Editing Stony Point line (section)

== History ==

=== 19th century ===
[[File:Stony point 1892.jpg|thumbnail|Stony Point station in 1892|left]]

The Stony Point line was initially opened from Frankston to [[Baxter railway station|Baxter]] station, with services commencing in 1888. Extensions to [[Hastings railway station, Melbourne|Hastings]], [[Bittern railway station|Bittern]], and [[Stony Point railway station|Stony Point]] were completed in the following year.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=1889-12-18 |title=The Hastings and Stony Point railway line |page=4 |work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8579415 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211110715/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8579415 |archive-date=11 February 2023 |via=[[Trove]]}}</ref> Branch lines were opened from Baxter to [[Mornington railway station|Mornington]] in 1889, and from Bittern to [[Red Hill, Victoria|Red Hill]] in 1921.<ref name=":7" />

=== 20th century ===
In 1959, a new station was opened at [[Leawarra railway station|Leawarra]] (originally called Railmotor Stopping Place No. 16),<ref>{{cite web |title=Leawarra |url=https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Leawarra |website=Vicsig |access-date=2025-05-12}}</ref>and [[Morradoo railway station|Morradoo]] (originally called Railmotor Stopping Place No. 15} was opened a year later.<ref>{{cite web |title=Morradoo |url=https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/location/Morradoo |website=Vicsig |access-date=2025-05-12}}</ref><ref name="theage">{{cite news |date=6 November 1959 |title=New platform for Stony Point line |page=11 |work=[[The Age]] |location=Melbourne}}</ref>

The [[Red Hill railway line|Red Hill branch]] was closed in 1953, and the [[Mornington railway line|Mornington branch]] was closed in 1981. A {{convert|300|m|adj=on}}-long branch from Long Island Junction to Long Island was opened on 29 April 1969 to serve the adjacent steel mill.<ref name="newsrail-line">{{cite magazine |author=Brown |first=Sid |date=March 1990 |title=Tracks across the state |magazine=[[Newsrail]] |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |pages=71–76}}</ref> 

Passenger services on the line were withdrawn on 10 June 1981, and the line from Long Island Junction to Stony Point was closed on 22 June 1981.<ref name="nrs">{{cite magazine |author=Banger |first=Chris |date=March 1997 |title=Rail passenger service withdrawals since 1960 |magazine=Newsrail |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |pages=77–82}}</ref> Services were recommenced on 26 September 1984.<ref name="reopen">{{cite magazine |date=October 1984 |title=The Stony Point passenger service reopened |magazine=Newsrail |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |page=309}}</ref> After the reopening, [[DRC railcar]]s were used, with two [[V/Line H type carriage|MTH carriages]] in between them, making up a four-carriage train. Frequent breakdowns of the railcars led to diesel locomotives often being called in to haul the consist as an alternative.<ref name="reopen" />

In August 1994, a [[Victorian Railways T class|T class locomotive]] hauling two MTH carriages was used but, by November 1995, weekday services were being operated by a [[V/Line P class|P class]] with two MTH carriages. On weekends, an [[V/Line A class|A class]] diesel was used, hauling an extra MTH car.<ref name="aug1994">{{cite magazine |date=August 1994 |title=News |magazine=Newsrail |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)}}</ref><ref name="nov1994">{{cite magazine |date=November 1994 |title=News |magazine=Newsrail |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)}}</ref> On one occasion, an [[Victorian Railways X class (diesel)|X class]] diesel, in [[Public Transport Corporation|V/Line Freight]] livery was employed, hauling three MTH carriages. Those configurations were not used after V/Line was separated into passenger and freight divisions.<ref name="nov1994back">{{cite magazine |date=November 1994 |title=News |magazine=Newsrail |publisher=Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |pages= |at=Back cover}}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
[[File:Stony Point train at Frankston station b.jpg|thumb|A V/Line A-class locomotive on a Stony Point train at Frankston station, 2024]]

Few changes occurred in the 2000s as the service settled down, following the period of frequent changes to the operators, services, and rolling-stock. Sometimes, when train operator [[V/Line]] had a locomotive shortage, locomotives leased from [[Freight Australia]] and, later, [[Pacific National]] appeared, in their green and yellow livery.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carey |first=Adam |date=2016-02-09 |title=V/Line train wheel crisis could have damaged Melbourne's tracks, hearing told |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/vline-train-wheel-crisis-could-have-damaged-melbournes-tracks-hearing-told-20160209-gmpdm2.html |access-date=2023-08-11 |work=The Age}}</ref> In 2008, the Stony Point line underwent major re-signalling work, including the introduction of three-position signalling. The new signalling system was controlled remotely from the Frankston Signal Box.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stony Point line resignalling |url=http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&project=sty-signals |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227103755/https://vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&project=sty-signals |archive-date=27 February 2021 |access-date=2008-10-05 |work=Vicsig}}</ref>

In April 2008, [[V/Line Sprinter|Sprinter]] units began providing the passenger service.<ref name="RLee">{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Robert |title=The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-522-85134-2 |pages=255, 257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sprinter |url=https://vicsig.net/passenger/rollingstock/railmotors/Sprinter |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=Vicsig}}</ref> Two units usually operated the service, with a single unit returning to [[Southern Cross railway station|Southern Cross]] for servicing on a regular basis, and another sent in the opposite direction to replace it.

Malfunctions of boom gates forced the closure of the line for three months in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 June 2015 |title=Services back on track on the Stony Point line |url=http://ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/services-back-on-track-on-the-stony-point-line/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906152915/http://ptv.vic.gov.au/news-and-events/news/services-back-on-track-on-the-stony-point-line/ |archive-date=6 September 2015 |access-date=5 July 2015 |website=[[Public Transport Victoria]] |publisher=}}</ref>