Geelong V/Line rail service

The Geelong line 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 Geelong.

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

Geelong

Various V/Line trains wait at Geelong station for departure.
Overview
Service type	Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Current operator(s)	V/Line
Former operator(s)	Victorian Railways
Annual ridership	7.62 million (2016−17)[1]
Website	V/Line Geelong on Twitter
Route
Start	Waurn Ponds railway station
Stops	16
End	Southern Cross railway station
Distance travelled	85.0 km (52.8 mi)[2]
Average journey time	1 hour 19 minutes
Service frequency	6–26 minutes weekdays peak 20 minutes weekdays off-peak (40 minutes at Waurn Ponds, Marshall, North Shore, Corio and Little River) 40 minutes weekends (some services provided by Warrnambool services)
Line(s) used	Warrnambool Deer Park–West Werribee Serviceton Deniliquin
On-board services
Class(es)	Economy
Disabled access	Yes (except some weekday peak services)
Technical
Rolling stock	VLocity Sprinter N class and H set or N set[3]
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph) maximum[4]
Track owner(s)	VicTrack

Geelong V/Line Service
h:mm km 0:00 0.0 Southern Cross 0:07 5.6 Footscray 0:12 12.3 Sunshine Zone 1 2 0:17 17.9 Deer Park 0:25 29.5 Tarneit 0:32 40.3 Wyndham Vale 0:39 56.3 Little River 0:45 60.2 Lara Zone 2 3/4 0:49 72.8 Corio Zone 3/4 0:52 75.9 North Shore The Overland Zone 3/4 0:55 78.9 North Geelong Zone 3/4 4 1:00 81.4 Geelong 1:04 83.2 South Geelong 1:09 88.5 Marshall 1:17 91.8 Waurn Ponds Warrnambool V/Line Service Standard timetabled journey from Southern Cross

According to V/Line it carries more passengers than any other regional rail line in Australia.[5]

History

V/Line commuter services to Geelong once terminated at Geelong station, being extended to the existing South Geelong station in 1968, and to the newly rebuilt Marshall station in 2005.

In February 1959 the line from North Geelong to Corio was duplicated.[6][7] The line from Werribee to Little River was duplicated in October 1970. In June 1981, the line to Lara was duplicated and the platform at Lara converted into an island platform, while the Little River station got a second platform.[6]

Construction of Waurn Ponds railway station was completed in 2014 and opened on 12 October, extending Geelong line services to Waurn Ponds.[8]

There have been calls to electrify the line, but plans were put on hold by the State Government in 2002,[9] with Diesel locomotives and railcars utilised instead. Train services between Melbourne and Geelong received a government funded upgrade under the Regional Fast Rail project between 2004 and 2005, with new high speed VLocity railcars manufactured by Bombardier in Dandenong entering service to Geelong in early 2006.[10]

Services

The twin broad gauge and parallel single standard gauge tracks near Lara

V/Line VLocity train near Little River

N-class locomotive hauling N-class carriages near Lara

V/Line train crossing the Barwon River in Geelong

Services on the Geelong line operate to a variety of stopping patterns during the weekday peak, to a frequency of 6 to 36 minutes depending on the station. Services may originate or terminate at Wyndham Vale, Geelong, South Geelong, Marshall or Waurn Ponds.

Outside the peak period, services operate to a 20-minute frequency, alternating between two stopping patterns:

• from Waurn Ponds, stopping all to North Shore, then express to Lara, then to Wyndham Vale, then stopping all to Deer Park, then express to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross (and the reverse);
• from South Geelong, stopping all to North Geelong, then express to Corio, then stopping all to Deer Park, then express to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross (and the reverse).

During the weekends, services operate to a 40-minute frequency, stopping at all stations between Waurn Ponds and Deer Park, and express from Deer Park to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross. However, some services are filled by Warrnambool line services, which operates to different stopping patterns.

Almost all services are run using VLocity railcars, but some Sprinters and locomotive-hauled N-class carriages are also used. 70-year-old S-class carriages were used until 2010.[11]

Prior to the opening of the Regional Rail Link, services ran every 20 minutes during weekdays and hourly later at night, with more frequent services during peak. Services operated every 40 minutes on weekends.[12] In December 2013, after the opening of the first section between Southern Cross and South Kensington, Geelong trains no longer stopped at North Melbourne.[13] From 21 June 2015, Geelong trains commenced running via the Deer Park–West Werribee line, no longer using the original line via Werribee and Newport.[14]

Performance

Trains on the Geelong – Melbourne corridor are chronically late. V/Line has failed to meet their punctuality targets since 2006. As of March 2010, trains had officially run late for 44 consecutive months on the Geelong line.[15] The poor performance of V/Line has been well documented in the local Geelong press.[16] Recurring issues on the line include poor communication,[17] commuters worried about losing their jobs in Melbourne due to delays [18] and overcrowding.[19]

See also

• Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company
• V/Line

References

1. Annual Report 2016-17. V/Line Corporation. June 2017. p. 14. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
2. "Train Operating Data: Werribee to Warrnambool". Network service plan. V/Line Corporation. p. 6. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
3. "Passenger Schedules: South Western Down". Network service plan. V/Line Corporation. 10 December 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
4. "Train Operating Data: Werribee to Warrnambool". Network service plan. V/Line Corporation. 25 October 2017. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
5. http://www.vline.com.au/community/home/howbusy.html%5B%5D
6. Corio Station Rail Geelong
7. Lara, Corio, North Shore Victorian Station Histories
8. "New $26 million Grovedale station a boost for public transport in Geelong". Premier of Victoria. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
9. "Electrification of the Geelong rail line not to proceed at this stage". Minister for Transport. 4 April 2002. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012.
10. "V/Line - First VLocity Services to Geelong". 3 February 2006. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
11. Oates, Alex (17 July 2010). "Notorious old 4.55pm train to be replaced". Geelong Advertiser. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
12. Stephen Moynihan (5 May 2007). "The Age - 'Network hits 50-year high as commuters crowd on'". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
13. "Changes to Geelong line services from Sunday 22 December 2013" (PDF). Public Transport Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
14. "Regional Rail Link". economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
15. "V/Line misses targets on Geelong line". Geelong Advertiser. 17 June 2010.
16. "Taking the work train with trepidation". Geelong Advertiser. 23 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012.
17. "V/Line passengers rail against bosses". Geelong Advertiser. 22 April 2010.
18. "Late trains keep commuters away from home: Mulder". Geelong Advertiser. 22 March 2010.
19. "Train seating report blasted". Geelong Advertiser. 3 June 2010.

External links

• http://www.vline.com.au
• Rail Geelong: Line History