For a short time early in the line's history, there was a short connection provided to the then Brighton line at Windsor, however this link was removed shortly after the direct link was provided to Bay Street from Richmond. The line was taken over by the Government of Victoria in 1878, to become part of Victorian Railways. The line was electrified in 1919.
Closure
The line was originally to be closed in 1981, and replaced with buses as recommended in the Lonie Report. Plans were sufficiently advanced for Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines to have taken delivery of six Volgren bodied Volvo B10M buses before it was decided to retain the rail service after much opposition.[1][2]
^"Victorian Buses in the Eighties" Australian Bus Panorama 6/1 July 1990 page 13
^"Melbourne – Brighton Bus Lines" Australian Bus Panorama 8/4 December 1992 page 10
^"Light Rail Vehicles". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society. February 1983. p. 20.
^Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. Vol. 25, no. 3. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 77–82.