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96-484: † cemetery traffic only The Upfield line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne , it is the city's fifth-shortest metropolitan railway line at 20.1 kilometres (12.5 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Upfield station in the north, serving 19 stations via North Melbourne , Brunswick , Coburg , and Fawkner . The line operates for approximately 19 hours

192-409: A single track , all rails can be carried on the same crossties/sleepers . Trains run on the pair of rails appropriate to their direction, track gauge or loading gauge . The term gauntlet refers to the expression running the gauntlet , which means running between two confining rows of adversaries. Gauntlet tracks can be used to provide horizontal clearance to a fixed obstruction adjacent to

288-651: 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

384-524: A combined operational length of 121 years. Bayside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded as 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

480-413: A day (from approximately 05:00 to around midnight) with a 24-hour service on Friday and Saturday nights. During peak hours, headways of up to 15 minutes are operated, with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains run in two three-car formations of either Comeng or Siemens Nexas sets. Services on the line began in 1884 when it opened from North Melbourne to Coburg. In October 1889, it

576-508: A few that were closed instead. At the time, many of the numerous level crossings on the line were still controlled by gatekeepers , who opened and closed the gates manually for every train. During the 2006 Commonwealth Games , Royal Park station played a critical role in the running of the games, as it was centrally located to the athletes village and the State Netball and Hockey Centre . The line and station became heavily utilised during

672-411: A fixed length of cable there is no risk of a collision occurring as long as a passing loop is provided at the halfway point. In a point gauntlet track, the rails for the two tracks do not need to cross, so no frog is required. The train taking the gauntlet runs over a set of switch points onto the parallel rails, passes through the gauntlet area, and passes over another set of switch points to return to

768-717: 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 the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades, and individual station upgrade projects. More than 90% of Upfield line stations are now classed as fully accessible. Future station upgrade projects are planned to increase

864-413: 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

960-577: 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

1056-642: A mix of elevated, lowered, underground, and ground level designs. Underground stations are present only in the City Loop, with the majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals. Notably, the line has one of the lowest proportion of premium stations amongst Melbourne's railway lines, with only three stations past the North Melbourne junction classified as premium stations. The Upfield line uses two different types of electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that are operated in

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1152-645: A split six-car configuration. 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 are planned to be replaced by the late 2020s. The second type of rolling stock is the Siemens Nexas EMUs which are also widely featured on the line, originally built between 2002 and 2005 these train sets feature more modern technology than

1248-517: A standard gauge connection with the new North East standard gauge line at Somerton. In October 1968, electric staff safeworking was introduced on the Upfield to Somerton section. However, the Upfield to Somerton section, which included four industrial sidings , has not been used for some time and is out of commission. Automatic signalling advanced a little further along the line in August 1971, with Royal Park to Jewell being converted. In April 1972,

1344-415: A track such as a cutting , bridge , or tunnel . Frog gauntlets are also commonly used when a rail line's capacity is increased by the provision of an additional track, but cost or other factors prevent the widening of the bridges. They are typically used for short stretches of track where it is cheaper to provide extra rails than to provide switches and reduce the line to single track. This also eliminates

1440-483: A train operating on one of the tracks cannot be routed onto the other. Because two trains cannot use the gauntlet at the same time, scheduling and signalling must allow for this restriction. A type of frog gauntlet is common in funicular railways, with gauntlet track along the entire route except for a short doubled section halfway up. Frogs eliminate the need for moving points (which require regular maintenance and can break down) and because both trains are connected by

1536-399: Is double tracked from the city to Gowrie station with the line only having a single track past that point till Upfield. The only underground section of the Upfield line is in the City Loop, where the service stops at three underground stations. Exiting the city, the Upfield line traverses mainly flat country with few curves and fairly minimal earthworks for most of the line. Some sections of

1632-874: 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

1728-591: 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

1824-468: Is located on platform 2 of Roma Street station . The Gemmenich Tunnel (German: Gemmenicher Tunnel , French: Tunnel de Botzelaer ) passing under the Dreiländerpunkt ( Three country point ) has a special track layout to enable the passage of wide military loads. The double-track tunnel has a third set of rails interlaced with one of the normal tracks. Active points ( switches ) at each end of

1920-417: 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

2016-901: 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 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

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2112-1884: 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

2208-470: 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

2304-580: Is shared as the inner rail of the outer track for two sections of tracks: on Washington Street between Mason Street and Powell Street, on Powell Street (north of Washington Street) onto Jackson Street to the point of divergence of the Powell Street lines at Jackson Street and Mason Street, and on Hyde Street between Jackson Street and Washington Street. Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit uses gauntlet tracks at several stations. The pair of rails closer to

2400-609: Is slightly further off-centre than normal. Gauntlet track exists on the Perry Island Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge across the Rivière des Prairies between Montreal and Laval (Parc subdivision, mile 10.0) because the structure gauge is not sufficiently wide for double track . This bridge is used by freight trains of Canadian Pacific Kansas City , the Quebec Gatineau Railway and by

2496-468: Is sometimes used to allow trains of different gauges to use the same track. In that case, the two interlaced tracks will have different gauges, sometimes sharing one of the rails for a total of three rails when the difference between the track gauges is large enough. In Melbourne , broad (1600 mm) and standard dual gauge gauntlet track is located within the passenger yard of Southern Cross station , and in platforms 1 and 2. Those tracks also run on

2592-526: 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,

2688-570: 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

2784-426: 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

2880-576: The 1,524 mm ( 5 ft ) gauge used in Finland and 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge used in Sweden are too close for a common rail to be shared. The link, which opened in 1919 with the completion of the Torne River Railway Bridge , is complemented by a marshalling yard at each end, an arrangement that allows trains from either country to stop in

2976-851: 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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3072-747: 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

3168-519: 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

3264-811: 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

3360-571: 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

3456-704: The Macaulay to Royal Park section was similarly converted. By May 1988, serious consideration was given to proposals to convert the line to light rail , following the conversion of the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines in 1987. A report submitted to the Cain government determined that the route suffered from low passenger numbers, redundancy with the Route 19 tram, outdated signalling systems, manned boom gates well past their prime, and that substantial investments would be required to modernise

3552-947: 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,

3648-603: The North Coburg line (now Route 19 ). At the outer end of the railway line, a bus service was provided, connecting with trams in North Coburg . In June 1961, that arrangement was extended to apply for the whole of Sunday and, in October 1961, it was further extended to include services after 7:30pm between Mondays and Saturdays. In January 1963, the line from Somerton to the Ford factory was re-laid as dual gauge gauntlet track , to provide

3744-597: 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

3840-746: The Regional Rail Link flyover towards South Dynon yards . The northern section of the Upfield line , between the Ford sidings and Somerton, is also dual gauge gauntlet track. On the Western standard gauge line from Melbourne towards Adelaide , dual gauge track can be found between the Geelong Harbour and Gheringhap , as well as along the Newport-Sunshine freight line in Melbourne. In Brisbane , standard and narrow (1067 mm) dual gauge gauntlet track

3936-509: The Saint-Jérôme line suburban trains of the Réseau de transport métropolitain . The Toronto Streetcar System includes a very short section of gauntlet track on Queen Street East , at Coxwell Avenue . A loop allowing southbound cars to return northbound on Coxwell Avenue briefly interlaces with the westbound track on Queen Street, due to turning radius limitations. A switch partially within

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4032-753: 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

4128-573: 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

4224-426: 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

4320-402: 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

4416-448: 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

4512-447: The City Loop The Upfield line has had a total of 7 operators since its opening in 1884. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1884 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

4608-455: The Comeng trains. Alongside the passenger trains, Upfield line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are: 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

4704-402: 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

4800-436: The Frankston 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 25 years. The Upfield line forms a linear route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Upfield. The route is 20.1 kilometres (12.5 mi) long, making it the fifth shortest line on the Melbourne metropolitan network. The line

4896-433: 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

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4992-411: 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

5088-467: 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

5184-536: The current Jewell station. Both stations will be approximately 450 metres away from the current Brunswick station. The decision to build two stations in different locations instead of rebuilding all 3 generated significant criticism from residents and the local council . Local newspaper Brunswick Voice reported that the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Danny Pearson , claimed "the decision to build two stations followed 18 months of technical and engineering assessments which found fewer stations would boost capacity on

5280-400: The current Somerton link to the Craigieburn line , then onto Wallan . The 2018 Victorian Rail Plan has proposed the following projects take place as part of the Wallan extension: In 2018, the government announced that a business case would be completed to further investigate the possibility for these series of projects to commence. A business case was completed, however, it wasn't released to

5376-417: 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

5472-465: The end of these removals, the Upfield line will have 10 remaining crossings not slated for removal. Jewell , Brunswick and Anstey stations are set to be closed and replaced by two new stations. The new northern station is currently planned to be located near Hope Street, approximately 200 metres south of the current Anstey station. The new southern station is planned to be located between Union Street and Dawson Street, approximately 200 metres north of

5568-416: 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

5664-688: The games, with increased security and staff presence at the station. In 2017, a level crossing was removed at Camp Road, Campbellfield by lowering the rail line underneath the road. The rail line was elevated from Coburg to Moreland stations in 2020 to remove four level crossings. Crossings were removed at Bell Street, Moreland Road, Munro Street, and Reynard Street, with both Coburg and Moreland stations rebuilt as part of these removals. Eight further level crossings between Anstey and Royal Park stations are planned to be removed by 2030, at Albert Street, Albion Street, Brunswick Road, Dawson Street, Hope Street, Union Street, Victoria Street, and Park Street. At

5760-422: The gauntlet section allows westbound streetcars from Queen Street to transition to the loop curve, and turn right onto Coxwell Avenue, but streetcars already within the loop cannot switch to the westbound Queen Street track. At the border with Sweden where the Torne separates the cities of Tornio , Finland and Haparanda , Sweden, a two-kilometre section of dual gauge track uses a gauntlet configuration because

5856-436: The infrastructure evaluation carriage designed for general infrastructure evaluation. Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line , Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad . From the middle of 2020s, the next generation of the X'Trapolis family of electric EMUs—the X'Trapolis 2.0—will be introduced. This new model will fully replace the existing fleet of Comeng EMUs currently operating on

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5952-431: The installation in 1991, trains with an oversize loading gauge were rerouted over this line, and the lightly used (but tunnel-free) secondary line between Stolberg and Welkenraedt (crossing the border at Raeren) was closed to freight traffic. Electric-hauled trains requiring use of the central track will get their power from the right track's (in travelling direction Germany to Belgium) overhead rail , which to that purpose

6048-471: The line currently with new, modern, and technologically advanced trains. The new trains will feature: 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 the stations on 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

6144-528: The line from Fawkner to Somerton was again closed, but only three years later, in July 1959, the Upfield to Somerton section reopened for goods trains . Also in 1959, the track from Coburg to Fawkner was duplicated and, in the following month, the section from Fawkner to Upfield was reopened, after being electrified, to cater for workers at the new Ford automotive factory next to the new Upfield station. In September 1958, Sunday evening services after 6pm withdrawn, being replaced by adjacent tram routes, particularly

6240-439: The line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings . Despite some removals, there are a number of level crossings still present with no current plans to remove them. Rare in Melbourne, the line travels underneath the CityLink toll road beside the Moonee Ponds Creek for a portion of the line, before rising up a lengthy hill in Royal Park until it reaches Jewell railway station . The line follows

6336-410: The line in the future and deliver more open space", noting that "[the government claimed] the plan would also minimise the impact to heritage in the area, but [the politician] provided no detail about whether the three station buildings and the historic boom gate operators' cabins would be preserved". Highlighted in the 2018 Victorian Rail Plan , a proposal exists for the Upfield line to be extended via

6432-454: The line to meet modern standards. After discussions with local councils, unions, the public, and the Metropolitan Transit Authority , two options were floated. These options included: These proposals were put to rest in April 1995, when it was announced that $ 23 million would be spent upgrading the line. The work included the provision of power signalling for the whole line, and the installation of boomgates at all level crossings , except for

6528-695: The need to reopen the rail line between Upfield and Somerton/Roxburgh Park, and run regional and metropolitan rail services via that route in the near future. The Upfield line originated as a line from North Melbourne to Coburg. The line was opened by the Governor of Victoria Henry Loch in September 1884, and cost £53,000. In October 1889, it was extended to Somerton , with duplication providing an additional track from North Melbourne to Royal Park in September 1888, to South Brunswick (now Jewell ) in May 1889, between Brunswick and Coburg in December 1891, and between South Brunswick to Brunswick in August 1892. The Coburg to Somerton section closed in July 1903, but

6624-502: 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 ,

6720-889: 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

6816-423: The number of fully accessible stations overtime. The Upfield line uses three-position signalling which is widely used across the Melbourne train network. Three-position signalling was first introduced in 1928, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling in 1972. Commuter rail The term can refer to systems with a wide variety of different features and service frequencies, but

6912-522: 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

7008-524: The original line. This arrangement is used at the Roselle Park station referenced below. At a small number of locations on single track lines in Britain, interlaced loops had been provided where sprung catch points were required because of the steep gradient. The points at either end of the loop were set according to the train's direction of travel. Trains running uphill were routed via the loop incorporating

7104-416: The other for freight to be transferred to trains of the local gauge. The Moscow tramway network has only one stretch of gauntlet track remaining in place. The five-track railway line just south of Kursky Terminal is crossed through a narrow tunnel built at the beginning of the 20th century and unsuitable for a two-track tram line. Other similar stretches were removed or re-organised, since according to

7200-575: The other, the Northern line continues out of the city centre to a mainline rail interchange, while the Wirral line has a city-centre loop. Gauntlet track Gauntlet track or interlaced track , also gantlet track ( AE ) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e., overlapped) in such a way that only one pair of rails can be used at any time. Since this requires only slightly more width than

7296-688: 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

7392-423: 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

7488-529: The peak the frequency is reduced to 20–30 minutes throughout the entire route. On Friday and Saturday nights, services run 24 hours a day, with 60-minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours. Train services on the Upfield 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 Some services do not operate via

7584-408: The platform provides level boarding with the high-floor passenger trains, while the pair of rails farther away gives freight trains sufficient clearance to pass the platform. Although a monorail cannot strictly speaking have gauntlet track, the nearest equivalent would be when two parallel monorail tracks are too close together to allow two trains to pass. This happens at the southern terminus of

7680-421: The problem of switch/point failures. In a frog gauntlet, one rail crosses over a rail on the adjacent track. A frog is used to provide the flangeway for the crossing tracks. The train taking the gauntlet runs over the frog onto the parallel rails, passes through the gauntlet area, and passes over another frog to return to the original line. Since there are no points or other moving parts on a frog gauntlet track,

7776-464: The public. Since the business case in 2018, there have been little developments despite the 'Metro Tunnel Day One' milestone of the 2018 Plan fast approaching. Services on the Upfield line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily. The Upfield line has one of the least-frequent peak-period services in Melbourne's railway network , with train frequency being every 15–20 minutes while outside

7872-552: 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

7968-488: 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

8064-400: The same alignment as multiple lines with the Upfield line splitting off at North Melbourne . The Upfield line continues on its northern alignment, whereas the other lines continue onto a western or south-western alignment. Most of the rail line goes through built-up suburbs and some industrial areas. The line serves 19 stations across 20.1 kilometres (12.5 mi) of track. The stations are

8160-437: The sprung catch point. Trains running downhill used the opposite loop, bypassing the catch point. Where routes diverge, but it is not practical to locate the physical switch apparatus at the point of divergence (especially on trams, where roads may be in the way), a section of gauntlet track may be provided between where the routes actually diverge and the location of the physical switch. An arrangement similar to gauntlet track

8256-461: The standards, gauntlet tracks on tram lines are only permitted as a temporary measure. Similar arrangements exist on the approach to Kaliningrad , where 1435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) track extends from the Polish border with some sections of dual gauge. The San Francisco cable car system features three areas with gauntlet tracks where the outer rail of the inner track

8352-461: 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

8448-515: 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

8544-549: 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

8640-517: 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

8736-465: 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

8832-544: The tunnel allow a train to divert along the central track, whilst other trains are blocked by signalling. The third track is rarely in use, so there is no limitation of capacity through the tunnel for standard-sized trains. Close to where the borders of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands come together, the interlaced tunnel section provides an important connection between Germany and the Belgian harbour at Antwerp. After completing

8928-574: 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

9024-470: 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

9120-538: Was extended to Somerton . The continued existence of the line was in serious doubt in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with proposals for it either to be converted to a light rail or fully closed. With the future of the rail line secured, and patronage growth in the 2000s, infrastructure upgrades were carried out on the line. They included replacing sleepers , upgrading signalling technology, removing level crossings, introducing new rolling stock, and improving station accessibility. The 2018 Victorian Rail Plan identified

9216-684: Was reopened as far as Fawkner in December 1906. The reopening was for funeral trains only, in conjunction with the creation of the adjacent Fawkner Cemetery . Normal passenger services were extended to Fawkner in 1915, and the line was electrified by December 1920. In March 1928, despite strong resistance from the Railways Commissioners, the state government ordered the reopening of the section from Fawkner to Somerton for passengers. Passenger services were provided by an AEC railmotor , which connected with electric trains at Fawkner. In May 1956,

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