarta . It connects

4785-420: The development of Geelong and Melbourne's west during the 19th and 20th centuries, with the line continuing to be an important asset in the 21st century. Since the 2010s, due to the heavily utilised infrastructure of the Werribee line, improvements and upgrades have been made. Works have included replacing sleepers , upgrading signalling technology, the removal of level crossings, planning for new infrastructure,

4872-613: The end of these works, the Werribee line will be fully level crossing free by 2030. When the new cross-city rail corridor being built by the Metro Tunnel opens in 2025 there will be a reorganisation of the Melbourne rail network. The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning plans to return the Frankston line to the City Loop , with dedicated use of the Caulfield group tunnel track. This will mean Frankston line trains will no longer through-run with Werribee and Williamstown line trains, and will again stop at City Loop stations Flagstaff , Melbourne Central , and Parliament . As part of

4959-402: The entire route. Instead of running through the City Loop , services terminate at Flinders Street and then continue onto the Frankston line , with boosted frequencies in combination with the Williamstown line . The Night Network operates on Friday nights and weekends, with services running 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours. Train services on

5046-416: The former BR 's Regional Railways , France's TER ( Transport express régional ), Germany's Regionalexpress and Regionalbahn , and South Korea's Tonggeun and Mugunghwa-ho services. In some European countries, the distinction between commuter trains and long-distance/intercity trains is subtle, due to the relatively short distances involved. For example, so-called " intercity " trains in Belgium and

5133-405: The introduction of new rolling stock, and station accessibility upgrades. In 1857, the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company (G&MRC) opened the Werribee to Little River section of the line they were building between Newport and Geelong, then in June of that year, they opened the section between Werribee and a temporary station near Newport, known as Greenwich. The intention was to connect to

5220-423: The line (excluding the ones on the Altona Loop) will be removed by 2030. The crossing at Hudsons Road, Spotswood and Maddox Road, Newport will be removed by constructing two separate rail bridges with a new Spotswood station also being built. In addition, the crossing at Maidstone Street will be removed with the construction of a road bridge and two crossings—Anderson Street and Champion Road—will be closed off. At

5307-449: The line also travelling to and terminating at Laverton via the Altona Loop. Express services (not via the Altona Loop) would instead be served by trains exiting the Melbourne Metro 2 tunnel towards Werribee (and potentially Geelong). The Western Rail Plan is a plan that aims to improve the quality of rail services in Melbournes western suburbs through infrastructure upgrades on a range of metropolitan and regional lines. Geelong Fast Rail

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5394-511: The line on behalf of the then owners, Altona Beach Estates Ltd., but to a relocated Altona Beach station, short of the original terminus. The VR electrified the Williamstown line and the branch to Williamstown Racecourse in August 1920. In October 1924, the VR took total control of the Altona Beach line, and electrified it in October 1926. Automatic Block Signalling was commissioned between South Kensington and Yarraville in August 1927, and then on to Newport. The Automatic and Track Control system

5481-509: The line was extended to Laverton and therefore connecting with the Werribee line. Initially, almost every Werribee bound service ran via Westona, but a timetable re-write in May 2011 saw this section converted to a separate service for the majority of the time. The rewrite introduced the controversial practice of having trains serving the Altona Loop run as a shuttle service between Laverton and Newport during off peak hours. Shuttle services were ended in August 2017, with direct services to and from

5568-422: The line. Crossings were removed at Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing and Werribee Street and Cherry Street in Werribee. Two of these crossings were removed with road bridges and one with a rail bridge. The removal of the crossing at Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing also included an upgrade to Hoppers Crossing station with a new overpass, station forecourt, and bus interchange. The final five crossings along

5655-502: The northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. In Thailand, the Greater Bangkok Commuter rail and the Airport Rail Link serve the Bangkok Metropolitan Region . The SRT Red Lines , a new commuter line in Bangkok, started construction in 2009. It opened in 2021. Another commuter rail system in Southeast Asia is the Yangon Circular Railway in Myanmar . In India, commuter rail systems are present in major cities and form an important part of people's daily lives. Mumbai Suburban Railway ,

5742-889: The number expected to rise even higher upon full completion of the Acharnes Railway Center . Eskişehir-Ankara and Konya-Ankara high speed train routes serve as high speed commuter trains in Turkey. Commuter/suburban trains are usually optimized for maximum passenger volume, in most cases without sacrificing too much comfort and luggage space, though they seldom have all the amenities of long-distance trains. Cars may be single- or double-level , and aim to provide seating for all. Compared to intercity trains, they have less space, fewer amenities and limited baggage areas. Commuter rail trains are usually composed of multiple units , which are self-propelled, bidirectional, articulated passenger rail cars with driving motors on each (or every other) bogie . Depending on local circumstances and tradition they may be powered either by diesel engines located below

5829-417: The oldest suburban rail system in Asia, carries more than 7.24 million commuters on a daily basis which constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself. Kolkata Suburban Railway , one of the largest suburban railway networks in the world, consists of more than 450 stations and carries more than 3.5 million commuters per day. The Chennai Suburban Railway along with

5916-581: The outer reaches of Greater Tokyo through operating into these lines to form a high frequency corridor though central Tokyo. Other commuter rail routes in Japan include: Commuter rail systems have been inaugurated in several cities in China such as Beijing , Shanghai , Zhengzhou , Wuhan , Changsha and the Pearl River Delta . With plans for large systems in northeastern Zhejiang , Jingjinji , and Yangtze River Delta areas. The level of service varies considerably from line to line ranging high to near high speeds. More developed and established lines such as

6003-423: The passenger compartment ( diesel multiple units ) or by electricity picked up from third rails or overhead lines ( electric multiple units ). Multiple units are almost invariably equipped with control cabs at both ends, which is why such units are so frequently used to provide commuter services, due to the associated short turn-around time. Locomotive hauled services are used in some countries or locations. This

6090-446: The project expected to get underway in 2023, with the Australian and Victorian governments committing $ 2 billion each to the project which is expected to create 2800 new jobs. Services on the Werribee line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 am daily. In general, during peak hours, train frequency is 5–15 minutes (reduced frequencies on the Altona Loop) while services during non-peak hours drops to 20 minutes throughout

6177-409: The project. In 2019, another level crossing was removed at Aviation Road, Laverton. The crossing was removed by raising the road onto a bridge above the rail line with upgrades to Aircraft station in conjunction with the project. The upgrades included a redesigned station forecourt and construction of a new pedestrian underpass. In 2021, a total of 3 level crossings were removed at various locations along

6264-601: The reconfiguration, the Werribee and Williamstown lines would instead begin through-running services to Sandringham for the first time. The 2012 Network Development Plan identified the need for an east-west tunnel connecting the Werribee (and potentially) the Geelong line to the Mernda line . The project would split the Mernda line from the Hurstbridge line after Clifton Hill into a new tunnel, travelling east stopping at

6351-552: The rest of the day, with regional rail being used to refer to systems that offer all-day service. Most commuter (or suburban) trains are built to main line rail standards, differing from light rail or rapid transit (metro rail) systems by: Compared to rapid transit (or metro rail), commuter/suburban rail often has lower frequency , following a schedule rather than fixed intervals, and fewer stations spaced further apart. They primarily serve lower density suburban areas (non inner-city), generally only having one or two stops in

6438-540: The same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs. However, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the local standard gauge track. Some systems may run on a narrower or broader gauge. Examples of narrow gauge systems are found in Japan, Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand , Taiwan, Switzerland, in

6525-459: The shunting train; designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives, for track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition, the overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection, and the infrastructure evaluation carriage designed for general infrastructure evaluation. Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line , Metro Trains, and

6612-463: The terminus at Williamstown Pier , so Greenwich station was closed and a connection was made to the Williamstown line towards Williamstown. From Williamstown Pier, passengers could connect to a ferry across Hobsons Bay to Port Melbourne . The Williamstown line fully opened in January 1859, so the connection near Newport towards Williamstown was removed and replaced with a connection to Newport, and

6699-480: The through running of Geelong trains to Melbourne commenced. In April 1885, a short branch was opened off the Werribee line just past Newport to Williamstown Racecourse , and in November 1888, a branch was opened off the Racecourse branch to Altona , terminating at a station named Altona Beach. This branch was opened by the Altona and Laverton Bay Freehold and Investment Company to encourage people to buy their land in

6786-461: The towns closer to Kowloon. They use rolling stocks with a faster maximum speed and have longer stop spacing compared to other lines which only run in the inner urban area, but in order to maximise capacity and throughput, these rolling stocks have longitudinal seatings, 5 pairs of doors in each carriage with large standing spaces like the urban lines, and run as frequent as well. Most of the sections of these four lines are overground and some sections of

6873-515: The train from either end. The motive power for locomotive-hauled commuter trains may be either electric or diesel–electric , although some countries, such as Germany and some of the former Soviet-bloc countries, also use diesel–hydraulic locomotives. In the US and some other countries, a three-and-two seat plan is used. Middle seats on these trains are often less popular because passengers feel crowded and uncomfortable. In Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, longitudinal (sideways window-lining) seating

6960-553: The trains can be full with commuters standing. The Athens Suburban Railway in Greece consists of five lines, 4 of which are electrified. The Kiato – Piraeus line and the Aigio – Airport lines reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (112 mph). The Athens – Chalcis line is also expected to attain speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph) upon upgrading of the SKA–Oinoi railway sector. These lines also have many daily commuters, with

7047-521: The trains run between two or several cities (e.g. S-Bahn in the Ruhr area of Germany). Distances between stations may vary, but are usually much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centres the train either has a terminal station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on-board trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in

7134-469: The travel time to distant locations, often using station passing loops instead of dedicated express tracks. It is notable that the larger Japanese commuter rail systems are owned and operated by for-profit private railway companies, without public subsidy. East Japan Railway Company operates a large suburban train network in Tokyo with various lines connecting the suburban areas to the city center. While

7221-574: The type of train, amenities offered, and stopping pattern, usually tell the services apart. Russian commuter trains , on the other hand, frequently cover areas larger than Belgium itself, although these are still short distances by Russian standards. They have a different ticketing system from long-distance trains, and in major cities they often operate from a separate section of the train station. Some consider "inter-city" service to be that which operates as an express service between two main city stations, bypassing intermediate stations. However, this term

7308-470: The way inter-city rail does. Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities. It provides a service between smaller communities along the line that are often byproducts of ribbon developments , and also connects with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions, terminals, or larger towns along the line. Alternative names are "local train" or "stopping train". Examples include

7395-530: Was extended from Altona Junction to Werribee in September 1983, whilst in January 1985, the Altona line was extended to Westona. By the early 1980s, the Altona Loop was under threat of closure, as recommended in the Lonie Report . In October 1981, the rail service was drastically cut, with all shuttle services withdrawn, and only two morning and evening trains being operated to and from Melbourne. However,

7482-594: Was installed from Newport South towards Geelong, enabling bidirectional use of the then single track line. The Williamstown Racecourse branch closed in May 1950. Duplication of the Werribee line occurred in stages between 1960 and 1968, with the Altona branch converted to Automatic Block Signalling in October 1967. First announced by the Transport Minister Joe Rafferty in 1977, electrification

7569-508: Was one project identified in the Western Rail Plan as a matter of priority, as it would allow for Geelong and Warrnambool services to travel back via the Werribee line, cutting travel time and allowing electrification of other corridors to occur which are currently being served exclusively by V/Line trains. Phase 1 of Geelong Fast Rail will consist of the following projects aimed at cutting travel times by 15 minutes: Construction on

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