''The Vinelander'' was an Australian passenger train operated 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 later
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 Cross ...
between
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
Mildura from August 1972 until September 1993. Operating overnight along the
Mildura line, it included
motorail and
sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car.
...
facilities.
History
![Vinelander Bed](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Vinelander_Bed.jpg)
A trial daylight service, the ''Mildura Sunlight'' was introduced 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 ...
between
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
Mildura on 3 September 1957. Air-conditioned
Z type carriage
The Z type carriages are an air conditioned steel passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. The carriages were constructed by the Victorian Railways from 1957 for use on intrastate services.
Two major types of carriage ...
stock was used, running thrice weekly.
Night trains replaced this from 1967, and a
motorail service was added in 1968.
''The Vinelander'' first ran on 9 August 1972 after intense local lobbying for an upgrade of the existing overnight train.
The name was the product of a naming competition held by the Victorian Railways, with steel sleeping cars formerly used on ''
The Overland'' being used, along with
older wooded stock. A
buffet car and bar was added to the train from 18 July 1977,
but drunken behaviour became an issue, with offending passengers being removed from the train at intermediate stations. The typical timetable of the 1970s had a Melbourne departure at 21:20 and an arrival into Mildura at 08:05.
[
The train was promoted as one of the Victorian Railways' premier trains, in 1974 Victorian Railways sponsored a race meeting of the Mildura Racing Club, with the winner receiving the Vinelander Plate.][
In 1984 a parallel road coach commenced operations. A day train named ''The Sunraysia'' commenced in 1987 but was withdrawn in 1990.][
By November 1986, ''The Vinelander'' was only operating two nights per week, with ''The Sunraysia'' daylight service running as a replacement on some other days. The price of the sleeping car service also rose; from $17 per berth in 1985, it had risen to $30 per berth by July 1986. Staff levels were also reduced, with one conductor to manage two carriages (prior to this it was a one-to-one ratio). This was seen by some as an attempt 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 Cross ...
management to cut back the service.
The last ''Vinelander'' ran on 12 September 1993 after the cutbacks of the Kennett Government.[ A service review was announced by the Bracks Government in 2000, in part due to the independent politician ]Russell Savage
Russell Irwin Savage (born 27 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was the independent member for the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mildura from 1996 until 2006. Prior to entering politics, he was a long-serving police offic ...
enabling the formation of a minority Labor government after the 1999 Victorian state election
The 1999 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 18 September 1999, was for the 54th Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect the 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44 ...
. The service never returned.
Withdrawal
The withdrawal of ''The Vinelander'' service in 1993 occurred under controversial circumstances. Two days before the service was scheduled to be axed, intending passengers were on the platform at Spencer Street station
Southern Cross railway station (until 2005 known as Spencer Street station) is a major railway station in Docklands, Victoria, Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, Melbourne, Spencer Street, between Collins Street, Melbourne, Collins ...
, ready to board the train to Mildura, when it was announced that it had been cancelled due to a landslide along the track. Despite the very short notice of the cancellation, buses were conveniently available as an alternative. Suspicions about the supposed landslide story were aroused when it was noted that it hadn't blocked the Melbourne-bound ''Vinelander'' that same evening.
A leaked document from the train controllers working that evening also aroused suspicion and an investigation revealed that the story about the landslide was a hoax.
V/Line management failed to give any clear explanation for their actions and it is widely believed that the sudden cancellation of the final ''Vinelander'' service was done to avoid any protests, such as the one that had taken place earlier at Bairnsdale, when the withdrawal of the service occurred as planned a couple of days later.
References
External links
''Victoria's Latest Named Train, "The Vinelander"''
advertising poster from November 1972, Public Record Office Victoria.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinelander
Named passenger trains of Victoria (Australia)
Night trains of Australia
Railway services introduced in 1972
Railway services discontinued in 1993
1972 establishments in Australia
1993 disestablishments in Australia
Discontinued railway services in Australia
Motorail