Ballarat V/Line rail service

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

The Ballarat service is the second busiest service in Victoria (behind Geelong) carrying 3.17 million passengers in the 12 months ended 30 June 2014.^[1]

History

Ardeer station, with a train stopped in the platform

V/Line VLocity train at the junction with the Melbourne-Ballarat line at Warrenheip station

V/Line VLocity railcars inside the train shed of Ballarat station

In November 2004, Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks announced that the line would be renamed the Eureka Line to mark the 150th anniversary of the Eureka uprising. Due to take effect from late 2005 at the same time as the renaming of Spencer Street Station to Southern Cross.^[2] The renaming was criticised by groups such as the Public Transport Users Association,^[3] and was never carried out.

On 9 May 2009, Wendouree station to the west of Ballarat station opened.^[4]

In December 2008, as part of the Victorian Transport Plan, the State Government announced passenger rail services to Maryborough would resume with services commencing on 25 July 2010.^[5][6]

Construction of the Caroline Springs station, between Deer Park and Rockbank stations, commenced in August 2015 and the station is scheduled to open in 2016.^[7]

Services

V/Line operates hourly passenger services along the line. Most terminate at Wendouree with two extending to Ararat station and one to Maryborough. During peak hours some services originate and terminate at Bacchus Marsh.^[8]

Services are operated primarily by V/Line VLocity DMUs, while peak-hour trains to Bacchus Marsh are operated by Sprinter DMUs and H type carriages hauled by N and P locomotives.

To alleviate capacity constraints on the single track section, one Ballarat to Melbourne service in the evening peak is provided by a road coach.^[8]

Infrastructure

The majority of the line is single track, with the exception of:

• double track between Melbourne, Sunshine and Deer Park West
• a short crossing loop at Rockbank station
• a short crossing loop at Melton station
• Parwan Loop, between Melton and Bacchus Marsh stations, located before the descent into Bacchus Marsh
• Bank Box Loop, between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan stations, located atop the Werribee Gorge
• a long crossing loop at Bungaree, between Ballan and Ballarat. The two tracks take different routes, one being the original line via Bungaree, the other being a new deviation built as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.^[9]

A new crossing loop at Rowsley is currently under construction, and is scheduled for completion in mid 2016.^[10]

Line guide

Bold stations are termini, where some train services terminate; italic stations are staffed, at least part-time:

Ballarat V/Line rail service with Regional Rail Link
Legend
0 km Southern Cross Zone 1 North East line 4.9 km Footscray Zone 1 12.3 km Sunshine Zone 1/2 Piangil line 15.05 km Ardeer Zone 2 17.83 km Deer Park Zone 2 Warrnambool line 21.2 km Caroline Springs (to open 2016) Zone 2 31 km Rockbank Zone 2 41.3 km Melton Zone 2 47.03 km Parwan (Closed) 52.86 km Bacchus Marsh Zone 2 79.48 km Ballan Zone 4 91.20 km Gordon (Closed) 118.80 km Ballarat Zone 8 Mildura line 123.13 km Wendouree Zone 8 Serviceton line

References

External links

• V/Line map