Linking Newport station on the Werribee line to Sunshine station on the Sunbury line, it is primarily a freight line with no overhead wires, passenger stations or platforms but The Overland passenger service between Melbourne and Adelaide also uses this route.

The line was opened on 24 September 1887 to permit freight trains from the western and northern areas of Victoria (Australia) to access the then important port at Williamstown, Victoria.

[3] By the 1930s, a number of private sidings were opened off the line to serve adjacent industries.

In 1995, the East Line was converted to dual gauge as part of the standardization of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway.

The main line runs as dual gauge from Tottenham Junction on the North East standard gauge line, crosses the suburban Sunbury line on a bridge, until it reaches Brooklyn where a single broad gauge from Sunshine station joins.