Railways and Tramways of Australia
Pakenham Line
View from platform 3 at Dandenong looking in the Flinders Street direction, 18 January 2013. Photo: Thebusofdoom, Wikimedia Commons.
Year Opened:
Flinders Street–Princes Bridge (near Flinders Street) 1865; Princes Bridge (near Flinders Street)–Cremorne (near Richmond) 1859; Cremorne (near Richmond)–South Yarra 1860; South Yarra–Oakleigh 1879; Oakleigh–Pakenham 1877
Stations:
Richmond, South Yarra, Hawksburn, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Caulfield, Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Hughesdale, Oakleigh, Huntingdale, Clayton, Westall, Springvale, Sandown Park, Noble Park, Yarraman, Dandenong, Hallam, Narre Warren, Berwick, Beaconsfield, Officer, Cardinia Road, Pakenham
Typical Journey Time:
72 minutes (Flinders Street–Pakenham)
Typical Peak Frequency:
3 minutes (Caulfield); 6 minutes (Dandenong); 12 minutes (Pakenham)
Typical Off-peak Frequency:
5 minutes (Caulfield); 10 minutes (Dandenong); 20 minutes (Pakenham)
Typical Weekend Frequency:
5 minutes (Caulfield); 10 minutes (Dandenong); 20 minutes (Pakenham)
The Pakenham line extends to the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Between Flinders Street and Richmond there are ten tracks; between Richmond and South Yarra the line has six tracks; between South Yarra and Caulfield the line has four tracks; and between Caulfield and Pakenham the line is double track. Between Caulfield and Dandenong there are three elevated sections of railway, completed in 2018, which removed nine level crosings on the line. Most services run express between South Yarra and Caulfield, and then stop at all stations. During peak hours some trains do not stop at Westall and Yarraman. Between the city and Dandenong, services typically alternate between services terminating at Pakenham and services terminating at Cranbourne. Some services also terminate at Westall and Dandenong, particularly during peak hours. Weekday trains run anticlockwise around the City Loop until the middle of the day and then clockwise after this time, also running anticlockwise on weekends. Trains to Traralgon and Bairnsdale also share the Pakenham line.