CountryLink was a passenger rail and road service brand that operated in regional areas of New South Wales, and to and from Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne. Originally created as a business unit of the State Rail Authority of New South Wales, it later became a subsidiary of RailCorp. CountryLink operated rail services using XPT and Xplorer rolling stock, with connecting coach services operated under contract by private operators.
Broadmeadows railway station is located on the Craigieburn line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the northern Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, and opened on 1 February 1873.
Rail transport in Australia is a component of the Australian transport system. It is to a large extent state-based, as each state largely has its own operations, with the interstate network being developed ever since Australia's federation in 1901. As of 2022, the Australian rail network consists of a total of 32,929 kilometres (20,461 mi) of track built to three major track gauges: 18,007 kilometres (11,189 mi) of standard gauge, 2,685 kilometres (1,668 mi) of broad gauge, and 11,914 kilometres (7,403 mi) of narrow gauge lines. Additionally, about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) of 610 mm / 2 ft gauge lines support the sugar-cane industry. 3,488 kilometres (2,167 mi), around 11 per cent of the Australian heavy railways network route-kilometres are electrified.
The Violet Town rail accident, also known as the Southern Aurora disaster, was a railway accident that occurred on 7 February 1969 following the incapacitation of the driver of one of the trains, near the McDiarmids Road crossing, approximately 1 km south of Violet Town, Victoria, Australia. The crash resulted in nine deaths and 117 injuries.
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
The Zanthus train collision occurred at a crossing loop on the Trans-Australian Railway between Perth and Sydney on 18 August 1999. It is located 739 km (459 mi) east northeast of Perth and 202 km (126 mi) east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, on the Nullarbor Plain.
The V/Line VLocity, sometimes called the VLocity 160, is a diesel multiple unit train built by Alstom in Dandenong for V/Line, the regional rail operator in the Australian state of Victoria. Continuously in production since 2003, the VLocity is the highest-speed train in the V/Line fleet, with a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). As of February 2024 with set 114 entering service, 112 3-car sets are in revenue service, 2 collision damaged sets are in storage, and 25 more are under construction on the current confirmed orders
The Spirit of Progress was the premier express passenger train on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the New South Wales border at Albury, and later through to Sydney.
Wangaratta railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of the same name, and opened on 28 October 1873.
The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne central business district to Albury railway station in the border settlement of Albury-Wodonga, serving the cities of Wangaratta and Seymour, and smaller towns in northeastern Victoria.
There have been a number of train accidents on the railway network of Victoria, Australia. Some of these are listed below.
The railways of New South Wales, Australia have had many incidents and accidents since their formation in 1831. There are close to 1000 names associated with rail-related deaths in NSW on the walls of the Australian Railway Monument in Werris Creek. Those killed were all employees of various NSW railways. The details below include deaths of employees and the general public.
The New South Wales XPT is a class of diesel-powered passenger trains built by Comeng and ABB. Based on the British Rail-designed High Speed Train, each XPT set comprises two XP power cars in a push-pull configuration and, between them, between four and seven passenger carriages.
High-speed rail in Australia has been under investigation since the early 1980s. Every Federal Government since this time has investigated the feasibility of constructing high-speed rail with speeds above 200 km/h, but to date nothing has ever gone beyond the detailed planning stage. The most commonly suggested route is between Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, which, as of 2023, is the world's sixth busiest air corridor. Various corridors have been proposed for a potential high-speed line. The distance between them is around 800 km (500 miles), which requires very high speeds to make trains competitive with air travel.
The Sprinter is a diesel railcar built by A Goninan & Co in Broadmeadow, NSW for V/Line between 1993 and 1995.
The Sydney–Melbourne rail corridor is approximately 953-kilometre (592-mile) standard-gauge railway corridor that runs between Sydney and Melbourne (Victoria), the two largest cities in Australia. Freight and passenger services operate along the route, including the NSW TrainLink XPT passenger service.
The Albury line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between the state capital of Melbourne and the regional cities of Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga, and the NSW border city of Albury.
On 3 February 2003, a Comeng electric multiple unit train rolled away from Broadmeadows station in Melbourne, Australia, before it ran for nearly 17 kilometres (11 mi) out of control without a driver and eventually crashed into another train about to depart Spencer Street station. Train controllers attempted several times to stop or redirect the train, but were limited in their ability to intervene, instead being forced to alter the route of other trains to avert a more serious collision. Eleven people on board the stationary train were injured; authorities did not know until after the crash if any passengers were on board the runaway. An investigation identified driver error as the cause of the accident, but the runaway event prompted significant debate about the role of government authorities and private operators in ensuring safety and reliability on the Melbourne rail network.
The Livraga derailment is the only railway accident to date on the Italian high speed rail network. It took place on 6 February 2020 when a high-speed train derailed at Livraga, Lombardy, Italy. Two people died and 31 were injured.
On 13 March 2021, a Class 507 electric multiple unit operated by Merseyrail collided with the buffer stop at Kirkby railway station, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The only injury was the driver of the train. The cause was found to be that the driver was using a mobile phone whilst driving. The distraction led him to enter the station at excessive speed. He was dismissed from Merseyrail and later prosecuted, pleading guilty to a charge of endangering the safety of people on the railway, for which he received a 12-month suspended sentence.
