Craigieburn line

Craigieburn
Craigieburn
	Ascot Vale station on the Craigieburn line.
Overview
Service type	Commuter rail
System	Melbourne railway network
Status	Operational
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Predecessor	Essendon (1860–1864); Essendon (1871–1872); Seymour (1872–2007); Essendon ^ (1919–1921); Broadmeadows ^ (1921–2007); ^ are electric services
First service	21 October 1860
Current operator(s)	Metro Trains
Former operator(s)	M&ER (1860–1864); Victorian Railways (VR) (1871–1974); VR as VicRail (1974–1983); MTA (The Met) (1983–1989); PTC (The Met) (1989–1998); Bayside Trains (1998–2000); M>Train (2000–2004); Connex Melbourne (2004–2009);
Route
Termini	Flinders Street; Craigieburn
Stops	21 (including City Loop stations)
Distance travelled	27.0 km (16.8 mi)
Average journey time	44 minutes (not via City Loop)
Service frequency	5–20 minutes weekdays peak; 20 minutes weekdays off-peak; 20 minutes weekend daytime; 30 minutes nights; 60 minutes early weekend mornings;
Line(s) used	Albury
Technical
Rolling stock	Comeng, Siemens
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC overhead
Track owner(s)	VicTrack
Route map
Route map

The Craigieburn line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's sixth shortest metropolitan railway line at 27.0 kilometres (16.8 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Craigieburn station in the north, serving 21 stations via North Melbourne, Essendon, and Broadmeadows. The line operates for approximately 19 hours 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 minutes are operated with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains on the Craigieburn line run with a two three-car formations of Comeng or Siemens Nexas trainsets.

Services on the line began from North Melbourne to Essendon by the Melbourne & Essendon Railway Company in November 1860. It was closed shortly after, however, the Victorian Railways reopened the Flemington Racecourse line (including the Essendon line as far as Newmarket) in November 1867, and in January 1871, to Essendon. The line was progressively electrified and, in 1921, the line was electrified to Broadmeadows, where it remained till the extension of electrification in 2007.

Since the 2000s, due to the heavily utilised infrastructure of the Craigieburn line, improvements and upgrades have been made. Works have included replacing sleepers, upgrading signalling technology, the extension of the line to Craigieburn, the construction of new stations, the removal of level crossings, the introduction of new rolling stock, and station accessibility upgrades.

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