Rail transport in Victoria


Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,281.4 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,805.5 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project and the Regional Rail Revival project.
The government-owned VicTrack owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in Victoria, which it leases to Public Transport Victoria which then sublets assets and infrastructure as appropriate to rail and tram operators. The state has four railway networks:
Victoria does not have a dominant mining base as with other states, and has traditionally been more dependent on agriculture for rail freight traffic. By the 1990s road transport had captured most general freight traffic, with an average of only 6.1 million tonnes of intrastate freight carried each year between 1996 and 1998; containers being the major cargo, followed by cement, logs, quarry products and steel.

History

The first railway lines in Victoria were built in the 1850s, and were privately owned and operated. These started having financial problems and were taken over by the Government Railway Department, which was established by the Colonial Government and became a vertically integrated government service. This structure remained until corporatisation began in the 1970s, followed by privatisation in the 1990s.
The rail network reached a peak in 1942 but steadily declined, as branch and cross country lines were closed until the 1980s.

First lines

Australia's first steam-operated railway was a broad gauge line between the Melbourne Terminus and Sandridge. It was constructed by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company and opened in September 1854. The first country line in Victoria was from Melbourne to Geelong, which was opened in 1857 by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company. In the early years, the lines were constructed by private companies.
The suburban network expanded to the east from Princes Bridge to Richmond in 1859, then later to Brighton and Hawthorn by the early 1860s. The initial suburban lines were all built by different private companies centred on Flinders Street, which amalgamated into the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay United Railway Company by 1865; public ownership did not occur until 1878. In 1862, Victorian Railways lines had reached the great gold rush towns of Bendigo and Ballarat, and in 1864, railways were extended to the Murray River port of Echuca. In the 1870s, the Government Railway Department started to build its own lines.
In 1883, the first connection to another colony's rail system was made, when the Albury-Wodonga line was completed to join the New South Wales Government Railways network at Albury, requiring a break-of-gauge to New South Wales' . It was then followed in 1887 by a connection with the broad gauge South Australian Railways at Serviceton, with the Intercolonial Express to Adelaide running between the capitals. Additional trunk lines were also built though the 1870s, with rails extended to Sale, Portland and Colac; and the first branch lines built. It was a time of improved train safety, with the first interlocking of railway signalling to protect trains provided in 1874, and tests of continuous train brakes carried out in 1884.
In 1884, Colonial Parliament passed The Railway Construction Act, which authorised fifty-nine new lines to almost every corner of the colony, and thus became known as the Octopus Act. The proposed lines would serve both new agricultural towns and support suburban land speculation. It was also this decade that the first narrow gauge line was opened from Wangaratta to Whitfield, with three other lines following by 1910. The South Gippsland line was also opened from Dandenong to Leongatha by 1891. However, by the late 1890s, the majority of the colony was now covered in railways, with the exception of the Mallee country in the north west of the colony which saw further line openings, such as the Mildura line in 1903.

The 20th Century

In 1907, the A2 class steam locomotive was introduced. There were 185 locomotives in this class, and they were Victorian Railway's main passenger locomotive until the arrival of the diesel-electric B class in 1952. On 20 April 1908, the Sunshine train disaster occurred, killing 44 passengers in the worst Victorian railway accident.
Electrification of the Melbourne suburban network was also carried out, with the first train running in 1919. By 1924, 210,000 passengers passed through the main city terminal of Flinders Street station per weekday. St Kilda was Melbourne's busiest suburban station with 4½ million journeys, followed by Footscray with almost 4 million, then Elsternwick, Ascot Vale, Essendon and Balaclava. Technology advancements continued, with 3 position automatic signals introduced in 1915, the conversion of screw couplings to knuckle couplers from 1924, and the first remote controlled signalling provided in 1925. The first level crossing flashing lights were installed at Mentone on Moorabbin Road in 1932.
Despite World War I, significant extensions of rail lines were carried out, particularly in the wheat-growing areas in the north-west and west. The new lengthy parallel lines were considered to be cheaper to operate than the numerous short spurs such as those in the Goulburn Valley. By 1930, the railway map of Victoria was largely complete, with the best land settled and the remaining land marginal for agriculture, with several lines built across the state border into the Riverina of NSW. In November 1937, the first run of the Spirit of Progress was made, a streamlined all air-conditioned train run between Melbourne and Albury, led by the matching S class steam locomotives.
From 1924 to 1935, the Better Farming Train made 38 tours promoting improved agricultural practices.
The Victorian Railways biggest steam locomotive H 220 Heavy Harry entered service in 1941, at a time when the railways were struggling with the needs of the war effort. In 1943, the Victorian Railways employed 25,450, had 577 steam locos and 12 electric locos on register along with 19,823 goods wagons and 1,499 passenger cars, running along of lines. The network reached its largest extent in 1942, covering 7668 route kilometres.

Post war rebuilding

After World War II, the railways were run down, with Operation Phoenix unveiled in 1950, involving the expenditure of £80 million over 10 years. Works included electrification to Traralgon, new Harris suburban trains, the Walker railmotors, and approximately 3,000 new goods wagons.
On 14 July 1952, the Victorian Railways entered the diesel era, with the delivery of the first B class mainline locomotive, with the commissioning of the first mainline electrification scheme in Australia in July 1954 to Warragul. March 1954 saw Queen Elizabeth II tour Victoria by Royal Train, the first time a reigning monarch had travelled on the VR, 1954 also saw the last steam locomotive to enter service, J class 559, as well as the last four wheeled open wagons being built. The fifties also saw the loss of a number of short branch lines, particularly country where the only traffic had been timber or livestock.
In the 1960s, the break of gauge at Albury was eliminated, with the opening of the North East standard gauge line in 1962. The new line aided freight traffic between the state capitals, and enabled through passenger trains, such as the Southern Aurora and the Intercapital Daylight. At the same time, the sixties was also the end of steam, with the demolition of the massive North Melbourne Locomotive Depot on 20 January 1961.
1965 saw the Victorian Railways produce a £193,727 surplus, but by 1973, increasing costs and declining revenue resulted in a $86,086,361 deficit. On 20 July 1976, the Laverton derailment occurred, killing one passenger, in what was the last railway passenger fatality not involving a road vehicle. By the late seventies, roadside goods and country railmotor services had been replaced by road transport, and branch lines outside the grain producing areas were now virtually non-existent. The Lonie Report delivered in 1980 recommended the closure of all country passenger service except that to Geelong, elimination of a number of suburban railways, and moving small-volume freight from rail to road.

New deal

The 1980s saw corporatisation of the Victorian Railways carried out, with the railway commissioners replaced by VicRail and later government authorities. New liveries on trains were unveiled, as elderly "red rattlers" were replaced by new trains.
1981 saw the Melbourne underground loop open in January, followed by the new air conditioned Comeng suburban trains and "N" type country passenger carriages in September the same year. Country services were also sped up under the New Deal by the closure of 35 of small wayside stations. Country passenger services saw the last of the non-air-conditioned wooden bodied passenger cars withdrawn from service in 1986, replaced by new "H" set carriages. Trials were also carried out for further upgrades, with locomotive A85 re-geared for 160 km/h operation in a series of test runs between Glenorchy and Lubeck in the state's west in July 1986.
It was also the end of an era, with freight trains having their guards vans and guards abolished from 1985, and the carriage of livestock ended in 1986. The last run of the Spirit of Progress and Southern Aurora passenger trains were also made in 1986, on 3 August. Working practices were also altered, with through working of C class locomotives introduced between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1982. Previously Victorian locomotives were detached at the state borders, and replaced by locomotives from the next state. New locomotive were also introduced, with the G and N classes enabling the retirement of many of the 1st generation diesels.
Cuts continued to the rail network, with larger centralised silos in the north western area of the state, and replacement of traditional safeworking systems by systems that required no local staff caused further stations to be subsequently de-staffed.