The Gippsland V/Line rail service or Bairnsdale Line is a passenger service 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 Cross ...

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 ...

, Australia 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 metro ...

and 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 cove ...

region including the regional cities of Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, Sale and Bairnsdale. It operates along the Gippsland railway line.

History

Although the Gippsland line was extended to Orbost in 1916, from the 1930s passenger services along the line extended only as far as Bairnsdale. In 1954 the line beyond

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainl ...

was

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 ...

as far as Traralgon, with services from this time provided by the L class electric locomotives. In 1975 suburban services were extended from Dandenong to Pakenham, on what is known as the Pakenham railway line. By the 1980s the

motive power ''Motive Power'' is a bi-monthly railway related magazine that focuses on diesel locomotives in Australia. The first issue was published on 23 August 1998. Its headquarters is in Sydney. The content includes photographs of locomotives & trains, ...

of trains reverted to

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s, with electrification cut back 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 ...

in 1987, and to

Bunyip The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia ...

in 1998. Suburban Comeng trains were used by

to provide services from Melbourne to Warragul in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, passenger services from Sale to Bairnsdale were withdrawn. They were reinstated in 2004 as part of 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, includin ...

program. The line was upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project in 2005 and the last of the overhead wires were removed, except for a short section to the Melbourne side of Bunyip station. In March 2013 the service was suspended east of Traralgon because of safety problems with level crossings. Rail services resumed in October 2013.

Services

Services to Traralgon operate approximately hourly every day, with a higher frequency during the weekday peak periods. Between and , services generally stop at , , , and . One service in the peak direction during the weekday peak also stops at . A those six stations, trains running towards Traralgon only pick up passengers, trains running towards Southern Cross and only set down passengers. Local services stop at all stations between Pakenham and Traralgon, but services during peak periods run express between Pakenham and , Garfield and , and and . One morning peak service terminates and originates at Flinders Street instead of Southern Cross. During weekdays off-peak, Richmond station is only served by trains to Traralgon in the afternoon and evening. From Monday to Saturday there are three daily return services to Bairnsdale, and two return services to Bairnsdale, one return service to Sale on Sunday. At Bairnsdale, trains connect with road coach services to Orbost,

Batemans Bay Batemans Bay is a town on the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Batemans Bay is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire council. The town is situated on the shores of an estuary formed where the Clyde River meets th ...

and

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. One service in each direction daily is run using locomotive-hauled

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 both ...

s, which provide first-class accommodation and a snack bar. Other services are operated by VLocity

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, which are single-class and have no refreshment facilities. Some services stop all stations between Pakenham and Bairnsdale, while others (typically locomotive-hauled services) run semi-express between Melbourne and Moe.

Line Guide

References

External links

http://www.vline.com.auStatistics and detailed schematic map
at th
vicsig
enthusiast website {{Victorian Railway Lines, V/Line, state=collapsed V/Line rail services Traralgon Transport in Gippsland (region) Shire of Baw Baw Public transport routes in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Transport in the City of Yarra Transport in the City of Glen Eira Transport in the City of Monash Transport in the Shire of Cardinia Transport in the City of Greater Dandenong