Its primary purpose was to serve the State Coal Mine but the line also provided passenger and general goods services.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Victorian Railways depended on black coal to fire its steam locomotives.

The line carried its first coal in February 1910,[2] with Baldwin-built 4-6-0 locomotive W 227 given the honour of hauling the first train from the Powlett coalfield.

[2] By 1928, twelve return passenger services also ran on the line per week, with a journey time from Flinders Street station to Wonthaggi taking approximately four hours.

[9] The conversion of Victorian Railways from steam to diesel-electric power during the 1950s and 1960s reduced demand for black coal and in 1968 the mine closed.