Inner Circle railway line

37.77958°S 144.97350°E / -37.77958; 144.97350

For the rail service in London historically known as the Inner Circle, see Circle line (London Underground).

Inner Circle
A section of the Inner Circle line between Royal Parade and The Avenue, Parkville.
Overview
Status	Closed line - Inner Circle Rail Trail (part of the Capital City Trail)
Owner	Victorian Railways (VR) (1888–1974) VR as VicRail (1974–1981)
Locale	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Termini	Royal Park Fitzroy, Merri, or Rushall
Continues from	Upfield
Continues as	Mernda
Connecting lines	Mernda, Upfield, Whittlesea lines
Stations	3 current stations 3 former stations
Service
Type	Former Melbourne suburban service
Operator(s)	Victorian Railways (VR) (1888–1974) VR as VicRail (1974–1981)
History
Commenced	8 May 1888 (1888-05-08)
Opened	Royal Park to Rushall on 8 May 1888 (1888-05-08) North Fitzroy to Fitzroy on 8 May 1888 (1888-05-08) North Fitzroy to Merri on 8 October 1889 (1889-10-08)
Completed	8 October 1889 (1889-10-08)
Electrified	Royal Park to North Fitzroy on 5 July 1921 (1921-07-05) North Fitzroy to Merri / Rushall on 14 July 1921 (1921-07-14)
De-electrified	Royal Park to Merri / Rushall in c. 1961
Closed	North Fitzroy to Rushall on 2 May 1965 (1965-05-02) North Fitzroy to Merri on 21 June 1965 (1965-06-21) Royal Park to Fitzroy on 31 July 1981 (1981-07-31)
Technical
Line length	Royal Park to Fitzroy: 4.238 km (2.633 mi) Royal Park to Merri: 3.824 km (2.376 mi) Royal Park to Rushall: 3.367 km (2.092 mi) Total track: 5.638 km (3.503 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map Legend km Upfield line to Flinders Street 6.7 Royal Park ■ 7.5 Brunswick Road Upfield line to Upfield Royal Parade 7.9 North Carlton (closed) 9.1 North Fitzroy (demolished) 10.8 Fitzroy (demolished) St Georges Road Mernda line to Flinders Street 10.1 Rushall 10.2 Merri Creek 10.3 Merri Parade 10.5 Merri ■■ Mernda line to Mernda km This diagram: view talk edit

A map of the Inner Circle railway line

November 2005

March 2023

Remnants of the Inner Circle railway tracks, crossing Brunswick Street North in Fitzroy North. The line is now a shared user path.

Remains of the former North Fitzroy railway station in 2005

The North Fitzroy Substation, built in 1915 to supply power to the Inner Circle line

The Inner Circle Line was a steam era suburban railway line (later electrified) in Melbourne, Australia. It served the inner-northern suburbs of Parkville, Carlton North, Fitzroy North and Fitzroy. At its closure, it ran from Royal Park station on the Upfield line in the west to a triangular junction with Rushall and Merri stations on today's Mernda line in the east. There was also a branch line to Fitzroy that opened at the same time.

History

The Inner Circle was opened on 8 May 1888^[1] with three stations: North Carlton and North Fitzroy on the main line, and Fitzroy at the end of a short branch line leading south through the Edinburgh Gardens from a junction near North Fitzroy station.

As the main line

When the Inner Circle line first opened, services originated from Spencer Street station at the western end of the Melbourne central business district. Trains bound for the then terminus at Heidelberg station (now on the Hurstbridge line) would run to North Fitzroy station, then continue south to Victoria Park station (then known as Collingwood, and now on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines). Locomotives would then have to change ends and the trains return to Clifton Hill station, where they diverged east on to the line to Heidelberg.

In December 1889, after the opening of the Whittlesea line, trains ran from Spencer Street to Whittlesea via the Inner Circle. Other services on the same route only travelled as far as Preston station.

A passenger service was originally provided from Spencer Street to Fitzroy station, on the branch line. By October 1889 this had been relegated to a short shuttle service from North Fitzroy station, and the passenger service closed altogether in May 1892.

For a short period between March and May 1891, the Inner and Outer Circle routes formed the only link between the eastern and western halves of the Victorian Railways system. Prior to that, the link was via a street-level tramway along the edge of the CBD between Flinders and Spencer Streets, which was generally only used at night. Between December 1888 and May 1891, when the new Flinders Street Viaduct, connecting Flinders Street and Spencer Street stations, was in its final stages of construction, the Outer and Inner Circle lines allowed freight trains to bypass the construction site.

Replaced by direct line

In 1901 a new direct line to Clifton Hill was opened from the central Princes Bridge station at the southern edge of the CBD through the inner eastern suburb of Abbotsford. This meant that Heidelberg-bound trains could run direct to their destination, removing the need for the reversal manoeuvre at Victoria Park. The Preston suburban service also ran via the new line. However, Whittlesea trains continued to use the more indirect route via the Inner Circle, albeit only from Spencer Street station.

With the loss of the main line services on the Inner Circle after 1901, a series of "roundabout" services were trialled. By 1906 a regular steam-operated service was established from Princes Bridge to North Fitzroy station via Clifton Hill, and by 1919 this service was running every hour off-peak.^[2]

Electrification of the line between Royal Park and Clifton Hill stations was commissioned on 31 July 1921,^[2] but the Fitzroy branch was not electrified. Following electrification, passenger services were extended to North Carlton running at 15 minute headways, but from 18 September 1921 they were changed to every 20 minutes.^[2] Two trains on weekdays, and a larger number at weekends were extended to Royal Park station to serve patrons of the Melbourne Zoo.^[2]

There was the possibility of a revitalisation of the Inner Circle in 1940, when the Ashworth Improvement Plan recommended a subway tunnel with five stations be built under the Melbourne CBD, from Flinders Street to the Inner Circle, with a proposed future subway from the first station to North Melbourne.

Traffic on the Inner Circle was discouraged by the circuitous route and by competition from the more direct trams to the city.^[2] Off-peak services were cut to every 30 minutes from 29 May 1944, but from 4 December 1944 20-minute headways were restored on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The passenger service was finally cancelled on 3 July 1948, and North Carlton and North Fitzroy stations closed to passengers.^[2]

Freight only

After 1948 the Inner Circle line was used exclusively for freight trains serving sidings along the line itself, and the goods yard at the end of the Fitzroy branch. The overhead wiring for electric trains was dismantled in 1961. Only the main feeder cables needed for Epping (now Mernda) line trains, and for shunting at the Royal Park end, were retained.^[2] Significant changes occurred in 1965, when the line was singled and both legs of the triangle at the eastern end of the line were closed.^[1] This left just a single line from Royal Park to Fitzroy remaining for goods services. The line was officially closed on 31 July 1981.^[1]

Today

The rails were removed after the final closure, except for some short sections at former level crossings which can still be seen today. From Rushall to Royal Park stations the rail reserve has become a linear park which provides part of the Capital City Trail for cyclists, connecting the Merri Creek Trail to the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail in the network of shared use bicycle paths. Some signals and parts of level crossing gates also survive, with remaining overhead stanchions still carrying railway electric current between the Upfield and Mernda railway lines.

Of the three former stations, only North Carlton still stands, having been converted into a community centre.^[3] North Fitzroy station is now a slight rise in the walking and cycling path east of Nicholson Street. The path was realigned in 2002 to traverse the length of the former platform. The site of Fitzroy station has been redeveloped into a medium-density housing estate.

Map of the Inner Circle Rail Trail

Station histories

Station	Opened[4]	Closed[4]	Age	Notes[4]
Royal Park	9 September 1884 || || data-sort-value=51,207 | 140 years
North Carlton	8 May 1888 || 15 November 1948 || data-sort-value=22,105 | 60 years	Formerly Langridge Street
	15 November 1948 || 29 November 1977 || data-sort-value=10,606 | 29 years	Freight only
North Fitzroy	8 May 1888 || 15 November 1948 || data-sort-value=22,105 | 60 years	Formerly Nicholson Street
	15 November 1948 || 11 July 1981 || data-sort-value=11,926 | 32 years	Freight only
Fitzroy	8 May 1888 || 9 May 1892 || data-sort-value=1,462 | 4 years
	9 May 1892 || 11 January 1981 || data-sort-value=32,388 | 88 years	Freight only
Rushall	1 January 1927 || || data-sort-value=35,754 | 97 years
Merri	8 October 1889 || || data-sort-value=49,352 | 135 years	Formerly Northcote

See also

• Outer Circle railway line

References

1. Vicsig: Inner Circle railway line
2. S.E. Dornan and R.G. Henderson (1979). Electric Railways of Victoria. Australian Electric Traction Society. ISBN 0-909459-06-1.
3. Cauchi, Stephen (29 December 2005). "Phantom Trails". The Age. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
4. Anderson, Rick (2010). Stopping All Stations. Clunes, Victoria: Full Parallel Productions. ISBN 978-0646543635. OCLC 671303814.

External links

• Media related to Inner Circle railway line at Wikimedia Commons
• Fitzroy Railway Walk (Fitzroy Historical Society)
• City of Yarra: Inner Circle Railway Linear Park
• Victorian Railways signalling diagram: North Fitzroy to Merri in 1932
• Victorian Railways signalling diagram: Macaulay to North Fitzroy in 1913
• Victorian Railways signalling diagram: Macaulay to North Carlton in 1932
• 1920 Morgan's Street Directory Map: Inner circle station locations
• Geographic data related to Inner Circle railway line at OpenStreetMap