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![]() VLocity VL81 arriving into Ballarat | |
Overview | |
Service type | Passenger service |
Status | Operating |
Locale | Victoria, Australia |
Current operator(s) | V/Line |
Former operator(s) | Victorian Railways |
Ridership | 4.68 million (2022–23) [1] |
Website | V/Line Ballarat on X |
Route | |
Termini | Southern Cross [2] |
Stops | 13 |
Distance travelled | 123 km (76 mi) [3] |
Service frequency |
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On-board services | |
Class(es) | Economy |
Technical | |
Rolling stock | VLocity [5] |
Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) |
Operating speed | 160 km/h (99 mph) maximum [6] |
Track owner(s) | VicTrack |
Ararat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() VLocity VL80 arriving into Ararat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service type | Long-distance (paper ticket) service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Victoria, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | Southern Cross Ararat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 211 km (131 mi) [7] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 2h 30min (approx) [8] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | 4 weekday return services, 2 weekend return services [9] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On-board services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Economy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rolling stock | VLocity [10] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Maryborough | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() VLocity VL38 at Maryborough | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service type | Long-distance (paper ticket) service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operational | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Victoria, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First service | 24 July 2010 [11] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current operator(s) | V/Line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former operator(s) | Victorian Railways (to Mildura) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | Ballarat Maryborough | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance travelled | 68.7 km (42.7 mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Average journey time | 52 minutes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | Two return services per day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Line(s) used | Mildura | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On-board services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Economy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disabled access | Yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track owner(s) | VicTrack | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Ballarat V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 13 stations towards its terminus in Ballarat's western suburb of Wendouree via Melton and Bacchus Marsh. Services are operated primarily using V/Line VLocity diesel multiple unit sets in either 3- or 6-car configurations.
It is the second most-used regional rail service in Victoria (behind the Geelong service), carrying 4.68 million passengers in the 2022-23 financial year. [1]
The Ararat V/Line rail service extends further west from Wendouree to Ararat, while the Maryborough V/Line rail service is operated as a shuttle from Ballarat along the Mildura line to Maryborough.
V/Line operated services along the original Serviceton railway line as far as Horsham and Dimboola. Several stations, including Gordon and Warrenheip, were closed in 1981 as part of the New Deal reforms to Victoria's country rail services. Services to Mildura, which ran via Ballarat, ended in 1993.
In 1994, all services beyond Ballarat were withdrawn to allow for conversion of the line between Ararat and Serviceton from broad gauge to standard gauge. The now-standard gauge track was connected to other former-broad gauge lines to become the Western standard gauge railway line. [12]
In 2004, services to Ararat were reintroduced under then-Premier Steve Bracks' Linking Victoria program. Bracks' government additionally announced its intention to rename the line to "Eureka" in commemoration of the Eureka uprising's 150th anniversary. This renaming was to take effect at the same time as the renaming of Spencer Street Station to Southern Cross Station in 2005, [13] however this move was never carried out. [14]
The line saw a significant package of upgrades during the Regional Fast Rail project. Several parts of the line were rerailed, and new deviations and bridges were built to ease grades, enabling trains to run at speeds up to 160 km/h. V/Line VLocity diesel multiple unit trains, built as part of the project, started running to Ballarat in 2005.
In 2008, Wendouree Station was built to relieve overcrowding after passenger numbers grew significantly following the completion of the project. The station opened in 2009. [15] [16]
As part of the Victorian Transport Plan, the State Government announced passenger rail services on the Mildura line would be reintroduced up to Maryborough, with services beginning in 2010. [17] [18] The service is timetabled to operate as a shuttle between Ballarat Station and Maryborough Station. Currently, two return services are operated every day.
In 2008 the Regional Rail Link project was announced, consisting of a new pair of tracks exclusively for V/Line services, avoiding the need to share tracks with Metro's electrified suburban services. The tracks begin west of Werribee, following an alignment up to Deer Park, then running into two new platforms at Southern Cross, completely bypassing Tottenham, West Footscray, Middle Footscray, South Kensington, and North Melbourne; but still stopping at Sunshine and Footscray at two platforms dedicated to V/Line services.
The main benefit of the project was for the Geelong line service, which used to run along the same tracks as Metro's Werribee line, resulting in significant congestion. Ballarat and especially Bendigo services benefited less, only being separated from Metro's Sunbury line service between Sunshine and Southern Cross. While the project was overall well-received for increasing service reliability, the choice to bypass North Melbourne was especially criticised. [19]
Construction of Caroline Springs Station, between Deer Park and Rockbank, commenced in 2015. The station opened in 2017 to serve new housing developments in the area. [20] [21] [22] [23]
The line received another significant package of works as part of the Regional Rail Revival project, beginning in early 2018 with major construction completed in 2021. [24] The project, with a budget of $518 million, saw the duplication of 17 kilometres (11 mi) of track between Deer Park and Melton; a new station constructed at Cobblebank; upgrades to Rockbank, Bacchus Marsh and Ballan stations; a new stabling facility built in Maddingley, and a new crossing loop at Millbrook. [25] [26] These works enabled substantially more services to run, particularly in the duplicated section up to Melton. [27] [28] The new loop at Millbrook allowed for the closure of the Bungaree loop, originally a part of the main line before a deviation was built away from it as part of the previous Regional Fast Rail project. [29]
The current V/Line timetable has weekday services operating approximately every 20 minutes between Melton and Southern Cross; and every 40 minutes between Wendouree and Southern Cross. [30]
Per the current timetable, the first service on the line to Southern Cross is timetabled for 04:13, and it is the only train to originate from Ballarat rather than Wendouree, Bacchus Marsh or Melton. The second train each morning originates from Wendouree at 05:18 and runs express from Melton to Sunshine, the only other service to also run express from Melton to Sunshine is another Wendouree-originated service at 15:44. The third train each weekday morning originates from Bacchus Marsh at 05:28 and stops all stations; the fourth service is a Melton-originated service at 06:16 service, which also stops all stations.
Each weekday morning, five additional services to Southern Cross are timetabled to originate from Bacchus Marsh, at 06:19, 06:47, 07:18, 07:26, and 08:08; these services run express through Rockbank and Deer Park, as do the Melton-originated services at 07:20 and 08:03. Trains originating from Wendouree timetabled between 05:56 to 07:39 inclusive run express through Melton, Cobblebank, Caroline Springs, and Ardeer. Trains stop all stations the rest of the day, except the aforementioned 15:44 service originating from Wendouree which runs express from Melton to Sunshine.
Approximately half of all services running from Southern Cross terminate at Melton. Trains running from Southern Cross to Melton, Bacchus Marsh, and Wendouree typically stop all stations, except during the afternoon and evening peak. To Wendouree, the 15:58 service runs express from Sunshine to Melton, while services timetabled between 16:17 and 18:18 inclusive run express through Ardeer, Caroline Springs, Cobblebank, and Melton. Only one service, at 16:19, is timetabled to terminate directly at Bacchus Marsh, however, the 16:41, 17:21, and 18:04 services timetabled to terminate at Melton wait there for approximately 9 minutes before continuing to Bacchus Marsh and terminating. The four Bacchus Marsh-bound services run express through Deer Park and Rockbank. All services terminating at Melton, other than the aformentioned three which continue to Bacchus Marsh, stop all stations.
On weekends, service frequency between Southern Cross and Wendouree is reduced to approximately one train per hour, with all trains running the full route to Wendouree and stopping all stations.
Five return services per weekday, and three per weekend, extend from Wendouree to Ararat. [31] Two return services are operated as a shuttle from Ballarat to Maryborough every day. [32]
Almost all services use the V/Line VLocity diesel multiple unit train, running in sets of either 3 or 6 cars. According to the Network Service Plan released on November 19th, 2023, [33] [34] five weekday services use the V/Line N class locomotive with H type carriages: two morning peak services originating from Bacchus Marsh, two evening services terminating at Bacchus Marsh, and one evening service terminating at Melton. They are not used on weekends. [35] [36]
The rail line is double track between Southern Cross and Melton. The rest of the line is single track, with the following crossing loops presently in use:
The line is able to run up to 160 km/h between Southern Cross and Wendouree, with speeds reduced to 115 km/h on some sections towards Ararat. The section of the Mildura line used by the Maryborough service is between 80 - 100 km/h. [39] [ better source needed ]
The V/Line service previously used the original line via Bungaree as a long crossing loop between Ballan and Ballarat until December 2020. The loop was used in conjunction with the new deviation built in 2005 as part of the Regional Fast Rail project. [40] [29]
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Sunshine railway station is located on the Sunbury line in Victoria, Australia, serving the western Melbourne suburb of the same name.
Ardeer railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Ardeer, and it opened on 2 April 1929.
Deer Park railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Deer Park, and it opened on 2 April 1884 as Kororoit. It was renamed Deer Park on 3 December 1889.
Rockbank railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Rockbank, and opened on 2 April 1884 as Mount Atkinson. It was renamed Rockbank in November 1889.
Melton railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It is situated in the western Melbourne suburb of Melton South, and opened on 2 April 1884.
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in the Australian state of Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne. It also provides bus services across Victoria and into New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. In addition, V/Line is responsible for the maintenance of much of the Victorian freight and passenger rail network outside of the areas managed by Metro Trains Melbourne and the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
Bacchus Marsh railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It opened on 10 February 1887, and serves the town of the same name, although the station is in the southern suburb of Maddingley.
The Geelong V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 15 stations towards its terminus in Waurn Ponds, a southern suburb of Geelong, via the Regional Rail Link. It is the most used regional rail service in Victoria, carrying 8.15 million people in the 2022-23 financial year.
Ballarat railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Ballarat, and opened on 11 April 1862 as Ballarat West. It was renamed Ballarat in 1865.
The Ararat railway line is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. It links the state capital of Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat via the Regional Rail Link. It once extended to Serviceton railway station at the then-disputed South Australian border as part of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway until 1995 when the broad gauge line beyond Ararat was converted to standard gauge and reopened as part of the 1435 mm Western standard gauge railway line.
Ballan railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Ballan, and it opened on 22 December 1886.
Ararat railway station is located on the Serviceton and Western standard gauge lines in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Ararat, and opened on 7 April 1875.
The Mildura railway line is a heavy rail line in northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Yelta station to Ballarat station via the settlements of Mildura, Ouyen and Maryborough in an approximate south-southeasterly direction. Initial sections of the line opened from Ballarat in 1874 and the line reached Mildura in 1903.
Parwan is a closed station located in the town of Parwan, near Bacchus Marsh, on the Ararat railway line in Victoria, Australia. The station platform was on the southern side of the line. Today, Parwan is a crossing loop, permitting trains up to 969 metres long to cross.
Wendouree railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the north-western Ballarat suburb of Wendouree, and opened on 12 June 2009.
Caroline Springs railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Ravenhall, and opened on 28 January 2017.
The Bendigo V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 14 stations towards its terminus in the regional city of Bendigo. It is the third most-used regional rail service in Victoria, carrying 2.06 million passengers in the 2022-23 financial year.
Cobblebank railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Cobblebank, and opened on 1 December 2019.
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 A$4 billion. A$2.3 billion of the project's total cost is being funded by the Australian Government. It was delivered by Rail Projects Victoria (RPV) until April 2024, and then by the Level Crossing Removal Project. The project is guided by the 2016 Regional Network Development Plan, which outlines the short, medium and long-term priorities for a modernised regional rail network.