The metropolitan rail network is centred around the Melbourne central business district (CBD) and consists of 221 railway stations across 16 lines, which served a patronage of 182.5 million over the year 2023–2024.

A new underground line is currently under construction as part of the Metro Tunnel project, which aims to increase network capacity and provide Melbourne with a turn-up-and-go metro-like service.

On 1 April 1856, the Railway Department was established as part of the Board of Land and Works with George Christian Darbyshire being appointed Engineer in Chief.

[31] The stock market crash of early 1890s led to an extended period of economic depression in Victoria and put an end to most railway construction until the next decade.

In the Dandenong Ranges a narrow gauge 762 mm line was opened from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave and Gembrook in 1900 to serve the local farming and timber community.

[51][52][53] The final stages of the rebuilding stretched into the 1970s, with track amplification carried out to Footscray, and Box Hill, and the first deliveries of the stainless steel Hitachi trains.

Sixty-year-old Tait trains (known colloquially as "red rattlers") were still in operation, and inner city congestion at Flinders Street led to peak hour delays.

[61] Public transport in Melbourne was also reorganised, with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) formed in 1983 to coordinate all train, tram and bus services in the city to improve interoperability.

State governments of both sides of politics began to push for reform of the railway network, proposing the conversion of the Upfield, Williamstown and Alamein lines to light rail.

[citation needed] Those proposals were not proceeded with, and the Upfield line received a series of upgrades to replace labour-intensive manual signalling systems.

[68] In 2003, the parent company of M>Train (National Express) withdrew from operating public transport in Victoria, and half of the suburban network was transferred to Connex as part of a renegotiated contract.

[70] In May 2005, the State Government commissioned a A$25 million study into the feasibility of a third track for the Dandenong line to increase capacity for the rapidly growing suburban area.

[72] In 2006, Professor Paul Mees and a group of academics estimated that privatisation had cost taxpayers $1.2 billion more than if the system had remained both publicly owned and operated.

The State Government responded by purchasing new trains and introducing a new ticketing option that enabled commuters to pay a reduced fare if their journey finished by 7 am.

It created a new Deer Park–West Werribee railway line in the city's west, with stations at Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, as well as adding a pair of non-electrified tracks between Sunshine and Southern Cross for regional trains.

[103] A redesigned network map was released by PTV at the end of 2016, which replaced an emphasis on fare zones with a delineation of individual lines and service patterns.

[115] In April, June and July 2019, a number of rail lines in Melbourne's east were shut down for several weeks to allow construction of the tunnel entrances near Kensington and South Yarra.

It will also link to new stations to be built in areas that have long been promised rail connections, including Monash University, Burwood, Doncaster, Bundoora and Melbourne Airport.

A new connection between Sunshine and Southern Cross Station to be built as part of the Airport rail link could add extra capacity for regional and metro lines.

The key benefits of the project include: In 2016, the first level crossing removal was done on Burke Road, Glen Iris which resulted in a rebuild Gardiner station.

Most suburban passenger lines operated by the metropolitan rail franchisee, currently Metro Trains Melbourne, are electrified with 1500 V DC overhead catenary.

[135] The network is centred on Flinders Street and Southern Cross stations in the CBD, which are joined directly by a six-track viaduct and indirectly by the underground four-track City Loop.

From this central core, nearly all tracks pass through the three major junction stations of North Melbourne, Jolimont, and Richmond; and from there extend outwards to the west, north-east and east of the city respectively.

[136] Capital investment in the network since 1990 has focused on relieving "bottlenecks" near the central core caused by the large number of lines converging, most significantly with the Regional Rail Link project which provided additional capacity between Sunshine and the city.

The green button, when pressed, contacts the PRIDE controller over the rail telephone network, identifying itself by the DTMF tones that correspond to the ID number assigned to the box.

Busy stations are often provided with an electronic LED PIDs, which indicate the destination, time, stopping pattern summary, and minutes to departure for the next train on the platform.

[165] Stony Point line services operate as shuttles from Frankston station with passengers to and from Flinders Street required to change trains.

Melbourne uses clock-face scheduling in off-peak periods, but generally not in rush hour, due to the network operating near to infrastructure capacity and having to accommodate single-line sections, flat junctions, and regional diesel-hauled trains.

[179] In 1962 the Australian Railway Historical Society Museum was established at Williamstown North to house static exhibits,[180] and Steamrail Victoria was formed in 1965 to assist in the restoration of locomotives and carriages for use on special trains.

[190] In 2014, Metro Trains were accused of not stopping at underpopulated suburbs' stations in order to arrive on time, this practise has been condemned by the general public and the media.