The Melbourne Railway Company was formed in 1859 to run trains to construct and run a railway from Melbourne to Windsor, where it connected with the St Kilda and Brighton Railway.
Previously, the Brighton line had branched off the end of the St Kilda Railway, requiring a reverse loop. the Melbourne Company line provided a more direct route into the city via Richmond and Princes Bridge. The Melbourne Railway Company purchased the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company in 1862, and the St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company but was amalgamated with the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to form the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United Railway Company on 22 October 1864. subsequently all these railway businesses were acquired by the government-owned Victorian Railways in 1878.