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.
A line was opened from Ballarat to Waubra in the 1880s. It closed in the 1960s.
A branch line was built from North Creswick to Daylesford in 1887, connecting with the line from Carlsruhe. It had stations at Broomfield, Allendale, Newlyn, Rocklyn, Wombat, Leonard, Sailor's Falls and Woodburn. This line closed in 1953.
A line was opened from Maryborough to connect with the Melbourne–Bendigo line at Castlemaine in 1874. This line has been partly dismantled, with only the section from Castlemaine to Maldon Junction still in use, as part of the Castlemaine to Maldon Victorian Goldfields Railway.
Another branch line was opened from Maryborough to Avoca in 1876 and Ben Nevis and Ararat in 1890. This line was closed in 1959, reopened in 1966, standardised in 1996 and closed again in 2005. It was then reopened to regular traffic in 2019 as part of the Murray Basin Rail Project. The Navarre line opened from Ben Nevis to Navarre in 1914 and it was closed in 1954.
The Morkalla line was completed from Red Cliffs to Meringur in the 1920s and extended to Morkalla in the 1930s. This line closed in the 1980s. A 2km section of the line near Red Cliffs has been converted to a 610mm-gauge steam railway, operated occasionally by the Red Cliffs Historical Steam Railway (see Victorian Tourism).
In 1923, a series of sidings were placed between the Mildura station and the wharves on the Murray River. These included a zig zag section to enable trains to travel between the different elevations. These sidings were removed in 1973.[1]
A passenger service was provided by V/Line with three weekly overnight services from Melbourne (known as The Vinelander), including sleeping cars, until 1993 when it was discontinued by the Kennett Government.[2] The former Bracks/Brumby Governments promised to re-open this line to passenger traffic as part of their pledges for the 1999, 2002 and 2006 elections. They also pledged the reopening of Clunes station in the 2010 election.
In December 2007 work began on upgrading the line between Gheringhap (on the Geelong–Ballarat line) and Mildura, at a cost of $73 million and involving one in every two sleepers being replaced, and lifting maximum train speeds to 80km/h (50mph).[3] Current speeds are restricted to 50km/h on one-third of the track and are as low as 30km/h in some sections.[4] In April 2008 it was announced that the Mildura–Yelta section of the line would also be upgraded, as part of the Victorian core grain network in a $23.7 million package with 6 other lines.[5]
As part of upgrades for the return of Maryborough passenger services, the crossing loops at Sulky, Tourello and Talbot stations have been removed, resulting in only one train at a time being able to use the 60 kilometres of line between Ballarat and Maryborough.[6] The loop at Sulky was removed on 12 February, the loop at Talbot on 24 February.[7]
In October 2010, the Victorian government released a report into public transport improvement options for the north-west of Victoria, outlining nine proposals for public transport projects. Options discussed include the return of passenger trains on the existing line, or via an extension of the Yungera line to connect to the Mildura line at Ouyen.[8][9]
Passenger services were reintroduced from Ballarat to Maryborough in July 2010, after a 17-year absence.[10][11]
The line closed in August 2017 north of Dunolly for conversion to standard gauge as part of the Murray Basin Rail Project.[12] It reopened gradually from February 2018 with maximum axle load lifted to 21 tonnes and line speed increased to 80km/h.[13]
Despite reopening to passenger traffic in 2010, the line has continued to have very low patronage figures across all the stations on the Maryborough Line. Creswick and Talbot Railway Stations served less than 400 passengers a year in the 2020–2021 patronage figures, down from only 1,000 prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Clunes Station also records less than 1,000 annual passenger movements. The terminus of the current passenger services, Maryborough, serves approximately 3,600 passenger per year.[14] In 2018–19 however, Maryborough had patronage figures of around 9,350 per annum or 25 passengers per day. There has been on-going discussions about the viability of the railway service to Maryborough with such low patronage on all stations along the branch line. [citation needed][by whom?]
Services
The main freight traffic on the line is export grain and containerised wine, grapes, citrus, dried fruit and juice, totalling around 1.5 million tonnes per year. Containers are dispatched to Melbourne from a terminal at Merbein (a short distance north of Mildura) operated by Seaway Intermodal,[15][16] which handles approximately 13,000 export containers a year, as well as 500 import containers.[17] Cement was also despatched to Mildura from Waurn Ponds until 2015, oil and less than container load (LCL) freight were carried until 2007.[18] A freight terminal also exists at Donald, and grain services run as required.
Maryborough services
In December 2008 as part of the Victorian Transport Plan the state government announced that V/Line rail passenger services would be extended from Ballarat to Maryborough station at a cost of $50 million,[19] commencing 25 July 2010.[20] Initially Creswick was to be the only intermediate station,[21][22] until June 2010 when the government announced $7 million in funding to also reopen Clunes.[23]Talbot also reopened in December 2013.[24]
Two services on weekdays and one service on weekends in each direction operate as a shuttle between Maryborough and Ballarat, stopping at all operating stations. At Ballarat, all terminating services connect to an Ararat or Ballarat service towards Melbourne, and all originating services bound for Maryborough connect to a service from Melbourne.
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger rail and coach services in the Australian state of Victoria. It provides passenger train services on five commuter routes and eight long-distance services from its major hub at Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne. It also provides coach 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 the Victorian freight and passenger rail network outside of the areas managed by Metro Trains Melbourne and the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
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.
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.
Maryborough railway station is located on the Mildura line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Maryborough, and it opened on 7 July 1874.
Creswick railway station is located on the Mildura line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Creswick, and the original station opened on 7 July 1874.
Ouyen is a closed railway station in Ouyen, on the Mildura railway line, in Victoria, Australia. The station is the junction for the Pinnaroo line westward to Panitya and Pinnaroo.
Mildura was the passenger terminus for the Mildura railway line in Victoria, Australia. Located in the city of Mildura it is located on the eastern side of the town centre, alongside the Murray River. Although there has not been a passenger rail service since 1993, the Victorian Labor Government has promised to return the service in 1999, though it has yet to return as of 2024.
The Robinvale railway line is a freight only country railway line in north-western Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the Mildura line at Dunolly, and at Inglewood the Eaglehawk – Inglewood line connects with the Piangil line outside Bendigo. The parallel Kulwin line junctions from the Robinvale line at Korong Vale then continues northward.
The Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor consists of the 828-kilometre (514-mile) long 1435 mm standard-gauge main line between the Australian state capitals of Melbourne, Victoria and Adelaide, South Australia, and the lines immediately connected to it. Most of its traffic is freight; the only passenger train along the entire route is the twice-weekly passenger service The Overland, operated by Journey Beyond.
The Geelong–Ballarat railway line is a broad-gauge railway in western Victoria, Australia between the cities of Geelong and Ballarat. Towns on the route include Bannockburn, Lethbridge, Meredith, Elaine and Lal Lal. Major traffic includes general freight from the Mildura line, and grain.
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.
The Maryborough–Avoca–Ararat railway is a railway line in western Victoria, Australia. It is one of the few railway lines in the state to have been closed and then reopened. Today it is a standard gauge branch line connecting the Western SG with Bung Bong (ballast) and Dunolly (grain), running through Maryborough station.
Clunes railway station is located on the Mildura line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Clunes, and opened on 16 November 1874.
Talbot railway station is located on the Mildura line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Talbot, and opened on 2 February 1875.
The Moolort Line was a cross-country railway line which connected Maryborough and Castlemaine in Victoria, Australia. The line, now defunct, starts in Castlemaine, passes through Campbells Creek, Yapeen, Guildford, Strangways, Newstead, Moolort, and Carisbrook, before joining the Mildura line at Maryborough.
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 gauge used in other parts of Australia, and the upgrading of track to enable higher axle loads for more efficient intrastate freight transfer.
Pinnaroo railway station was located on the Pinnaroo railway line from Tailem Bend to Ouyen. It served the town of Pinnaroo.
↑ DiFabrizio, Michael (14 February 2018). "Birchip stretch in train". Sunraysia Daily. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
↑ "Melbourne–Mildura Corridor Strategy"(PDF). Building our National Transport Future. Department of Transport and Regional Services. June 2007. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
↑ EMMA BROWN (11 October 2009). "No plans for Clunes train". The Courier. thecourier.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
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