Rail transport in the
Australian state
The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of
Victorian broad gauge
Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Rail gauge in Australia, Australia, Rail transport in Brazil#Track gauge, Brazil and Track gauge in Ireland, Ireland.
History
600 BC
:T ...
() lines, and 1,912 km of
standard gauge () freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with
gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental
gauge
Gauge ( or ) may refer to:
Measurement
* Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments
* Gauge (firearms)
* Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire
** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...
lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, as well as major lines running to regional centres,
upgraded as part of the
Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
.
The government-owned
VicTrack
VicTrack, the trading name of Victorian Rail Track Corporation, is a Victorian Government state-owned enterprise which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in the state of Victoria, Austr ...
owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in Victoria, which it leases to
Public Transport Victoria
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria, Australia, Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authorit ...
which then sub-leases assets and infrastructure as appropriate to rail and tram operators. The state has four railway networks:
*
Metro Trains Melbourne
Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the franchise operator of the electrified suburban passenger service on the Melbourne rail network. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (60% ...
operates Melbourne's
electrified metropolitan network providing passenger services with
electric multiple units
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...
,
*
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
operates the
country passenger network with diesel trains,
*
Australian Rail Track Corporation
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation.
It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations.
...
leases from VicTrack the standard gauge tracks from Melbourne to
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
and to
Serviceton
__NOTOC__
Serviceton is a small town in rural western Victoria, Australia. It is near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of Melbourne. Named after James Service, who was Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883 to 1886, it ...
to operate the interstate Melbourne-Adelaide and Melbourne-Sydney services, and
* the grain network in the north west of the state, connected to the ports at Geelong and Portland.
Freight services are operated by
Southern Shorthaul Railroad
Southern Shorthaul Railroad is an Australian rail freight services operator in New South Wales and Victoria. The company also provides workshop services, such as rolling stock manufacturing and wagon and locomotive maintenance.
History
Sout ...
,
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses.
History
In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
and
SCT Logistics
SCT Logistics is an Australian interstate transport company operating rail and road haulage, with facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Parkes, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
History
SCT Logistics was founded in 1974 as Specialised Container Tra ...
(interstate and intrastate), and
Qube Logistics
Qube Holdings is a diversified logistics and infrastructure company in Australia.
History
In July 2006, following the takeover of Patrick Corporation by Toll Holdings, Chris Corrigan and some executives departed and teamed with Kaplan Funds Man ...
(intrastate).
Victoria does not have a dominant mining base as with other states, and has traditionally been more dependent on agriculture for rail freight traffic.
By the 1990s
road transport had captured most general freight traffic,
with an average of only 6.1 million tonnes of intrastate freight carried each year between 1996 and 1998;
containers being the major cargo, followed by cement, logs, quarry products and steel.
History
The first railway lines in Victoria were built in the 1850s, and were privately owned and operated. These started having financial problems and were taken over by the Government Railway Department (
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
), which was established by the Colonial Government and became a
vertically integrated
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
government service. This structure remained until
corporatisation
Corporatization is the process of transforming and restructuring state assets, government agencies, public organizations, or municipal organizations into corporations. It involves the adoption and application of business management practices and ...
began in the 1970s, followed by
privatisation in the 1990s.
The rail network reached a peak in 1942 but steadily declined, as branch and cross country lines were closed until the 1980s.
First lines
![Old Flinders Street Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Old_Flinders_Street_Station.jpg)
Australia's first steam-operated railway was a
broad gauge line between the
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
(or City) Terminus (on the site of modern-day
Flinders Street station
Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Opened in 1854, the historic station serves the entire metr ...
) and Sandridge (now
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...
). It was constructed by the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
and opened in September 1854.
The first country line in Victoria was from Melbourne to
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
, which was opened in 1857 by the
Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company
The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia.
Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company ...
.
In the early years, the lines were constructed by private companies.
The suburban network expanded to the east from
Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge, originally Prince's Bridge,, ''...he wished that it might be distinguished by the name of "Prince's Bridge," in honour of the Prince of Wales, whom he hoped would yet be the Sovereign of their colonies...'' is a bridge in centra ...
to
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
in 1859, then later to
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
by the early 1860s. The initial suburban lines were all built by different private companies centred on Flinders Street, which amalgamated into the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
by 1865;
public ownership did not occur until 1878.
In 1862,
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
lines had reached the great
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
towns of
Bendigo and
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, and in 1864, railways were extended to the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...
port of
Echuca
Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...
.
In the 1870s, the Government Railway Department (
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
) started to build its own lines.
In 1883, the first connection to another colony's rail system was made, when the
Albury-Wodonga line was completed to join the
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932.
Management
The agency was managed by a range of differen ...
network at
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
, requiring a
break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
to New South Wales' (
standard gauge).
It was then followed in 1887 by a connection with the broad gauge
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Aust ...
at
Serviceton
__NOTOC__
Serviceton is a small town in rural western Victoria, Australia. It is near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of Melbourne. Named after James Service, who was Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883 to 1886, it ...
, with the ''Intercolonial Express'' (now ''
The Overland
''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...
'') to Adelaide running between the capitals.
Additional trunk lines were also built though the 1870s, with rails extended to
Sale,
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and
Colac; and the first branch lines built.
It was a time of improved train safety, with the first
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...
of
railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
to protect trains provided in 1874,
and tests of
continuous train brakes carried out in 1884.
In 1884,
Colonial Parliament passed ''
The Railway Construction Act'', which authorised fifty-nine new lines to almost every corner of the colony, and thus became known as the ''Octopus Act''. The proposed lines would serve both new agricultural towns and support suburban land speculation.
It was also this decade that the first
narrow gauge line was opened from Wangaratta to Whitfield, with three other lines following by 1910.
The
South Gippsland line was also opened from Dandenong to
Leongatha
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...
by 1891.
However, by the late 1890s, the majority of the colony was now covered in railways, with the exception of the
Mallee country in the north west of the colony which saw further line openings,
such as the
Mildura line in 1903.
A new century
![Spirit of Progress c1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Spirit_of_Progress_c1938.jpg)
In 1907, the
A2 class steam locomotive was introduced. There were 185 locomotives in this class, and they were Victorian Railway's main passenger locomotive until the arrival of the diesel-electric
B class in 1952.
On 20 April 1908, the
Sunshine train disaster occurred, killing 44 passengers in the worst Victorian railway accident.
Electrification of the
Melbourne suburban network was also carried out, with the first train running in 1919.
By 1924, 210,000 passengers passed through the main city terminal of Flinders Street station per weekday.
St Kilda was Melbourne's busiest suburban station with 4½ million journeys, followed by
Footscray with almost 4 million, then
Elsternwick
Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Elsternwick recorded a population of 10,887 at the 2 ...
,
Ascot Vale
Ascot Vale is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Ascot Vale recorded a population of 15,197 at the 2021 c ...
,
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
* Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
* Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United Ki ...
and
Balaclava.
Technology advancements continued, with 3 position automatic signals introduced in 1915,
the conversion of
screw couplings to
knuckle couplers from 1924,
and the first remote controlled signalling provided in 1925.
The first
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
flashing lights were installed at
Mentone on Moorabin Road in 1932.
Despite
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, significant extensions of rail lines were carried out, particularly in the wheat-growing areas in the north-west and west. The new lengthy parallel lines were considered to be cheaper to operate than the numerous short spurs such as those in the
Goulburn Valley
The Goulburn Valley is a sub-region, part of the Hume region of the Australian state of Victoria. The sub-region consists of those areas in the catchment of the Goulburn River and other nearby streams, and is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. T ...
.
By 1930, the railway map of Victoria was largely complete, with the best land settled and the remaining land marginal for agriculture, with several lines built across the state border into the
Riverina
The Riverina
is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...
of NSW.
On November 1937, the first run of the ''
Spirit of Progress
The ''Spirit of Progress'' was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney.
Route
From its introduction in November 19 ...
'' was made, a
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
all air-conditioned train run between Melbourne and Albury, led by the matching
S class steam locomotives.
From 1924 to 1935, the
Better Farming Train made 38 tours promoting improved
agricultural practices.
The Victorian Railways biggest steam locomotive
H 220 ''Heavy Harry'' entered service in 1941,
at a time when the railways were struggling with the needs of the war effort. In 1943, the Victorian Railways employed 25,450, had 577 steam locos and 12 electric locos on register along with 19,823 goods wagons and 1,499 passenger cars, running along of lines.
The network reached its largest extent in 1942, covering 7668 route kilometres.
Post war rebuilding
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the railways were run down, with
Operation Phoenix unveiled in 1950, involving the expenditure of £80 million over 10 years.
Works included
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
to
Traralgon
Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...
, new
Harris suburban trains, the Walker railmotors, and approximately 3,000 new goods wagons.
On 14 July 1952, the VR entered the
diesel era, with the delivery of the first
B class mainline locomotive,
with the commissioning of the first mainline electrification scheme in Australia in July 1954 to
Warragul
Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,8 ...
.
March 1954 saw
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
tour Victoria by
Royal Train
A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages.
Australia
The various government railway operators of ...
, the first time a reigning monarch had travelled on the VR,
1954 also saw the last steam locomotive to enter service,
J class 559,
as well as the last four wheeled open wagons being built.
The fifties also saw the loss of a number of short branch lines, particularly country where the only traffic had been timber or livestock.
In the 1960s, the
break of gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
at Albury was eliminated, with the opening of the
North East standard gauge line
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
in 1962.
The new line aided freight traffic between the state capitals, and enabled through passenger trains, such as the ''
Southern Aurora
The ''Southern Aurora'' was an overnight express passenger train that operated between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. First-class throughout, including the dining facilities, the ''Southern Aurora'' featured all-sleeper ...
'' and the ''
Intercapital Daylight
The Inter-Capital Daylight was a passenger train that operated between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne from March 1956 until August 1991.
History
Until April 1962, the line between Sydney and Albury was of a different gau ...
''. At the same time, the sixties was also the end of steam, with the demolition of the massive
North Melbourne Locomotive Depot
North Melbourne Locomotive Depot was the main location for maintenance of the Victorian Railways steam locomotive fleet based in Melbourne. Located in the middle of the Melbourne Yard precinct in the suburb West Melbourne, Victoria, West Melbourn ...
on 20 January 1961.
1965 saw the Victorian Railways produce a £193,727 surplus, but by 1973, increasing costs and declining revenue resulted in a $86,086,361 deficit. On 20 July 1976, the Laverton derailment occurred, killing one passenger, in what was the last railway passenger fatality not involving a road vehicle.
By the late seventies, roadside goods and country railmotor services had been replaced by road transport, and branch lines outside the grain producing areas were now virtually non-existent.
The
Lonie Report
The Victorian Transport Study, better known as the Lonie Report, was an extensive study of freight and passenger transport within the state of Victoria, Australia. The study was set up on 13 June 1979 by the Government of Victoria, and the repor ...
delivered in 1980 recommended the closure of all country passenger service except that to Geelong, elimination of a number of suburban railways, and moving small-volume freight from rail to road.
New deal
![Vline n class train at lara victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Vline_n_class_train_at_lara_victoria.jpg)
The 1980s saw
corporatisation
Corporatization is the process of transforming and restructuring state assets, government agencies, public organizations, or municipal organizations into corporations. It involves the adoption and application of business management practices and ...
of the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
carried out, with the railway commissioners replaced by
VicRail and later government authorities. New liveries on trains were unveiled, as elderly "red rattlers" were replaced by new trains.
1981 saw the
Melbourne underground loop open in January, followed by the new air conditioned
Comeng suburban trains and
"N" type country passenger carriages in September the same year.
Country services were also sped up under the ''
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
'' by the closure of 35 of small wayside stations.
Country passenger services saw the last of the non-air-conditioned wooden bodied passenger cars withdrawn from service in 1986, replaced by new
"H" set carriages. Trials were also carried out for further upgrades, with locomotive
A85 re-geared for 160 km/h operation in a series of test runs between
Glenorchy and
Lubeck in the state's west in July 1986.
It was also the end of an era, with freight trains having their
guards van
Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake va ...
s and guards abolished from 1985, and the carriage of livestock ended in 1986.
The last run of the ''
Spirit of Progress
The ''Spirit of Progress'' was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney.
Route
From its introduction in November 19 ...
'' and ''
Southern Aurora
The ''Southern Aurora'' was an overnight express passenger train that operated between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. First-class throughout, including the dining facilities, the ''Southern Aurora'' featured all-sleeper ...
'' passenger trains were also made in 1986, on 3 August.
Working practices were also altered, with through working of
C class locomotives introduced between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1982.
Previously Victorian locomotives were detached at the state borders, and replaced by locomotives from the next state. New locomotive were also introduced, with the
G and
N classes enabling the retirement of many of the 1st generation diesels.
Cuts continued to the rail network, with larger centralised silos in the north western area of the state, and replacement of traditional
safeworking systems by systems that required no local staff saw further stations de-manned.
Privatisation
The 1990s saw costs further reduced on the rail network. Guards were removed from passenger trains in 1989, and driver only suburban trains commenced running in 1993, with the last suburban train crewed by a guard running in November 1995.
In 1994, the
National Rail Corporation
The National Rail Corporation was an Australian rail operator established by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian governments in February 1992. In February 2002, National Rail was sold to a Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings consort ...
was established, taking profitable steel, and intermodal trafficks from
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
;
and the
Melbourne to Adelaide standard gauge line was opened in 1995, removing the break of gauge.
Moves towards privatisation began in 1997, with V/Line split into
V/Line Passenger and
V/Line Freight and Melbourne services operated by the
Public Transport Corporation
The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services.
The PTC was also responsible for directly ...
split into
Bayside Trains and
Hillside Trains.
V/Line Freight was sold to
Freight Victoria in 1999, followed by
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
taking over Bayside Trains and V/Line Passenger in 2000, with
Connex Melbourne
Connex Melbourne was a train operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed in October 1997 as Hillside Trains, a business unit of the Public Transport Corporation, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of Connex.
In April 2004, it ...
taking over Hillside Trains.
End of private lease
Victorian Premier
Steve Bracks negotiated a premature end to the "under-rail" Victorian country Broad Gauge network lease just minutes before the caretaker mode began before the state election of November 2006. This cost around $125 million. In May 2008, Premier
John Brumby
John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...
arranged a 45-year lease to the
Australian Rail Track Corporation
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation.
It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations.
...
of the single track Seymour-Albury section. Part of the negotiation involved Victoria contributing money for the track to be upgraded and standardised and for Wodonga to be bypassed.
Today, the state consists of four networks: the
electrified metropolitan system operated by
Metro Trains Melbourne
Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the franchise operator of the electrified suburban passenger service on the Melbourne rail network. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (60% ...
, the
country passenger network operated by
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
and upgraded as part of the
Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
, the standard gauge interstate lines to Adelaide and Sydney, and the grain network in the north west of the state, connected to the ports at Geelong and Portland.
Future expansion and upgrades
Regional Rail Revival
In 2017, the State Government under Premier
Daniel Andrews initiated work on the
Regional Rail Revival
The Regional Rail Revival is a joint initiative between the Australian federal government and the Victorian state government to upgrade all regional railway lines in Victoria. The project has an estimated total cost of . of the project's total ...
program, which allocated $1.75 billion to upgrade Victoria's regional railways and provide more reliable and frequent passenger services.
The program was largely funded by the Federal Government, through the Commonwealth's asset-recycling fund.
The project allocated $518 million for upgrades to the Ballarat line, including 18 km of duplicated track between
Deer Park West and
Melton stations, new passing loops, new train stabling, upgraded stations and more car parking along the corridor. The Geelong line will see a new platform and track added to
Waurn Ponds station and the investigation of a rail line to
Armstrong Creek. The Gippsland line will have its signalling upgraded, some track duplicated, a new stabling facility built and platforms added to some stations.
The North East, Shepparton and Warrnambool lines will see upgrades to allow VLocity trains to run on those corridors.
The project will also include track speed and signalling upgrades to the Bendigo-Echuca line, with all projects aimed to be completed by 2022.
Faster rail
There have been numerous proposals for higher-speed passenger rail to regional Victoria. In 2018, the State Government allocated $50 million to plan for a high speed rail line to Geelong, and appointed a Fast Rail Reference Group of technical advisors. The Government suggested trains could run to Geelong and Ballarat at speeds up to 250 km/h, an increase on the 160 km/h limit of current VLocity trains. In 2019, the Federal Government pledged $2 billion for a fast rail line to Geelong, promising a travel time of 32 minutes. Business cases for faster rail to Albury-Wodonga and Greater Shepparton are currently being prepared for the
National Faster Rail Agency
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, a federal body established in 2019.
Infrastructure
The trunk railway lines of Victoria are double track, some built as such, and others duplicated later on. Early sections of the suburban network were
double track, with later additions being
single track
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
that were later duplicated.
The
Bendigo and
Geelong–Ballarat mainlines were both built as double track in the 1860s, but were singled in the 1930s and first decade of the 21st century respectively. The
north-east line to
Seymour was duplicated in the mid-1880s
and remains so today, the
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
line to
Moe was duplicated in the 1950s in conjunction with increased briquette traffic,
and the busiest country line in the state to
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
was progressively duplicated from 1959 to 1981.
Few
railway tunnels
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
exist in Victoria, with the exception of the Melbourne
City Loop. The longest tunnel before the opening of the loop was on the
Fyansford Cement Works Railway
The Fyansford Cement Works Railway was an industrial railway near Geelong, Australia, built by the Australian Portland Cement Company to carry limestone from its quarry to its cement works at Fyansford.
The railway was notable for including a ...
(near Geelong), where a 1300-metre-long tunnel existed on a narrow gauge quarry railway. Of those open today the longest is the single track 422-metre long Geelong Tunnel, followed by the double track 385-metre Elphinstone and the 390-metre-long Big Hill Tunnels on the
Bendigo line
The Deniliquin railway line (also known as the Echuca railway line) is a broad-gauge railway line serving northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from the border settlement of Deniliquin into Bendigo, before turning south-southeast to ...
. A 154-metre-long tunnel also exists on the
Healesville line, as well as three tunnels on the suburban
Hurstbridge line, and another on the
freight lines under Footscray station.
On the interstate railway corridors, there are independent sections of track due to the use of both broad and standard gauges in the state, these sections being from Melbourne to Seymour and on to Albury (constructed in the 1960s), and Melbourne to Geelong (completed in 1995). The gauge issue also sees
dual gauge track used, in areas including
Maryborough, North Geelong, and various freight terminals in Melbourne.
The maximum speed of suburban
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
s and locomotive hauled trains is 115 km/h, with
diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s permitted up to 130 km/h on the same track, and up to 160 km/h on specified lines.
The maximum axle loading of freight wagons is 20 tonnes,
with locomotives of up to 22 tonne axle loading operating.
Train lengths are limited to 1200 metres, except on the main interstate lines where 1500 metre long trains are permitted.
Track gauge
![Mixed-gauge-trackwork-north-geelong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Mixed-gauge-trackwork-north-geelong.jpg)
The majority of the railways of Victoria are of
broad gauge, presenting
break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
difficulties when connections were made with New South Wales which uses
standard gauge. In addition, the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
experimented with four short
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
lines of in the early 20th century. Efforts to eliminate the gauge issue were proposed many times in the intervening years, with a
Royal Commission in 1921 deciding "''that the gauge of 4-ft. 8.5-in. be adopted as the standard for Australia; that no mechanical, third rail, or other device would meet the situation, and that uniformity could be secured by one means only, viz., by conversion of the gauges other than 4-ft. 8.5-in.''"
By the 1950s, interstate traffic was suffering from the break-of-gauge at the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
state border, and a parallel standard gauge line was opened from the Melbourne to join the New South Wales system in 1962, along with a
bogie exchange
Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the track gauge. To perform a bogie exchange, a car is converted from one gauge to another by removing the bogies or trucks (the chassis cont ...
depot to allow wagons to operate across the broad and standard gauge networks.
The second interstate link from Victoria to Adelaide (the oldest single-gauge inter-capital line dating from 1887) was converted from broad to standard gauge in 1995 enabling rail traffic from Victoria to access the rest of the nation without disruption.
Today, the standard gauge network consists of the two main interstate lines, and a number of branch lines in the far west of the state.
Gauge conversion
of 2000 kilometres of track was announced in May 2001 by the Victorian Government under the
Linking Victoria
The Linking Victoria was a State Government program launched in 1999 by the Premier, Steve Bracks, to upgrade transport infrastructure in Victoria, Australia. If implemented, the estimate cost of the program would have been $3.5 billion, inclu ...
program, but did not proceed due to the difficulty of achieving any agreement with then track manager,
Freight Australia
Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in ...
.
The works would have covered 13 lines,
including the
Mildura line via Geelong, Ballarat, and Maryborough; the north western Victorian grain network; and the lines centred upon Seymour and Benalla in the north east. Conversion of the regional and suburban passenger networks is not envisioned.
In 2008, the conversion of the
North East line
The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...
was announced, with the conversion of of broad gauge track to standard gauge between Seymour and Albury providing double track along the section.
The
Murray Basin Rail Project
The Murray Basin Rail Project is a major railway project in the north-west of Victoria, Australia. The project includes the conversion of a substantial portion of the Victorian freight rail network from the historical broad gauge to the standard ...
, commenced in 2014, aimed to convert the
Mildura
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...
,
Manangatang
Manangatang ( ) is a town in north-west Victoria, Australia. At the , Manangatang had a population of 309. It is sometimes noted for its unusual name, from an Aboriginal term - "manang" meaning ''land'' and "kaaiti" meaning ''water''.
Transpor ...
, and
Sea Lake lines to standard gauge, in order to allow the grain traffic in the state's north-west to access the ports of Portland,
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
, and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, and to enable other freight on the lines to access the national standard gauge network. The converted Mildura line reopened in 2018, but standardisation of the Sea Lake and Manangatang lines was deferred until 2020 due to the collapse of the major works contract.
Loading gauge
The Victorian
loading gauge for vehicles is sized between that of British and American practices. Wagons may be up to long, wide, and carry loads up to 4.27 metres above the rail height.
Double stacking of container wagons is not possible under these limits, with high containers the largest permitted, with the exception of high containers on some routes.
Trials were made with the
4D double deck passenger train on some suburban lines, requiring alterations to overhead bridges and structures, but no double deck trains are used today.
Signalling
![Led-colour-light-signal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Led-colour-light-signal.jpg)
Victoria uses a mix of
railway signalling
Railway signalling (), also called railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormou ...
practices: British route signalling with home and distant signals (''2 position signalling'') and American speed signalling (''3 position signalling'').
Semaphore signals
Railway semaphore signal is one of the earliest forms of fixed railway signals. This semaphore system involves signals that display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphore ...
were used on the very first railway lines, but only a bare minimum were provided as the time interval system being relied upon instead.
The first
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...
of signals to protect trains was provided in 1874,
as before this time conflicting moves could be made. The design of the signals also progressed, with the ''disc'' type siding signals first introduced in 1885,
and the lower quadrant ''somersault'' type main line signals adopted in 1887,
both of which are still in use today. Green was not adopted as the ''All Right'' colour until 1898, with white being used before this time.
Red was the usual colour of all signal arms, until yellow was chosen as the colour for distant signals in 1926, with full adoption made in 1930.
Colour light signals first appeared in 1918, and by 1924 they were the standard for new installations.
The safeworking of trains between stations on the early lines was time interval working,
where a train would be allowed to leave a given time after the train before it. With heavier traffic this method became unsafe, with
Staff and Ticket
Staff may refer to:
Pole
* Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting
** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon
* Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position
* Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particular ...
working on single lines adopted from 1873, and telegraph block working from 1878 on double lines.
Both of these systems ensured that only one train would be in a section of track at one time. Telegraphic block working was then replaced with ''Winters Block'' working between 1883 and 1888,
a system that is a predecessor of the ''Double line Block'' system which is still used today. Later years saw variations made to the ''Staff and Ticket'' system, with busier lines provided with
Electric Staff
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
working which provided greater safely when more trains ran.
Heavier suburban traffic on the
Melbourne network saw a greater strain on the block working then used, which required a large number of manned signal boxes to enable trains to run close together.
As a result, it was decided to adopt power signalling under the
Automatic Block System (ABS) of safeworking, where the presence of trains automatically control the signals after them, providing a safe distance between trains. Introduced from 1915, the system was based on American speed signalling practice with GRS2A upper quadrant mechanical signals with two arms able to indicate up to 5 different speed aspects to train drivers.
These signals were later replaced by colour light signals which are the standard today, but the old mechanical style remained until 2001.
A variant of the ''Automatic Block System'', ''Automatic and Track Control'' (ATC) has since been introduced, which provides the same benefits as ABS on single lines of track, while still ensuring only one train in a section at a time.
Centralised Traffic Control
Centralized traffic control (CTC) is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America. CTC consolidates train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system cons ...
was also introduced in the 1960s on the new standard gauge line to Albury,
and then on the main interstate line to Adelaide, allowing trains to be directed from a distance.
Today, little mechanical signalling remains, with local
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
es controlling signals abolished from many areas as part of the
Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
.
The suburban network and busier regional lines use variants of Automatic Block Signalling, while quieter lines use the
Train Staff and Ticket or
Train Order
A train order is "an order issued by or through a proper railway official to govern the movement of trains". Train order operation is the system by which trains are safely moved by train orders. It is distinguished from other forms of train opera ...
systems of safeworking.
Train protection has also progressed, with the
Train Protection & Warning System The Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) is a train protection system used throughout the British passenger main-line railway network, and in Victoria, Australia.
The British Rail Safety and Standards Board's definition is:
The purpose of TP ...
also introduced on major passenger lines as part of the
Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
.
Rollingstock
Rollingstock in Victoria has used air braking since tests of
continuous train brakes were carried out in 1884.
Initially, screw couplings were used to connect wagons, but from 1924, automatic
knuckle couplers were introduced, with
buffers removed from freight wagons by 1960.
Locomotives
![R707-loco-victorian-railways](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/R707-loco-victorian-railways.jpg)
In Victoria, groups of
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
s of the same design are classed together by letter, in a system introduced in 1886.
Initially, low letters were given to passenger classes, and high letters for goods classes, but from about 1916, this pattern was discarded.
Within classes locomotives are individually numbered, in a continuous number block which is unique to the class. In some cases, locomotives have been renumbered to keep number blocks continuous, and in some cases there is no correlation between the number blocks used for the steam and diesel locomotives of the same class letter.
[Examination of all classes in ] In addition, some classes start the number series with a ''0'', while others start with a ''1''.
The first locomotives used in the state were small
steam locomotives
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
, and by the end of the 19th century
0-6-0 tender engines were used on goods, and
4-4-0 configurations for passenger workings.
The majority of locomotives were imported from Britain, from companies such as
Beyer, Peacock & Company,
Robert Stephenson & Company
Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines.
Famous early locomoti ...
,
R & W Hawthorn
R and W Hawthorn Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, from 1817 until 1885.
Locomotive building
Robert Hawthorn first began business at Forth Bank Works in 1817, building marine and stationary steam engines. In 1820 ...
and
George England and Co.
George England and Co. was an early English manufacturer of steam locomotives founded by the engineer George England of Newcastle upon Tyne (1811–1878). The company operated from the Hatcham Iron Works in New Cross, Surrey, and began buil ...
The
Williamstown Workshops
The Williamstown Workshops was the first railway workshop operated by the Victorian Railways, located in the Melbourne inner western suburb of Williamstown.
History
The workshops opened in 1858 in four or five temporary buildings at Point Gelli ...
also built locomotives locally, as did the
Phoenix Foundry
The Phoenix Foundry was a company that built steam locomotives and other industrial machinery in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Over 30 years they built 352 locomotives for the Victorian Railways, of 38 different designs.
History ...
in
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
.
As the size of trains increased, so did the locomotives. The
4-6-0 wheel arrangement became popular for passenger and mixed traffic work with the
D3 and
A2 classes, and the
2-8-0 arrangement on goods with the
K,
J and
C classes lasting into the 1960s.
These were then followed by the
4-6-2 S class ''Pacifics'' for the ''
Spirit of Progress
The ''Spirit of Progress'' was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney.
Route
From its introduction in November 19 ...
'' express, and the single
4-8-4 H class locomotive H220, the biggest Victorian Railways steam locomotive.
The final steam locomotives built for the Victorian Railways were the
4-6-4 R class and
2-8-0 J classes. Although they were of more modern design, their advantages were overshadowed by the simultaneous arrival of the first diesels.
Electric locomotives were first acquired with the
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
of the suburban railways, the
E class suburban engines acquired in 1923 and 1928–29, followed by the
L class from 1953 when the mainline to
Traralgon
Traralgon ( ) is a town located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and the most populous city of the City of Latrobe. The urban population of Traralgon at the was 26,907. It is the largest and fastes ...
was electrified for
briquette
A briquette (; also spelled briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material (e.g. charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel and kindling to start a fire. The term derives from the French word ' ...
traffic.
Dieselisation
Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...
occurred from 1951 with the
F class shunter, but the
B and
S classes of 1952 and 1957 revolutionised main line operations.
They were then followed by the
T and
Y classes in 1955 and 1963 which displaced steam from the branch lines and yards.
Apart from the F class,
Clyde Engineering
Clyde Engineering was an Australian manufacturer of locomotives, rolling stock, and other industrial products.
It was founded in September 1898 by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen buying the Granville factory of timber merchants Huds ...
has had a monopoly on Victorian diesel-electric locos.
as the Australian licensee of
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
EMD engines and traction motors, fitting them into locally designed bodies. By the 1980s the first generation locomotives were approaching the end of their lives, with the electric locomotives withdrawn by 1988,
and the modern
N and
G classes allowing the withdrawal of lower power T and Y classes.
Today, the former Victorian Railways locomotive fleet has been split into two, with the
N class utilised by
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
on passenger services, with the remainder with
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses.
History
In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
or other private operators in freight use.
No new passenger locomotives have been built since the 1980s, with
Diesel Multiple Unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s being acquired instead. Freight operations have seen the re-powering of the G and
X classes, as well as the restoration to service of stored locomotives, now up to 50 years old.
Passenger
![Metropolitan train patronage in melbourne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Metropolitan_train_patronage_in_melbourne.jpg)
Early passenger services were operated with 4 and 6 wheeled "dogbox" passenger carriage with small compartments and no side corridors. Later years saw the provision of side corridors to provide access down the train, and onboard toilets. Sleeping carriages was first introduced in 1887,
and dining cars from 1908.
Larger bogie rollingstock started to appear from the turn of the 20th century,
with the
E type carriage stock introduced on ''
The Overland
''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...
'', and smaller
W type carriage stock on intrastate trains. The first air conditioned carriage was introduced in 1935, when one of the E type carriages was fitted. All steel carriages came to the Victorian Railways in 1927, with the construction of the "Avoca" and "Hopkins" dining cars, followed by the
S type carriage stock for the new ''
Spirit of Progress
The ''Spirit of Progress'' was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney.
Route
From its introduction in November 19 ...
'' in 1937.
On the Melbourne suburban network,
Electric Multiple Unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
s were introduced speeding up services. Experiments were also made with
various diesel and petrol railcars for use smaller branch lines, with the DERM being the most successful, remaining in service from 1928 to 1991. A fleet of Walker railcars was also introduced in the 1950s, along with
Z type saloon carriage stock
for both intra and interstate trains.
By the 1980s, country passenger services were run down, and older wooden rolling stock was now approaching their use by date. As a result, the
N type carriage
The N type carriages are an intercity passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. They were introduced between 1981 and 1984 as part of the ' New Deal' reforms of country passenger rail services. Today they are seen on bot ...
s were introduced from 1981,
followed by the converted
H type stock from 1984.
Since then,
diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s have become the norm for new purchases, with the
Sprinter introduced in 1992, and the
VLocity from 2005.
Freight
![Wagons-north-melbourne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Wagons-north-melbourne.jpg)
Early wagons were of all-wood construction, followed by wooden bodies on steel underframes, then all-steel wagons.
They were built on four-wheeled underframes, but in 1871
bogie vehicles began to appear.
Groups of wagons of the same design are classed together by a multiple character alphabetical code, initially in a system restricted to Victoria only, but from 1979, the
Railways of Australia
Railways of Australia (ROA) was an association of railways operators. It was established in November 1963 when the government railway operators of Australia and New Zealand decided to unite to promote the industry on a national scale.
The inaug ...
four letter coding was introduced.
Under this system, the first letter represents the owner of the wagon, the second represents the general type of wagon, the third separates different classes of the same general type, and the fourth letter indicates the maximum running speed.
The last four-wheeled open wagons were built in 1958,
but were not scrapped in large numbers until the 1980s, when new bogie wagons replaced them.
In 1987, the bogie wagon fleet numbered about 5000: approximately 700
grain hoppers, 800
container flats, 1000
louvred vans, 700
open wagons, 400
tank car
A tank car ( International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.
History
Timeline
The following major events occurred in t ...
s, and 300 flat wagons.
Today, the broad gauge intrastate fleet numbers about 2600,
with large numbers of louvred vans, open and flat wagons, and tank cars stored or scrapped due to the transfer of traffic to road following years of apathy by Governments.
Operations
Commodities
Victoria does not have a dominant mining base as in other states, and has traditionally been more dependent on agriculture for rail freight traffic.
In the early 20th century, rail was a "
common carrier
A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...
" and was required to carry almost any freight offered. After World War I, road competition increased, until in 1933, legislation was passed to regulate road vehicles competing with rail on specific routes.
From 1974 to the 1980s, intrastate road freight was deregulated, and the Victorian Railways' "common carrier" obligations were removed, resulting in the loss to road of much non-bulk freight.
In 1987, 10.51 million tonnes of freight was carried by rail, with bulk grain being the main commodity, consisting of 31.4% of traffic.
By 2016, the only remaining general containerised freight services on the intrastate network were operated to Warrnambool, to Dooen, to Merbein and Donald, and to Tocumwal, all originating from the Port of Melbourne and running between three and five times per week. Other intrastate rail traffic was primarily specialised bulk freight, including mineral sands between Hopetoun, Hamilton and Portland in the state's west; export rice between Deniliqiun and the Port of Melbourne; paper between
Australian Paper Mills in Maryvale and Melbourne; and steel to
BlueScope
BlueScope Steel Limited is an Australian flat product steel producer that was spun-off from BHP Billiton in 2002.
History
BlueScope was formed when BHP Billiton spun-off its steel assets on 15 July 2002 as BHP Steel. It was renamed BlueSco ...
steel plants at Hastings and Somerton.
Companies
![Restored victorian railways train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Restored_victorian_railways_train.jpg)
The first railways in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
were operated by private companies, but when the companies failed or defaulted, the
state government took over. The government agency was known as the "Department of Railways" from 1856 to 1883, when the ''Victorian Railways Commissioners Act'' established the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
.
In 1973 the ''Railways (Amendment) Act 1972'' passed management of the Railways from the Victorian Railways Commissioners to a Victorian Railways Board.
In 1976 the railways were rebranded as
VicRail.
In 1983, VicRail was split into the
State Transport Authority for country rail and road, passenger and freight services under the
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
brand; and the
Metropolitan Transit Authority, taking over
suburban passenger operations.
In 1989, these authorities were merged into the
Public Transport Corporation
The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services.
The PTC was also responsible for directly ...
and suburban services were rebranded as "
The Met".
In 1993, long-distance country rail services previously run by the government-owned operator V/Line were offered to private operators. Several rail services were replaced by road coach services. The first private operator in Victoria was the
West Coast Railway, which successfully tendered to operate the railway to
Warrnambool
Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...
.
In 1993 Professor
Fred Hilmer
Frederick George Hilmer AO (born 2 February 1945) is an Australian academic and business figure. He was the president and eighth vice-chancellor of the University of New South Wales, an appointment he held from June 2006 till January 2015. He h ...
presented the findings of the
National Competition Policy Review Committee, known as the Hilmer Report, leading to the introduction of a
National Competition Policy in 1995. One effect was to allow new rail freight operators to establish operations in Victoria.
Specialised Container Transport began operating trains to
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in 1995
and
Great Northern Rail Services
Great Northern Rail Services was a railway operator in Victoria, Australia. Great Northern Rail Services was incorporated in July 1993 and provided locomotives and train crews to other rail operators, ran general train operations (freight and pas ...
started intrastate operations.
Privatisation of the Public Transport Corporation commenced under the
Kennett Government of the 1990s. V/Line was split into separate freight and passenger divisions, and "The Met" was divided into Hillside Trains and Bayside Trains. These separate bodies were all sold separately in 1999: V/Line Freight and the rural intrastate network to
Freight Victoria, a consortium led by American operator
RailAmerica
RailAmerica, Inc., based in Jacksonville, Florida, was a holding company of a number of short-line railroads and regional railroads in the United States and Canada.
In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it ...
; Hillside Trains and track lease to
Connex Melbourne
Connex Melbourne was a train operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed in October 1997 as Hillside Trains, a business unit of the Public Transport Corporation, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of Connex.
In April 2004, it ...
; and V/Line Passenger and Bayside Trains, renamed
M>Train and with its track lease, to British operator
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
.
On 16 December 2002, National Express announced their intention to withdraw financial support from their rail operations in Victoria, including V/Line Passenger and M>Train. The government temporarily resumed control of its systems through receivers and decided to retender the metropolitan rail network to a single operator; Connex won the contract and took control of the entire metropolitan system in February 2004.
Meanwhile, in July 2003, the government announced its intention to retain V/Line Passenger in public ownership,
and set up the state-owned V/Line Corporation, which bought the operator out of receivership on 1 October 2003.
16 August 2004 saw the
Freight Victoria business and rural track lease was purchased by
Pacific National
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses.
History
In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
, but by November 2006 they entered into an agreement to sell the track lease back to the Victorian Government for $133.8 million, with the sale completed on 7 May 2007 and
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
becoming track manager.
In December 2007, Pacific National announced plans to sell or close its grain transport and Portlink rural container business operations in Victoria. The decision has been criticised as it will force grain growers to use higher cost road transport to transport the annual grain harvest from rural silos to the ports. The decision has seen many commentators accuse Pacific National of only acquiring the operations of
Freight Australia
Freight Australia was an Australian railway company that purchased the V/Line Freight business from the Government of Victoria in 1999. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in ...
in 2004 for the purposes of
asset stripping
Asset stripping is a term used to refer to the practice of selling off a company's assets in order to improve returns for equity investors. In many cases where the term is used, a financial investor, referred to as a ' corporate raider', takes con ...
and eliminating competition in rail freight. In 2008
El Zorro took over the
Warrnambool
Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...
–
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
container service from Pacific National, and moved into broad gauge grain services, while
Aurizon
Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...
has taken over the Melbourne –
Horsham container service.
Lines
Victoria's first railway was a 4 km
Victorian broad gauge
Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Rail gauge in Australia, Australia, Rail transport in Brazil#Track gauge, Brazil and Track gauge in Ireland, Ireland.
History
600 BC
:T ...
line between the
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
(or City) Terminus (on the site of modern-day Flinders Street station) and Sandridge (now
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...
), constructed by the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
and opened in September 1854. Today,
Melbourne's suburban railway network consists of 16
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
lines, the central
City Loop subway, and 218
stations, with a total length of 372 km of the electrified lines, operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
to the
Government of Victoria.
In
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
, the
Orbost line was constructed as an extension of suburban lines between 1877 and 1888 to
Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people.
The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...
, and extended eastwards to
Orbost
Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on th ...
in 1916.
The line between Dandenong and Traralgon was electrified in 1954, but electrification was cut back progressively to
Pakenham between 1987 and 2001.
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
passenger trains now run as far as Bairnsdale.
The
South Gippsland line was opened from Dandenong to
Cranbourne,
Leongatha
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...
and
Port Albert
Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, south-east of Morwell, south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the , Port Albert had a population of 293.
L ...
between 1888 and 1892.
A number of branch lines were also built, with almost all closed in stages between the early 1970s and 1994, except for part has since been electrified and re-opened as part of the suburban network, and between Nyora and Leongatha where the
South Gippsland Tourist Railway
The South Gippsland Railway was a tourist railway located in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It controlled a section of the former South Gippsland railway line between Nyora and Leongatha, and operated services from Leongatha to Nyora, v ...
operated heritage services, until they folded in 2016. The entirety of the line is now closed beyond Cranbourne, with the section beyond
Nyora
Nyora is a town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Baw Baw, Cardinia and South Gippsland local government areas. Nyora recorded a populat ...
fully dismantled
The
North East line
The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...
originated from a suburban line to
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
* Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
* Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United Ki ...
in 1860, being extended to
Wodonga
Wodonga
( Waywurru: ''Wordonga'') is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga LGA. Its population is approximately ...
by 1873, connecting with the
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932.
Management
The agency was managed by a range of differen ...
at
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
at a
break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
in 1883.
A standard gauge track was completed parallel with the broad gauge track from Albury to Melbourne in 1962.
The broad gauge track has been converted to standard gauge between Seymour and Albury.
The
Shepparton line was built from Mangalore to
Shepparton in 1880 and extended to the New South Wales Government Railways at
Tocumwal
Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne ...
at a
break-of-gauge
With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
in 1908.
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
passenger services run as far as Shepparton.
The
Bendigo line
The Deniliquin railway line (also known as the Echuca railway line) is a broad-gauge railway line serving northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from the border settlement of Deniliquin into Bendigo, before turning south-southeast to ...
was completed in 1862, with extensions were opened to
Echuca
Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest ...
in 1864, and
Swan Hill
Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508.
Indigenous Peo ...
in 1890,
followed by a number of lines throughout the north-west corner of the state. Only these lines continue to see
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
services, with other lines in the region only seeing freight traffic.
The
Main Western line had its beginnings in the first railway line from Melbourne to Ballarat, the
Geelong-Ballarat line that opened in 1862.
The line extended from Ballarat to
Ararat between 1874 and 1875,
but it was not until 1889 that the direct line between Melbourne and Ballarat was opened, built from both ends in stages until they met at
Ballan. Further branch lines followed to
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and other western towns. The line formed the
first intercolonial railway line in Australia, when it was extended to the
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Aust ...
at
Serviceton
__NOTOC__
Serviceton is a small town in rural western Victoria, Australia. It is near the Victorian–South Australian border, north-west of Melbourne. Named after James Service, who was Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883 to 1886, it ...
in 1887. Up until the 1990s, the Ballarat line was on the main route between Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as ''
The Overland
''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...
'' services to Adelaide, until the
One Nation Program rerouted the main interstate line via
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
and
Maroona as standard gauge.
The
Warrnambool line was started when the
Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company
The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia.
Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company ...
opened the Geelong line to
Newport in 1857, being extended to
Spencer Street station in 1859.
The line was taken over by Victorian Railways in 1860 and a line was opened from Geelong to Ballarat in 1862,
and later extended south-east from 1876, reaching
Warrnambool
Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...
and
Port Fairy
Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the ...
in 1890.
Branch lines also existed to
Queenscliff,
Beech Forest
Beech Forest is a town in Victoria, Australia. The area of Beech Forest is largely used for potato farming.
History
The town was named after the many myrtle beech trees of the area. Beech Forest Post Office opened on 10 May 1890 and closed in ...
, and a number of other towns.
Private railways
![Overburden-dredge-yallourn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Overburden-dredge-yallourn.jpg)
A small number of private railways have also existed at various times. Some, such as the
Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company
The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia.
Alexander Thomson, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, introduced and mentored a bill to incorporate the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company ...
, and the
Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company
The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station in Melbourne, Australia to Punt Road (Richmond) and over the Yarra River to South Yarra (then ...
,
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
,
Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...
and
St Kilda and Brighton Railway Company were acquired by the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
and made part of the core state network in 1860 and 1878 respectively. Other country branch lines were also built by private companies: namely the
Kerang-Koondrook Tramway and the
Deniliquin and Moama Railway,
both not being acquired until the 20th century.
In addition to the main Victorian rail network of the Victorian Railways and successors, a number of narrow gauge private railways and tramways have also existed for logging and mining purposes. These included the
Yallourn 900mm Railway
The Yallourn 900 mm railway was a narrow gauge railway operated by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria, Australia. The railway was built for the haulage of brown coal and overburden between the Yall ...
in the
Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nes ...
open cut coal mines, the
Fyansford Cement Works Railway
The Fyansford Cement Works Railway was an industrial railway near Geelong, Australia, built by the Australian Portland Cement Company to carry limestone from its quarry to its cement works at Fyansford.
The railway was notable for including a ...
near
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
, the
Tyers Valley Tramway at
Mount Baw Baw
Mount Baw Baw is a mountain summit on the Baw-Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range, located in Victoria, Australia. The name is from the Woiwurrung language spoken by Eastern Kulin people. It is of uncertain meaning, but possibly signifie ...
, and the
Powelltown Tramway from
Yarra Junction.
Most logging tramways operated in the
Otway Ranges
The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It conta ...
,
Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
,
and the inner east of the
Great Dividing Range; primarily between the 1850s and the 1950s, with only one surviving into the 1960s.
They were primarily of or gauge, with , , , and variants also used.
Railway preservation
Organised
railway preservation
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
commenced in Victoria with the formation of the
Puffing Billy Preservation Society in 1955, and operating under the Emerald Tourist Railway Board from 1977. Formed to operate the
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
gauge railway in the
Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne, the group continues to operate the railway today.
The demise of the last of the steam locomotives in Victoria commenced in the 1960s, with the
Australian Railway Historical Society
The Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) aims to foster an interest in the railways, and record and preserve many facets of railway operations. It had divisions in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, although the ACT divis ...
and Association of Railway Enthusiasts working with the Victorian Railways to have a number of locomotives preserved for the future. In 1962 the
Australian Railway Historical Society Museum
The Newport Railway Museum is located on Champion Road, Newport, Victoria, near the North Williamstown station.
History
The museum opened on 10 November 1962, after the Australian Railway Historical Society (ARHS) Victorian Division was allocat ...
was established at
Williamstown North to house static exhibits, and
Steamrail Victoria
Steamrail Victoria is a not-for-profit volunteer group established in 1965 to restore and operate historic locomotives and rolling stock used on the railways in Victoria, Australia. The main depot of the group is at the Newport Workshops ('Wes ...
was formed in 1965 to assist in the restoration of locomotives and carriages for use on
special trains.
By the 1980s, a number of
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
s had been established in Victoria on closed
branch lines
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industr ...
. These railways serve both as tourist attractions, and to preserve the railway past. The work of railway preservation groups has since expanded to retired railway carriages, electric multiple units, rail motors, and diesel locomotives. In 2006, heritage railways carried 542,000 patrons over 161 km of track; with 28 operational steam locomotives, 47 diesels, 14 railmotors, and 192 carriages.
Heritage Railways and Operators include:
*
707 Operations
707 Operations is a railway preservation group based in Melbourne, Australia. The volunteer organisation was established in 1980 to restore R class locomotive R707. The company has its own section of the Newport Workshops that is used for stori ...
, Newport
*
Puffing Billy Railway
The Puffing Billy Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway in the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, Australia. The railway was one of the five narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways which opened around the beg ...
, Belgrave
*
Bellarine Railway
The Bellarine Railway, formerly the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, is a volunteer-operated steam-driven tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a 16 km section of a formerly disused branch line on the Bellarine Penin ...
, Queenscliff
*
Daylesford Spa Country Railway
The Daylesford Spa Country Railway (which is operated by the Central Highlands Tourist Railway) is a volunteer-operated gauge tourist railway located in Victoria, Australia. It operates on a section of the closed and dismantled Daylesford line ...
, Daylesford
*
Victorian Goldfields Railway
The Victorian Goldfields Railway is a broad gauge tourist railway in Victoria, Australia. It operates along a formerly disused branch line between the towns of Maldon and Castlemaine.
History
The original line was opened on 16 June 1884, openin ...
, Maldon
*
Mornington Railway
The Mornington Railway is a heritage railway near Mornington, a town on the Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, Victoria. The line is managed by the Mornington Railway Preservation Society and operates on part of the former Victorian Railwa ...
, Mornington
*
Seymour Railway Heritage Centre
The Seymour Railway Heritage Centre (SRHC) is a railway preservation group based in Seymour, Victoria, Australia. The volunteer non-profit incorporated association was established in 1983 as the Seymour Loco Steam Preservation Group to restore ...
, Seymour
*
Steamrail Victoria
Steamrail Victoria is a not-for-profit volunteer group established in 1965 to restore and operate historic locomotives and rolling stock used on the railways in Victoria, Australia. The main depot of the group is at the Newport Workshops ('Wes ...
, Newport
*
Walhalla Goldfields Railway
The Walhalla Goldfields Railway is a narrow gauge tourist railway located in the Thomson River and Stringers Creek valleys in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, near the former gold-mining town and tourist destination of Walhalla.
History
...
, Walhalla
*
Yarra Valley Railway
The Yarra Valley Railway is a heritage railway operating on a section of the former Healesville railway which operated between Lilydale and Healesville in the Yarra Valley area northeast of Melbourne, Australia.
History
The Lilydale-Melbo ...
, Healesville
*
South Gippsland Railway
The South Gippsland Railway was a tourist railway located in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It controlled a section of the former South Gippsland railway line between Nyora and Leongatha, and operated services from Leongatha to Nyora, ...
, Leongatha
*
Tramway Museum Society of Victoria
The Tramway Museum Society of Victoria Incorporated (TMSV) owns a large collection of trams from Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Adelaide, and Sydney as well as preserved buses and other work vehicles. History
The TMSV was founded in 1962 with ...
, Bylands
Rail trails
A number of former rail lines in Melbourne and regional Victoria have been converted into ''
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
s'', for walking, cycling and horse riding. These make excellent tracks for beginners as the lines were originally designed to avoid steep gradients. Most lines are still in public ownership. Some sections of the track are specially leased to neighbouring farmers for stock grazing. This reduces maintenance costs.
Trails around Melbourne include:
* Inner Circle (Rushall to Royal Park)
* Outer Circle (Fairfield to Hughesdale)
* Rosstown (Hughesdale to Elsternwick)
* Hawthorn to Kew
* Red Hill (Merricks to Red Hill)
*
Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail
The Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail (also known as the Warburton Trail) is a walking, cycling and horse-riding track in eastern Victoria, Australia. It runs a distance of 38 km between Lilydale and Warburton, along the former Warburton ...
Trails around Victoria include:
* East Gippsland (Bairnsdale to Newmeralla)
* The Beechy (Colac to Beech Forest)
* Crater to Coast (Camperdown to Timboon)
*
Ballarat–Skipton
* Murray to the Mountains (Wangaratta to Beechworth and Bright)
*
Great Victorian Rail Trail
The Great Victorian Rail Trail (formerly Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail) is the second longest rail trail in Australia (after the 161km Brisbane Valley Rail Trail in Queensland), following the route of the former railway line from Tallaro ...
(Tallarook to Alexandra and Mansfield)
*
Great Southern Rail Trail
The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 109-kilometre rail trail from Nyora to Welshpool in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. This mostly flat or gently undulating trail goes through lush dairy farmland, areas of remnant bush and lowland scrub. ...
(
Leongatha
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869.
Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...
–
Foster, future extension to
Yarram
The township of Yarram (formerly Yarram Yarram) is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the , the population of the town was . The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming distri ...
)
*
Bass Coast Rail Trail
The Bass Coast Rail Trail is a Rail trail located in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
The trail has been constructed along a section of the former Wonthaggi line. The trail starts at the former Anderson station and finis ...
(Anderson–
Wonthaggi
Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...
, future extension to
Nyora
Nyora is a town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Baw Baw, Cardinia and South Gippsland local government areas. Nyora recorded a populat ...
)
*
Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail
Legislation, governance and access
Key statutes
The prime rail statute in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
is the
Transport Integration Act
The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...
. The Act establishes the
Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure
The Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure (DTPLI) was a department of the Government of Victoria. It was created in machinery of government changes in 2013 following Denis Napthine's appointment as premier, and was abolish ...
as the integration agency for Victoria's transport system. The Act also establishes and sets the charters of the State agencies charged with providing public transport rail services and managing network access for freight services, namely the
Director of Public Transport
The Director of Public Transport (also referred to as the Director, or the DPT) was the head of the Public Transport Division (PTD) of the Victorian Department of Transport. PTD was the government agency responsible for promoting, providing, ...
and
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cros ...
. In addition, the Act creates
VicTrack
VicTrack, the trading name of Victorian Rail Track Corporation, is a Victorian Government state-owned enterprise which owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in the state of Victoria, Austr ...
which owns the public rail network and associated infrastructure. Another important statute is the Rail Management Act 1996 which confers powers on rail operators and provides for a rail access scheme for the State's rail network. As a result of recent changes to the
Transport Integration Act
The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...
, the responsibilities of the Director of Public Transport are being progressively assumed by the new
Public Transport Development Authority
Public Transport Victoria (PTV) is the brand name for public transport in the Australian state of Victoria. It was the trading name of the Go Public Transport Development Authority (PTDA), a now-defunct statutory authority in Victoria, respon ...
, a major initiative of the Bailieu Government.
Safety
Regulation
The safety of rail operations in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
is regulated by the
Rail Safety Act 2006 which applies to all commercial passenger and freight operations as well as tourist and heritage railways. The Act creates a framework containing safety duties for all rail industry participants and requires rail operators who manage infrastructure and rolling stock to obtain accreditation prior to commencing operations. Accredited rail operators are also required to have a
safety management system to guide their operations.
Sanctions applying to the safety scheme established under the
Rail Safety Act
The ''Rail Safety Act 2006'' is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia, and is the prime statute regulating the safety of rail operations in Victoria. The Act was developed as part of the Transport Legislation Re ...
are contained in the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983. The safety
regulator for the rail system in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
is the
Director, Transport Safety
The Director, Transport Safety, who operates as Transport Safety Victoria, is the independent Government agency responsible for bus and marine safety in the State of Victoria, Australia. The position was created as a statutory office by the '' ...
(trading as
Transport Safety Victoria
The Director, Transport Safety, who operates as Transport Safety Victoria, is the independent Government agency responsible for bus and marine safety in the State of Victoria, Australia. The position was created as a statutory office by the '' ...
) whose office is established under the
Transport Integration Act 2010
The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...
.
Investigation
Rail operators in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
can also be the subject of no blame investigations conducted by the
Chief Investigator, Transport Safety or the
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). The Chief Investigator is charged by the
Transport Integration Act
The Transport Integration Act 2010 (the Act) is a law enacted by the Parliament of the State of Victoria, Australia. The Act is the prime transport statute in Victoria, having replaced major parts of the ''Transport Act 1983'', which was renam ...
with conducting investigations into rail safety matters including incidents and trends. ATSB, on the other hand, claims jurisdiction over the same matters where they occur on the Designated Interstate Rail Network.
Ticketing and conduct
Ticketing requirements for public transport in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
are mainly contained in the Transport (Ticketing) Regulations 2006 and the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual. Rules about safe and fair conduct on trains and trams in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
are generally contained in the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983 and the Transport (Conduct) Regulations 2005.
Tourist and heritage railways
Tourist and Heritage Railways in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
are governed by provisions in the
Tourist and Heritage Railways Act 2010 which commenced on 1 October 2011.
See also
*
Dandenong railway line triplication
*
Narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways
The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have be ...
*
Railways in Melbourne
The Melbourne rail network is a passenger and freight train system in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan passenger rail network is centred on the Melbourne CBD and consists of 222 stations across 16 lines, which ser ...
*
Regional Rail Link
The Regional Rail Link (RRL) was a project to build a 47.5 kilometre length of railway through the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, the main aim of which was to separate regional V/Line Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong services from the el ...
*
Victorian broad gauge
Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Rail gauge in Australia, Australia, Rail transport in Brazil#Track gauge, Brazil and Track gauge in Ireland, Ireland.
History
600 BC
:T ...
*
Bradshaw's Guide to Victoria (Australia)
The British Bradshaw's Guide was an early compiled timetable, including all known public railways in Great Britain. The Wikipedia Bradshaw's Guide page also lists a number of other countries that issued compiled timetables, borrowing the Bradshaw ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
History:
Mark Bau's Victorian Railways- History of rolling stock, locomotives, and signalling
Peter J. Vincent- History of rolling stock and wagons of the Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways Resources– Network maps and analysis at ten-year intervals, and histories of stations
Signal Diagrams– Digitised copies of Victorian Railways and V/Line signalling diagrams
Rail Geelong– History of the railways of the
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
region
Diagrammatic History of the Victorian Railways
Today:
Victorian Railway Stations– photographs of stations of the Victorian network
Vicsig– Information on present infrastructure, operations, signalling, and locomotives
Network Map– current VLine rail and bus map
{{good article
*
Transport in Victoria (Australia)