New Deal (railway)

VicRail poster promoting the New Deal and new exterior livery

The 'New Deal' for Country Passengers was a timetable introduced on 4 October 1981 in Victoria, Australia that revolutionised the provision of country passenger railway services. 35 little-used passenger stations were closed, rolling stock utilisation improved, and new rolling stock introduced. The timetable and associated service changes resulted in an average patronage growth of 8.7% per year, from 3 million in 1981 to 5.6 million passengers in 1990/91.^[1]

Political background

The Victorian Railways had been stuck in a 'time warp', with the Bland Report of 1972 recommending the closure of uneconomic branch lines and replacement of rail passenger services with buses. By the start of the 1980s passenger numbers had fallen to around 3 million per year, due to ageing rolling stock, stagnant timetables, and competition from other forms of transport. The Lonie Report of 1980 recommended further cuts to the network, the general public responding by calling for the State Government to maintain a viable rail network.

The Rupert Hamer Liberal State Government had been in power since 1972, with Robert McClellan Transport Minister since 1978. Alan Reiher became Chairman of the Victorian Railways Board in July 1980. By February 1981 his lobbying had resulted in a $115 million commitment from the State Government to recast country rail passenger services in Victoria, the concepts of which originated within the Planning Branch of the VR.

VicRail pushed hard for the new timetables to be introduced by October 1981 so they would operate throughout the summer before the 1982 Victorian election.^[2] The Hamer government lost the election and was replaced by the John Cain Labor Government. However, the New Deal proved to have bipartisan political support, and was further expanded by incoming Transport Minister Steve Crabb.

Planning

Before the new timetable could be introduced, stopping patterns and running times were scrutinised to maximise the use of locomotives and rolling stock. The majority of the country timetable had not been revised since the steam era of the 1950s, with excessive turn around times at termini and excessive stops at little used stations. The research found that 30% to 50% more services could run with a new timetable but with fewer carriages.^[1]

Elements

N class locomotive with H type carriages, wearing the 1980s V/Line livery.

The initial elements of the 1981 New Deal included:

• Planned rebuilding 26 B class locomotives with new power plants and traction equipment to (the A class)
• Construction of 54 (later 57) air conditioned steel bodied passenger cars, formed into 19 3-car sets (the N type carriages)
• Refurbishing late 1930s-late 1950s S and Z type carriages
• Elimination of older non-airconditioned and wooden bodied carriage stock including the (E and W type carriages)
• A new timetable incorporating faster, and more frequent services
• Changes in work practices onboard trains
• Operation of trains as fixed consists, instead of the previous labour intensive practice of shunting and altering train sizes continually
• Introduction of a new computer reservation system "VICRES"
• Replacement of most branchline railcar services with road coach services

Under the Cain Government further improvements were carried out from 1982:

• Ten N class diesel locomotives were ordered (later extended to 25, instead of converting additional B class locomotives)
• Eight (later 13) T class locomotives were rebuilt into the P class incorporating Head End Power (HEP).
• Older Harris suburban electric trains were converted into the H type carriages for Interurban services.

Timetable

The passenger network was recast, with 'Intercity' routes from Melbourne to Albury, Bairnsdale, Bendigo, Dimboola, Mildura, Numurkah, Swan Hill and Warrnambool. Road coach services connected from Intercity train to towns no longer serviced by rail. Within the 'Intercity' network an 'Interurban' (commuter rail) was set up with more frequent services to Ballarat, South Geelong, Kyneton, Seymour and Traralgon.

The new timetable was put into place on Sunday 4 October 1981. Each Intercity service was accelerated by a large margin, up to 50 minutes in some instances. Unlike the Regional Fast Rail project of the early 2000s, no track or signalling improvements were carried out in order to speed up the services. Instead 35 little used stations were closed to passenger traffic, sectional running times were revised, higher powered locomotives allocated to services, and stops at railway refreshment rooms removed due to the introduction of on train catering. Turnaround times at termini was also cut though the use of the twin cab B, A and N class locomotives, which did not need to be reversed on a turntable.^[2]

Interurban services were not sped up to as great a degree, but more regular departure times were introduced, and the number of services increased. The Ballarat line also saw most services sent via the direct route via Bacchus Marsh, instead of the long way via the Geelong-Ballarat line and North Shore.

Rolling stock

The A class rebuild contract was let in January 1983 to Clyde Engineering in Rosewater, South Australia. The first entered service in May 1984, but the project was abandoned in mid 1985 after rising costs due to structural fatigue. The 11th rebuild was delivered in August 1985. The N class were a new-build locomotive, mechanically similar to the A class. The major difference was the addition of head end power generators, as it was believed this was a more efficient way of supplying power for air-conditioning and lighting than power vans or individual generator sets under carriages.

Passenger trains operations were revolutionized , with fixed consist working (as in Europe) introduced to eliminate the need to shunt between services. This saw the end of a long-standing Victorian Railways tradition that the guard's van be at the end of the train.^[2] An order for 18 N type carriages was placed in 1977 for operation on the Geelong and Ballarat lines, but was extended under the New Deal to 54 carriages in 1981 and subsequently to 57 carriages,^[2] with the last being delivered in 1984. The carriages were part of a plan to remove 400 unheated and non air-conditioned wooden carriages (up to 70 years old) from service. The H type carriage conversion contract was placed in March 1983 with Clyde Engineering for 43 carriages, later extended to 55 carriages. The new timetable required around 180 carriages, and by 1985 the majority of the fleet was made up of steel bodied cars.

Service withdrawals

1981 also saw a number of passenger services withdrawn,^[3] including:

• Lilydale - Healesville: 1 March
• Ballarat - Donald: March
• Toolamba - Echuca: 2 March
• Numurkah - Cobram: 27 April
• Baxter - Mornington: 20 May
• Melbourne - Leongatha - Yarram: 6 June
• Frankston - Stony Point: June 1981
• Ararat - Portland: 12 September

35 passenger stations were closed on existing lines, or 82 stations when those on closed lines were included.^[4]

A number of these services were later re-introduced:

• The Numurkah service was extended to the earlier terminus of Cobram from August 1983.
• Leongatha line service was re-introduced in December 1984.
• Stony Point line service was re-introduced in September 1984.

The Cobram and Leongatha services were again closed by the Kennett Government.

Refreshment Room closures

A number of railway refreshment rooms were also closed, due to the introduction of on-train catering.

• Colac - Warrnambool line: 24 April 1983
• Ballarat - Dimboola line: 18 December 1981
• Ararat - Dimboola line: 4 October 1981
• Horsham - Dimboola line: 30 October 1982
• Seymour - Albury-Wodonga line: 4 October 1981
• Warragul - Bairnsdale line: 4 October 1981

Outcomes

Although the total cost of the New Deal eventually topped $100 million, the new services were far cheaper to operate and were far more attractive. By April 1983, VicRail General Manager R. J Gallacher claimed that country passenger traffic had increased by around 20% in the eighteen months since the New Deal had begun.^[5] By 1989 the strong growth in Interurban travel had led V/Line and the Government to look at further rolling stock, deliberations that would ultimately result in the introduction of the 130 km/h (81 mph) Sprinter railcar services.^[5]

Further the strong foundations laid in the 1981 New Deal led undoubtedly to further massive investment in Country Rail Passenger services in Victoria in the early 2000's which has resulted in the total re-building of Spencer St Station (Melbourne) as Southern Cross Station. Also the four inter-urban routes to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon were upgraded to allow a new generation of "V/Locity" trains to operate at up to 160 km/h. By 2007/08 patronage had grown to 12 million trips, a fourfold increase on the 3 million passengers carried in 1980/81.

See also

• Rail transport in Victoria
• Operation Phoenix
• Regional Fast Rail project

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Martin and Banger, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Lee, Robert (2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004. Melbourne University Publishing Ltd. p. p.254. ISBN 9780522851342. 
3. ^ Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): pages 77–82. 
4. ^ "VLP Inter City Before & After RFR Timetable". Railpage Australia Forums. www.railpage.com.au. http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p774112.htm#774112. Retrieved 2008-06-12. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Lee, p.255

References

• Scott Martin and Chris Banger (October 2006). "'New Deal' for County Passengers - 25 years on". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): page 319.