V/Line

V/Line

Type	Government-owned corporation
Industry	Rail & coach transport
Founded	1 July 1983
Headquarters	Melbourne, Australia
Area served	Regional Victoria Adelaide Canberra Southern New South Wales
Key people	Jenny Dawson Chairman Gary Liddle acting CEO
Services	Regional trains and coaches
Revenue	$618.8 (2014/15)
Net income	($2.1m) (2014/15)
Number of employees	1,586 (June 2015)
Parent	Government of Victoria
Website	www.vline.com.au

Victorian railway network in 2007
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Dates of operation	1 July 1983–
Predecessor	Victorian Railways Public Transport Corporation
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (Albury line)
Headquarters	Melbourne

V/Line is a government-owned corporation that operates the regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority.

V/Line carried 15.05 million passengers in the 2014/15 financial year. V/Line is also track manager of the Victorian intrastate rail network outside of the Australian Rail Track Corporation and Metro Trains Melbourne leases.^[1] As at June 2015, it operated 90 stations, 41 locomotives, 134 locomotive hauled carriages and 179 diesel multiple unit carriages.^[2]

As a government authority

On 1 July 1983, the State Transport Authority and a range of other transport bodies were created, when the Transport Act 1983 came into effect.^[3] The new authority replaced VicRail, and established the V/Line operating brand for both country passenger and freight. The VicRail orange and silver 'teacup' livery used on passenger rolling stock was replaced in August 1983 by an orange and grey livery. The white and green V/Line logo was launched on 14 August 1983 by the then Minister of Transport, Steve Crabb, at Spencer Street station, with special trains running to Essendon to mark the occasion.^[4][5]

This was altered when on 1 July 1989 the Transport (Amendment) Act took effect, merging the State Transport Authority with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to form the Public Transport Corporation.^[6] The relationship between the country V/Line and suburban 'The Met' brands was blurred, with the Sprinter trains delivered in the 1993-1995 period appearing in PTC colours but with both PTC and V/Line logos.^[7]

In 1995, the freight and passenger rail divisions of V/Line were divided, with a new red, blue and white V/Line Passenger livery unveiled, which remains on some of the fleet today.^[8] This split was finalised on 1 July 1997 when separate management was brought in.^[9]

V/Line Freight was sold to a consortium of RailAmerica, Fluor Daniel, Macquarie Bank and A Goninan & Co and rebranded as Freight Victoria effective from 1 May 1999.^[10][11][12]

V/Line Passenger was franchised with National Express beating Freight Victoria.^{[13][14][15][16]} The V/Line Freight contract included a 45-year lease from the government of most regional track (passenger and freight), with responsibilities for track, signalling and level crossings, with access to passenger sections of track granted to V/Line Passenger.

V/Line operates under a franchise agreement entered into with the Director of Public Transport. The Director also sub leases tracks and other infrastructure which the Director holds under lease from VicTrack, the agency which owns Victoria's rail-related land and infrastructure.

As a corporation

On 29 August 1999, National Express took control of V/Line Passenger.^[17] It included all country rail operations in Victoria, with the exception of the West Coast Railway operated Warrnambool line and the Hoys Roadlines operated Shepparton line, previously franchised in 1993.^[17] In 2004, operational difficulties hit the two privately operated lines, and they came back under the control of V/Line.

In December 2002, National Express handed in its Victorian rail and tram franchises having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the State Government.^[18][19][20]

Full control was taken on 1 October 2003 by changing the shareholding of V/Line, making the government the sole shareholder via a recently created statutory corporation, V/Line Passenger Corporation.^[1]

In 2000, the Regional Fast Rail project was launched to upgrade the tracks linking Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the Latrobe Valley to Melbourne. The project, which also included new rolling stock and an expanded timetable of rail services, commenced full operations from December 2005.

In November 2006 Pacific National, who had purchased Freight Australia, entered into an agreement to sell the remainder of its Victorian rail lease of the network back to the Victorian Government for $133.8 m.^[21] The sale was completed on 7 May 2007, with V/Line becoming the track manager of the Victorian intrastate network.^[22]

In May 2008 it was announced that part of the V/Line fleet would be converted to standard gauge to operate an upgraded Albury line service.^[23] In December 2008 V/Line ended the sale of alcoholic beverages aboard long-distance trains, after almost a century of the practice.^[24]

In 2014/15, the subsidy per passenger trip was $20.17.^[2]

The Transport Integration Act renamed the V/Line Passenger Corporation as V/Line Corporation.^[25] The Act also gave V/Line a new statutory charter. As part of these changes, the corporation's responsibilities were explicitly expanded to cover both rail passenger and rail freight services.^[26] The Act received the Royal Assent on 2 March 2010 and came into operation on 1 July 2010.^[27]

In January 2016, V/Line's VLocity rolling stock was identified to be suffering from abnormal wheel wear,^[28] in addition to the fleet being banned from the Metropolitan track lease by the suburban rail operator, Metro Trains Melbourne, after failing to activate a level crossing in Dandenong,^[29][30] in turn causing as many as 70 services a day to be cancelled.^[31] This resulted in the resignation of then CEO Theo Taifalos, sixteen days free travel being provided to passengers, and an independent inquiry being ordered by Transport Minister Jacinta Allan into the operational capacity of V/Line.^[31][32]

Services

Southern Cross railway station, seen from the corner of Collins and Spencer Streets

V/Line operates rail services to the regional cities of Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Seymour and Traralgon as well as Ararat, Maryborough, Echuca, Swan Hill, Albury, Bairnsdale, Warrnambool and Shepparton. In addition, V/Line road coaches connect with many rail services at major stations to serve towns away from the main rail network operating as far as Adelaide and Canberra.^[33]

Rail services are grouped into two types. As part of the introduction of the Myki smartcard in 2013, and to provide consistent communication to both staff and customers, what were formerly called "Interurban" services became "Commuter" services, and what were formerly called "Intercity" services became "Long Distance" services. Commuter services operate over shorter distances and more frequently than Long Distance services, and the latter usually provide some first-class accommodation, as well as snack bar facilities.

All rail services depart from Southern Cross station in Melbourne on the following lines with the exception of one Traralgon service which departs/ terminates at Flinders Street

• South West Region or Geelong Line which continues as the Warrnambool Line
• Western Region or Ballarat Line which continues as the Ararat Line and the Maryborough Line
• Northern Region or Bendigo Line which extends as the Swan Hill Line and the Echuca Line
• North East Region or Seymour Line which extends as the Shepparton Line and the Albury Line
• Eastern Region or Traralgon Line which continues as the Bairnsdale Line

Rail services once extended to Dimboola, Mildura, Cobram and Leongatha but were discontinued in 1993.^[34]

The services to Ararat and Bairnsdale were also withdrawn in 1993, but restored in 2004.^[35] 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, commencing in July 2010.^[36][37] The first passenger train in 15 years arrived at Maryborough on 24 July 2010.^[38]

The resumption of V/Line services to Leongatha and Cobram has been sought by communities along both of these lines, but minimal portions of the track along both corridors has now been removed. The resumption of services to Mildura has also been floated ever since it ceased operation, however, despite much planning, little action has been achieved. A recent report into the extensions of the Melbourne metropolitan rail system identified the population growth corridor from Cranbourne to Koo-Wee-Rup along the disused Leongatha line as a key planning priority.^[39]

V/line also runs numerous intrastate and interstate road coach services that may run wholly as a coach service or operate as a coach connecting with a rail service.

Interstate road coach service operated by V/line are:

• Canberra Link - Melbourne (Southern Cross) - Canberra via Albury, runs as a train to Albury and then a coach to Canberra
• Capital Link - Melbourne (Southern Cross) - Canberra via Bairnsdale, runs as a train to Bairnsdale and then a coach to Canberra
• Daylink - Melbourne (Southern Cross) - Adelaide via Bendigo, runs as a train to Bendigo and then a coach to Adelaide
• Sapphire Coast Link - Melbourne (Southern Cross) - Batemans Bay via Bairnsdale, runs as a train to Bairnsdale and then a coach to Batemans Bay
• Speedlink - Sydney - Adelaide via Albury, does not travel to Melbourne and runs as the NSW TrainLink XPT train from Sydney to Albury and then a coach from Albury to Adelaide
• Murraylink - Mildura - Albury, does not travel to Melbourne and operates entirely as a coach.

Ticketing

V/Line thermally printed ticket

V/line Reserved Seating Ticket

V/Line currently uses the myki ticketing system on short distance train services, in addition to machine printed paper tickets, issued from staffed V/Line stations, selected Metro suburban premium stations, V/Line ticket agents, online or by phone. Passengers boarding services at unmanned stations or roadside coach stops can purchase tickets from the train conductor or coach driver.

Tickets have the origin and destination printed upon them, making them point to point, but the fare itself is based on charging zones.^[40] Changes were made to the fare system, to integrate it with the suburban Metcard system in preparation for the introduction of the Myki smartcard system to cover the entire state.^[41]

Ticket types available include single, return, and a range of periodical tickets.^[42] Services are classified as peak and off-peak, with discounts available for tickets valid in off-peak times only.^[42] V/Line operates a limited number of trains with first class seating which requires the payment of an upgrade fee on top of the standard economy fare.^[43] From June 2013 the Myki smartcard system began to be rolled out on the V/Line network.^[44]

Most V/Line services operate on a non-allocated seating basis, but all intercity (long distance) rail services and some coach services require seat reservations.^[45]

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Gauge	Top speed (km/h)	Built	Number	Notes
VLocity		Diesel multiple unit	Broad	160	2004-	134	51 sets, 43 additional cars under construction
N class		Diesel electric locomotive	Broad, Standard	130	1985-1987	25
Sprinter		Diesel multiple unit	Broad	130	1993-1995	21
A class		Diesel electric locomotive	Broad	133	1984-1985	11	10 stored
P class		Diesel electric locomotive	Broad, Standard	100	1984-1985	8	1 stored
Y class		Diesel electric locomotive	Broad	65	1965-1968	4	Shunters at Southern Cross, Geelong and Newport Workshops
H type carriages		Passenger carriage	Broad	115	1984-1990	51	13 sets, 1 car stored
N type carriages		Passenger carriage	Broad, Standard	115	1981-1984	56	19 sets, 1 car stored (accident damage)
Z type carriages		Passenger carriage	Broad	115	1957-1966	20	Incorporated into N sets, 1 stored (accident damage)
D van		Parcels/luggage van	Broad	115	1983	7	4 stored
PCJ van		Head end power/luggage van	Standard	115	1970	3
PH van		Head end power van	Broad	115	1984, 2009	4

Road coaches:

V/Line liveried coach

Road coaches are provided by private companies, who are contracted by the Department of Transport to operate services for V/Line. These coaches are painted in V/Line livery.^[46]

Network access

V/Line also manages and maintains all non-interstate rural rail track in Victoria, including lines that do not see passenger services.^[47] The lease was previously held by Pacific National, who entered into an agreement to sell it back to the Victorian Government for $133.8 million in November 2006,^[21] with the sale completed in May 2007 with V/Line appointed to manage it.^[48]

Branding

Initial 1983 logo

The initial V/Line visual identity was unveiled in August 1983, with an orange and grey livery for locomotives and passenger rolling stock,^[4] along with a white and green V/Line logo with a "stylised capital lettered logo with the V and the L split by a deep slashing stroke".^[49] Work on the initial V/Line identity started in May 1983, with freight wagons being released without logos pending the launch. Before that time, a stylised VR logo was carried by rolling stock that had been received the orange and silver VicRail 'teacup' livery since 1981.^[4] Carriages in the 'teacup' livery later had the logos removed and replaced by V/Line ones.^[50]

This remained until 1993 when the Sprinter trains were delivered in the teal and yellow suburban 'The Met' brand colours, but with both The Met and V/Line logos.^[7] In 1995, the freight and passenger rail divisions of V/Line were divided, with locomotives in the freight fleet retaining the orange and grey livery with 'V/Line Freight' logos, while passenger carriages and locomotive received the red blue and white 'V/Line Passenger' livery which remains on some of the fleet today.^[8] It was also at that time that the V/Line logo was altered, with serifs added to the lettering, and the "deep slashing stroke" was altered to a curved blue line. After National Express took over V/Line, the logo was again altered in 2000, with mixed-case lettering and a curving blue line underneath.^[50] In 2006, it was again altered, with the removal of the blue line underneath and addition of a purple line.^[51]

The VLocity railcars were delivered from 2005 in a totally new livery of stainless steel with purple and green highlights. In 2007, a new livery was unveiled, consisting of a grey carbody with red, white and purple stripes.^[52] Rolling stock in different variants of the livery was released throughout that year, with a consistent version not appearing until 2008, along with a number of repainted locomotives.

See also

• Chief Investigator, Transport Safety
• Department of Transport
• Director of Public Transport
• Director, Transport Safety
• Rail Safety Act
• Rail transport in Victoria
• Transport Integration Act
• VicTrack

References

External links

• Media related to V/Line at Wikimedia Commons
• V/Line
• V/LineCars.com - Comprehensive V/Line Carriages Information & Enthusiast website
• Vicsig.net - Victorian passenger rolling stock