List of regional railway stations in Victoria

This is a list of the operating Victorian regional railway stations serviced by V/Line operated trains.[1] The stations make up seven radial passenger train lines, which all operate from Southern Cross station in Melbourne, Australia, with two further lines proposed to be reopened to V/Line passenger rail services.

Southern Cross station the hub of regional rail passenger services
The Victorian rail network

Stations listed in bold are terminus stations. Frequent services operate to the major regional cities of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Seymour, and the Latrobe Valley; with a smaller number of services continuing to the end of their respective lines.

Services to Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, and the Latrobe Valley were upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project completed in 2006. Four lines previously closed to passenger services - those to Ararat, Bairnsdale, Leongatha and Mildura were proposed to be refurbished as part of the Linking Victoria project. While all were expected to reopen during 2004, only the Ararat and Bairnsdale lines have been reopened, with the Leongatha and Mildura projects delayed.

North

Frequent services operate to Bendigo, with some trains continuing to either Echuca or Swan Hill.

Bendigo line
Bendigo Station

The line continues on from the Sunbury suburban line at Sunbury.

Echuca line

The line continues from the Bendigo line at Bendigo.

Swan Hill line

The line continues from the Bendigo line at Bendigo.

North east

Frequent services operate to Seymour, with some trains continuing to either Albury or Shepparton.

Seymour line

The line continues on from the Craigieburn suburban line at Craigieburn.

Albury line
Albury line service Melbourne bound, outside Seymour

The Albury-Wodonga line was formerly the only broad gauge line operated by V/Line to cross the border into New South Wales, with the primary terminus being located in the New South Wales town of Albury. Since November 2008 the broad gauge line has been converted to standard gauge.

The line continues from the Seymour line at Seymour.

NSW regional rail operator NSW TrainLink operate the inter-capital XPT service between Melbourne and Sydney, which stops at Benalla, Wangaratta and Albury.

Shepparton line

The line branches from the North East line at Seymour.

East

Frequent services operate to Traralgon, with some trains continuing to Bairnsdale.

N set train at Bairnsdale Station

Traralgon line

The line continues on from the Pakenham suburban line at Pakenham.

Bairnsdale line

The line continues from the Traralgon line at Traralgon.

West

Frequent services operate to Ballarat, with some trains continuing to Ararat.

Ballan Station

Ballarat line

The line branches from the Sunbury suburban line at Sunshine.

From Southern Cross to Melton stations, the line is covered by Myki.

Ararat line

The Ballarat - Ararat section of the line was closed from 1994 until 10 July 2004, when it was reopened for a twice-daily service as part of the Linking Victoria Project. Services have recently been altered to thrice-daily on weekdays.

Continues from the Ballarat line service.

Maryborough line

The Mildura railway line was closed by the Kennett Government in 1993 after the withdrawal of The Vinelander service.

As part of the Victorian Transport Plan, passenger services resumed on the Mildura line to Maryborough on 25 July 2010. Services operate twice a day (once in each direction).

Continues from the Ballarat line service.

South west
V/Line trains at Geelong station
V/Line VLocity train near Little River

Frequent services operate to Geelong, with some trains continuing to Warrnambool.

Geelong line

The line runs on the dedicated Regional Rail Link tracks from Southern Cross station

Warrnambool line

From mid-1993 to 31 August 2004, the Warrnambool service was operated by the now-defunct West Coast Railway.

Continues from the Geelong line service

These trains also connect with coach services to Port Fairy, Portland and Mount Gambier.

Interstate

These railway stations are in operation, but V/Line does not operate train services. Instead, other operators run trains to serve these towns, primarily because these stations are located on standard gauge lines as opposed to broad gauge which V/Line's existing fleet operate on.

These stations are operated by Journey Beyond Rail's The Overland which runs between Melbourne and Adelaide. However, due to the way the service is timetabled, trains only run in each direction twice a week. V/Line train tickets are permitted on The Overland between Southern Cross and Nhill station.

Passenger lines proposed for reopening
Red Hen rail car at Leongatha station

The Mildura line, whilst closed to passenger rail services at present has seen State Government proposals for their reintroduction. The line is currently open to freight; while an upgrade to the line was announced in 2006, this is limited to improving the current 40 km/h (25 mph) maximum speed on many sections, and is not relevant to any hopes that a passenger train service might recommence.

In December 2008, as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, the state government announced that Maryborough station would see 14 V/Line passenger rail services extended to the station every week, commencing 2010 at a cost of $50 million.

There was originally a planned reopening of a fourth line to Leongatha in South Gippsland, which was a 1999 pre-state election promise made by the eventual victorious Steve Bracks led Victorian Labor state government. The Leongatha rail reintroduction project was rejected in May 2008 after the release of a feasibility study and progress had stalled for some years due to the aging and deteriorating infrastructure.[2] A tourist line, the South Gippsland Tourist Railway, once operated along a section of the line. Despite the political promise to revive the railway line for freight and passenger services by the Steve Bracks led Victorian state Labor government in 1999 being abandoned in 2008 by his successor John Brumby, a public community campaign involving the South and West Gippsland Transport Group is continuing to lobby and work collaboratively with key stakeholders and governments to reinstate rail services that focuses on improving transport accessibility in the region. A South Gippsland Shire Council Priority Projects documents released in June 2013 acknowledged that the return of rail as a major community priority where funding and support are sought from all forms of level government.[3] In early 2014, a report into the extensions of the Melbourne metropolitan rail system identified the population growth corridor from Cranbourne to Koo-Wee-Rup along the disused Leongatha line as a key planning priority.[4]

On February 24, 2016 South Gippsland Shire Council unanimously carried motions to support the return of rail services to Leongatha on the back of a petition initiated by the South & West Gippsland Transport Group, which attracted 2,420 supporters. The successful motion means that the data gathered from the petition and documents prepared by South Gippsland Shire Council investigating the returning rail to South Gippsland have now been passed onto Public Transport Victoria with a call to provide for South Gippsland rail services in the forthcoming Regional Network Development Plan. After the disbandment of the South Gippsland Tourist Railway on January 16, 2016 it had also been announced that VicTrack will continue to leave the disused rail line between Cranbourne and Leongatha intact and available for future use by freight and passenger trains.[5]

In 2013, the Glenelg Shire Council have also backed the push for Standard Gauge V/Line rail passenger services to be reinstated from Melbourne to Horsham via Cressy and North Shore, east of Geelong. The terminus of the passenger train is still in discussion as broad gauge passenger trains operated by V/Line terminated at Dimboola until August 21, 1993.[6]

Mildura line
Main article: Mildura line

Originally withdrawn on September 12, 1993. Once served by The Vinelander service, the line branches from the Serviceton line at Ballarat. V/Line passenger trains currently operate to Maryborough.

Leongatha line
Main article: Leongatha line

Originally withdrawn on July 24, 1993, however, the Dandenong to Cranbourne section was retained and became part of the Melbourne Suburban rail network in 1995.

Horsham line
Main article: Horsham line

Originally withdrawn on August 21, 1993 to Dimboola, however, Great Southern Rail's Melbourne to Adelaide Overland trains operate twice a week. The current Broad Gauge V/Line passenger rail services terminates at Ararat.

See also

References
  1. Public Transport Victoria (21 June 2015). "V/Line Network Map". V/Line. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. "South Gippsland won't be getting rail service back". abc.net.au. 5 May 2008.
  3. http://www.southgippsland.vic.gov.au/Files/PRIORITY_PROJECTS_2013.pdf%5B%5D
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Public Transport Users Association News March 2016 Volume 40 No.1 Page 3 'Council push for Leongatha trains to return' http://www.ptua.org.au/files/newsletters/2016/201603.pdf%5B%5D
  6. "Horsham passenger rail push: Wimmera service wanted". mailtimes.com.au. 9 October 2013.
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