Serviceton railway line, Victoria

VictorianRailwayLineInfobox
type = vic
name = Serviceton
yearcommenced =
yearopened = 1862
yearcompleted = to South Australian border in 1887
yearclosed =
fate =
lengthkm =
stations =
tracks = Single broad gauge to Ararat, standard gauge beyond
users = V/Line passenger services to Ballarat and Ararat, freight and "The Overland" beyond
servicepattern =
RollingStock =
connections = Geelong-Ballarat and Mildura lines
formerconnections =

---

The Serviceton railway line (also known as the Western line) is a railway serving the west of Victoria, Australia. The line links the state capital Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat, and once extended to the South Australian border as part of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway. In this role it has been replaced by the Western standard gauge line.

ervices

Connex Melbourne operates suburban passenger services along the inner section of the line as far as Sunshine as the Sydenham Line, while V/Line services operate as the Interurban Ballarat Line and the Intercity Ararat Line. During peak hour some services originate and terminate at Bacchus Marsh. Passengers on the inner section of the line to Melton are permitted to use Metcard tickets to access the services, with this section marked as the Melton line on suburban network maps. Beyond Ararat the line is part of the Western standard gauge line and sees "The Overland" to "Adelaide".

Freight services also use the line between Ballarat and Melbourne, coming off the Mildura line. The Western standard gauge also sees a large number of interstate freight trains as part of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway.

History

The first railway line from Melbourne to Ballarat was via Geelong. Construction of the Geelong-Ballarat line began in 1858 and took nearly four years to complete. The project employed 3,000 men and cost approximately 1.5 million pounds. The line officially opened in 1862, with the first train running, at a rate of 15 miles per hour, on April 10, taking around four and a half hours to reach Geelong, amid various complications - inability to pull up a hill and the lack of firewood. The return trip commenced at 12:20pm, arriving in Ballarat at 3pm.cite web
url=http://www.ballarathistory.org/transrlh.html
publisher=Ballarat History Central
title=Ballarat Australia History - Rail Heritage] The line was extended from Ballarat to Beaufort in 1874 and to Ararat in 1875. It took until 1889 for a direct line from Melbourne to Ballarat to be opened, in part due to the difficult terrain between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan.

Up until 1995 the line though Ballarat was the main route for freight trains between Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as "The Overland" services to Adelaide, and V/Line services to Horsham and Dimboola. V/Line passenger rail services beyond Ballarat were withdrawn on 27 May 1994, [ [http://www.victorianrailways.net/vr%20history/history.html VictorianRailways.net - VR Timeline] ] and in 1995 the One Nation Program rerouted the main interstate line via North Shore and Maroona and the broad gauge line between Ballarat and Ararat was closed to all traffic. The broad gauge passenger service from Ballarat to Ararat was not reinstated until 2004.

Work began in 2005 on upgrades between Sunshine and Ballarat as part of the Regional Fast Rail project, which saw heavier tracks and concrete sleepers installed, renewal of ballast and a new signalling system. A number of deviations were built to ease curves on the line, as well as seven new bridges, with the Lal Lal and Moorabool River bridges amongst the longest in Australia.cite web
url=http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/planningprojects.nsf/headingpagesdisplay/regional+fast+rail
publisher=State Government of Victoria, Department of Infrastructure
title=Transport planning and projects - Regional Fast Rail
date=May 15, 2006] The works were completed and the first VLocity train ran on the line on December 22, 2005. [ [http://wongm.fotopic.net/c802268.html V/Line - First Day of VLocity Revenue Operation (Ballarat)] ]

As part of the Transit Cities program, a new station is to open in Wendouree in 2008.cite web
url=http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/Doi/Internet/transport.nsf/AllDocs/5B8CEA11A3D8F676CA2571F800022DAD?OpenDocument#ballarat
publisher=State Government of Victoria, Department of Infrastructure
title=Public transport - Regional railway station projects
date=September 21, 2007] cite web
url=http://ballarat.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=1040283
publisher=The Courier
title='Wendouree' to be new station name
date=August 21, 2007] It will be located approximately 50 metres west of Gillies Street, provide 200 car park spaces (with potential expansion to 500) and serve the nearby areas of Wendouree, Alfredton, Lake Wendouree, Miners Rest and Learmonth.

On the Maroona-Portland line, freight operator Pacific National indefinitely suspended all rail services to the town of Portland in 2004, impacting local companies including Portland Aluminium, transport company Kalari, and freight broker Anchor Logistics. Portland container traffic was conveyed between Maroona and Portland on grain services twice a week, but Pacific National said that due to the drought there were no trains to attach the loading to. On the route the price differential between rail and road is $12.97 per tonne in rail's favour. [cite web
url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050124083914/http://www.spec.com.au/display.asp?Id=4613
title=Freight off the rails Pacific National suspends rail services to Portland
work=Portland Observer
date=December 17, 2004
author=Bill Meldrum
publisher=web.archive.org
accessdate=2008-07-02 (via Internet Archive)] Pacific National closed their Portland operations in March 2008, with GrainCorp leasing a limited number of locomotives and rolling stock from them, but favour transporting grain to the Port of Geelong instead. [cite web
url=http://www.spec.com.au/index.asp?sp=2&id=8879
title=State loses focus on Portland line
work=Portland Observer
date=June 30, 2008
author=Bill Meldrum
publisher=www.spec.com.au
accessdate=2008-07-02]

In June 2008 Pacific National and grain handler GrainCorp announced they would cease rail freight operations on the Yaapeet to Dimboola line. The decision was based on the Rail Freight Network Review chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer, which placed the Yaapeet line at the lowest level of investment priority. As a result farmers at Rainbow, Jeparit and Yaapeet must truck their grain to GrainCorp's Warracknabeal grain centre instead of the Rainbow depot. A local council attacked the plan as it would result in the need to upgraded roads in the area. [cite web
url=http://wimmera.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/council-slams-rail-line-plans/793956.aspx
title=Council slams rail line plans
work=Wimmera Mail Times
date=20/06/2008
publisher=yourguide.com.au
accessdate=2008-07-02]

In July 2008 the Victorian Government announced a $15 million upgrade Maroona-Portland line, upgrading maximum speeds to 80 kilometres an hour. Australian Rail Track Corporation signed a 50 year lease to manage the line and will start the upgrade within months. [cite web
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/16/2305366.htm
title=Rail track upgrade announced for Portland
work=ABC News
date=July 16, 2008
publisher=www.abc.net.au
accessdate=2008-07-16] In September 2008 it was announced that freight traffic would restart using the line, with operator El Zorro signing a multi-million deal with miner Iluka Resources to carry containerised mineral sands from Portland in the south-west to Melbourne, with Iluka saying rail transport was cheaper than road. [cite web
url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/03/2353873.htm
title=Rail freight back on Portland-Maroona line
work=ABC News
publisher=www.abc.net.au
date=September 3, 2008
accessdate=2008-09-04]

Branch lines and extensions

South

A branch line was built from Ballarat to Newtown and Skipton in 1883. This line closed in 1985. A branch was built between Newtown, Cressy and Irrewarra (east of Colac) about 1910. This line was closed in 1953.

A branch line was built from Linton junction to the Ballarat Cattle Yards and Redan in 1886. This line was closed in 1997.

Ararat and further west

The line was extended from Ballarat to Beaufort in 1874 and Ararat in 1875, Stawell in 1876, Murtoa in 1878, Horsham in 1882, Dimboola in 1882 and linked with the South Australian Railways at Serviceton in 1887.

Until 1993, two daily broad gauge V/Line trains ran from Melbourne to Dimboola as well as the nightly "The Overland" service from Melbourne to Adelaide. Under the Kennett Government's economic reforms, the V/Line trains were then cut back to Ararat. The Ballarat to Ararat section was closed in 1994 with gauge standardisation of the line, which made reinstatement of a V/Line service beyond Ararat virtually impossible.

"The Overland" service was re-routed via Maroona after the works were complete, while the broad gauge passenger service from Ballarat to Ararat was not reinstated until 2004 by the Labor State Government.

A branch line was built from Stawell to Grampians station in the 1880s, but it was closed in the 1930s.

A branch line was built from Lubeck (between Stawell and Murtoa to Rupanyup in the 1890 and extended to Marnoo by 1910 and Bolangum in the 1920s. It was closed in 1983.

A branch line was opened from Murtoa to Warracknabeal in 1886 and extended to Beulah in 1893, Roseberry and Hopetoun in 1994 and Patchewollock in the 1920s. The section from Hopetoun to Patchewollock was closed in the 1980s. The line from Murtoa to Hopetoun was converted to standard gauge in 1995. It has not carry passengers for many year and grain services between Roseberry to Hopetoun were suspended in 2005.

A branch line was completed between Horsham, East Natimuk and Noradjuha in the 1880s and extended to Balmoral by 1920. This was connected to Cavendish and Hamilton in the 1920s. The line from Noradjuha to Hamilton was closed in the 1970s. A branch was built from East Natimuk to Carpolac in 1894. This line and the branch to Noradjuha were closed in the 1990s.

A branch was opened from Dimboola to Jeparit in 1894 and extended to Rainbow in 1899 and Yaapeet in 1914. The line was converted standardised in 1995. It is currently only used by grain trains. A branch line was opened from Jeparit to Yanac by 1920, which was closed in 1986.

Ararat towards Portland

A line was built from Ararat to Maroona, Hamilton, Heywood and Portland in 1877. This was converted to standard gauge in 1995.

A line was opened from Gheringhap Junction on the Geelong - Ballarat line to Cressy and Maroona in 1913. This was converted to standard gauge in 1995 and became the main line between Melbourne and Perth.

A branch line was opened between Hamilton and Cavendish between 1910 and 1920. This was connected to the Horsham - Balmoral railway in the 1920s. This line was closed south of Noradjuha, (just south of East Natimuk) in the 1970s.

A branch line was opened between Hamilton and Coleraine in 1882, but was closed in the 1977.

A branch line was opened between Hamilton and Koroit in the 1880s but was closed in 1977.

A branch line was opened between Branxholme and Casterton in 1884. This line was closed in the 1977.

A branch line was opened between Heywood and Mount Gambier in 1917. Service was suspended in 1995 due to the standardisation of the Maroona - Portland line. There are regular calls for the Heywood - Mount Gambier line to be standardised.

There have not been any intrastate (broad gauge) passenger service on these lines since before 1985.

Line guide

Broad Gauge tracks are in red, and Standard Gauge is in blue.

References

External links

* [http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&section=lineguide&line=Ararat Statistics and detailed schematic map] at the