It was one hundred years ago, 2 October 1926, that Altona’s first electrified rail service commenced operations replacing steam locomotives and joining this rail line to the Melbourne’s great electric railway system.

Melbourne led the way, in Australia, when electric trains ran between Essendon and Sandringham stations on 28 May 1919 and this was expanded to cover the then broader suburban area by 1923. Sydney followed suit seven years later when its first electric train ran, just seven months prior to the electrification of the Altona line.

The Victorian Railways took control of the Altona line and station on 1 October 1924, when the Altona Bay Estates Company owed the railways some £7,289 through their guarantee against operating losses. Two years later, electric trains commenced operation, 2 October 1926. Work to electrify the line had commenced in April 1926 and took just six months to be completed.

There was a large crowd on the day of the opening, taking up all the space on the station platform, Pier Street and on the south and north side of the track in front of the train. At 2.55 pm, Mrs Nellie Murphy, the wife of John Murphy, leaned from the train drivers window and cut the dividing ribbon with a pair of scissors presented by Mr Ralph Hjorth, M.L.A., and declared the service inaugurated.