Bendigo V/Line rail service

This article is about the V/Line service. For the physical railway itself, see Deniliquin railway line.

Bendigo
VLocity train at Bendigo
Overview
Service type	Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Current operator(s)	V/Line
Ridership	2.06 million (2022-23) [1]
Route
Termini	Epsom/Eaglehawk Southern Cross
Stops	14
Distance travelled	172.1 km (106.9 mi)
Average journey time	2 hours
Service frequency	12–43 minutes weekdays peak 60 minutes weekdays off-peak (limited services at Malmsbury, Macedon, Riddells Creek and Clarkefield in the afternoon) 60 minutes weekends Some services provided by Echuca services
Line(s) used	Deniliquin
On-board services
Class(es)	Economy
Disabled access	Yes
Catering facilities	No
Technical
Rolling stock	VLocity
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	160km/h
Track owner(s)	VicTrack

The Bendigo V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between state capital Melbourne, Victoria and the regional city of Bendigo, Victoria.

It is the third most-used regional rail service in Victoria (behind the Ballarat and Geelong services), carrying 2.06 million passengers in the 2022-23 financial year. ^[1]

History

Main article: Deniliquin railway line

The Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway Company built the line between Melbourne to Bendigo, finishing the fully double track line in 1862. ^[2] Throughout the early twentieth century, many branch lines were built along the length of the Bendigo line, but by the time V/Line took over Victorian regional passenger services in 1983, the only passengers services still using the Bendigo line corridor were the Swan Hill and Bendigo intercity services. Eventually though, a twice weekly passenger service to Echuca from Melbourne and Bendigo was reinstated in 1996. ^[3]

Under the Regional Fast Rail Project in 2006, the Bendigo line underwent major track upgrades that would allow for Velocity trains to run at speeds of 160km/h between Sunbury and Bendigo. However, between Kyneton and Bendigo the line was singled in order to allow for better clearance past heritage structures, although some double sections were retained in order to create long passing loops. The crossing loops were provided with bidirectional signalling, but only one track of the loop was upgraded for high-speed running. ^[4]

With the Sunbury line's electrification project completed in 2012, Bendigo line trains no longer called at Diggers Rest. ^[5] In 2014, Epsom station was constructed to serve Bendigo's Northeastern suburbs, it was at first serviced four times daily by extending some services that terminated at Bendigo. ^[6] On 27 June 2016, three more daily Bendigo V/Line services were also extended to the station of Eaglehawk, on the Swan Hill line. ^[7] The advent of the Bendigo Metro Rail Project has significantly increased the frequency of trains to Epsom, Eaglehawk as well as Kangaroo Flat stations. ^[8]

On 16 July 2014, V/Line trains between Melbourne and Bendigo ceased stopping at North Melbourne Station as part of the Regional Rail Link project.

Over time, the service frequencies on both the Echuca and Swan Hill lines have increased up to two train services a day, with V/Line coach services also providing a relatively frequent service to these cities. ^[9]

In 2020, the Victorian Government announced a proposal to build the new Raywood, Goornong and Huntly railway stations as part of the Regional Rail Revival project.

Service pattern

Currently, V/Line runs at-least hourly passenger services along the Bendigo line, with additional frequency during peak hours. This frequency is normally inclusive of the trains that run from Swan Hill and Echuca via Bendigo to Melbourne. Additional peak hour services originate and terminate at Kyneton. Most trains terminate at Bendigo, but 7 weekday services continue onto Epsom, and a further 5 onto Eaglehawk. Service frequency between Kyneton and Bendigo is limited due to sections of single track.

All passenger train services that terminate within Greater Bendigo (which includes Epsom and Eaglehawk) are run by VLocity DMUs, while some late night services to Bendigo are run by V/Line road coaches.

V/Line also operates two daily services to the city of Swan Hill and three daily services to the city of Echuca via Bendigo. These services are further supplemented by numerous V/Line road coach services which fill the gaps within the schedule. These services though tend to run as limited expresses in between Bendigo and Melbourne.

Abbreviations here are for the table below, not formally used.

  Local (LC)

All stop service between Southern Cross and Bendigo.

  Commuter Express (CE)

Peak hours only, two down services in the morning and one up services in the afternoon.

  Semi Express (SE)

Evening peak hour only from Southern Cross to Bendigo.

  Limited Express (LE)

Trains to/from Swan Hill operate as a limited express on the Bendigo Line.

Legend:

●	All trains stop
▲	Most trains stop
↑	Only trains towards Melbourne stop
↓	Only trains towards Bendigo stop
｜	All trains pass

Station	Image	Distance (km)	LC	CE	SE	LE	Train Connections	Other Connections	Location
Southern Cross		0.0	●	●	●	●	24 Train connections   Alamein line     Albury line     Ararat line     Ballarat line     Belgrave line     Craigieburn line     Cranbourne line     Flemington Racecourse line     Geelong line     Gippsland line     Glen Waverley line     Hurstbridge line     Lilydale line     Maryborough line     Mernda line     NSW TrainLink Southern     Seymour line     Shepparton line     Sunbury line     The Overland     Upfield line     Warrnambool line     Werribee line     Williamstown line		Melbourne
Footscray		4.9	●	●	●	●	8 Train connections   Ararat line     Ballarat line     Geelong line     Maryborough line     Sunbury line     Warrnambool line     Werribee line     Williamstown line
Watergardens		24.3	｜	↑	｜	●	1 Train connection   Sunbury line
Sunbury		39.5	●	｜	｜	｜	1 Train connection   Sunbury line
Clarkefield		50.4	●	｜	｜	｜			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Riddels Creek		58.9	●	｜	｜	｜			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Gisborne		66.2	●	↑	●	●			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Macedon		71.8	●	｜	｜	｜			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Woodend		80.1	●	｜	●	▲			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Kyneton		93.6	●	｜	●	●			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Malmsbury		104.2	●	｜	｜	↓			Shire of Macedon Ranges
Castlemaine		127.3	●	●	●	●	1 Train connection   Maldon line		Shire of Macedon Ranges
Kangaroo Flat		159.4	●	●	●	●			City of Greater Bendigo
Bendigo		164.2	●	●	●	●			City of Greater Bendigo
↓ Through-service to/from ↓ Epsom and Echuca via the Deniliquin line . Eaglehawk and Swan Hill via the Piangil Line

Infrastructure

The line to Bendigo was fully double track prior to the Regional Fast Rail project in 2006. Now the line is double track until Kyneton, and is single-track with passing loops until Kangaroo Flat. The track is double between Kangaroo Flat and Bendigo, but single thereafter until Eaglehawk and Epsom.

References

1. V/Line Corporation (25 September 2023). Annual Report 2022-23 (Report). Archived from the original on 5 March 2024.
2. "Railway History in Victoria 1839-1900". Australian Railway Historical Society - Victorian Division. Archived from the original on 2013-03-27. Archived from the original on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
3. "Melbourne to Bendigo and Echuca Railway" (PDF). Engineers Australia. Acceleration. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
4. "Work starts on Victoria's regional fast rail project". Rail Express. Mohi Media. 28 October 2002. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
5. "Sunbury electrification inaugurated". Railway Gazette. Archived from the original on 30 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
6. Carrodus, Hannah (11 October 2014). "Epsom train station officially opens". Bendigo Advertiser. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
7. "Bendigo and Eaglehawk station upgrades". Victrack. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
8. "Bendigo Metro Rail". Victorian State Government. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
9. "Bendigo Line". V/Line Timetables. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.

External links

• www.vline.com.au
• Official Timetable Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
• Statistics and detailed schematic map at the vicsig enthusiast website