passenger services operated on the line from its opening. services from melbourne to leongatha and yarram were withdrawn on 6 june 1981, with replacement buses starting three days later. the yarram train was a loco hauled train, while the leongatha train was a drc railcar hauling mth carriages. to fill the gaps between those services, local trains were introduced on a three-month trial from dandenong to lang lang, but were withdrawn on 3 october 1981, due to insufficient patronage. services to leongatha were restored on 9 december 1984, and free train shuttles to korumburra were provided to mark the occasion. the 1984 timetable included two round trips per day from monday to saturday, and one round trip on sundays. however, the services were again withdrawn on 24 july 1993. with the withdrawal of freight services from koala siding in january 1998, the line became unused beyond cranbourne. the exception was a tourist operation, which commenced operation between nyora and leongatha. it later became known as south gippsland railway. in 1995 the section between dandenong and cranbourne was electrified and a station added at merinda park, as part of a $27 million federal government-funded project.