V/Line - H set retirement
Tuesday 26 March 2024
In July 2023 V/Line commenced retiring their fleet of H sets carriages, initially transferring them to Shepparton and later Echuca for storage.
V/Line - Regional Rail Link
Tuesday 26 March 2024
V/Line trains using the new Regional Rail Link tracks from Southern Cross Station through Footscray and Sunshine to Deer Park that have progressively come into use since December 2013.
V/Line around Geelong
Monday 25 March 2024
Photos of various V/line trains around Geelong, including Lara, Corio, North Shore, North Geelong, South Geelong, Marshall and Waurn Ponds. There are also photo from the South Geelong tunnel, and the Barwon River bridge at Breakwater. V/line operates a mix of rolling stock on the line, including Sprinter and VLocity DMUs, as well as loco hauled trains with a variety of carriage sets.
V/Line - Geelong carriage yards
Monday 25 March 2024
Geelong is one of the busiest V/Line destinations, being a major servicing and stabling operation for their trains. Facilities include a car wash, fuel point and a dedicated Y class shunter
V/Line carriages
Monday 25 March 2024
Locomotive hauled carriages as used by V/Line on their train services around Victoria.
V/Line industrial action 2023-2024
Friday 22 March 2024
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) members employed by V/Line undertook protected industrial action in the form of a work stoppage between 3am – 7am on Wednesday 13 December 2023, disrupting all V/Line train services. A limited replacement bus service was put in place during this time. Further strike action took place through January and February 2024.
V/Line rail replacement coaches
Saturday 16 March 2024
V/Line has a habit of stuffing things up and needing to call in the buses to get commuters home. (They have an even worse habit of cancelling trains to free up drivers to run football specials, putting the commuters onto buses)
V/Line at Southern Cross Station
Friday 15 March 2024
Southern Cross Station is the main hub of V/Line passenger services from around the state
SSR N class transfer
Friday 15 March 2024
On Friday 15 March 2024 surplus V/Line N class locomotives N464, N455, N466 and N463 were transferred from South Dynon to Tottenham Yard, where they were handed over to Southern Shorthaul Railroad on hire to run freight services.
V/Line - Standard gauge to Albury
Friday 15 March 2024
On July 2011 V/Line ran their first standard gauge service to Albury, after almost 3 years of bus replacements, and countless months wasted of back and forth between the different parties involved.
V/Line bits and pieces
Monday 11 March 2024
Just bits and pieces of V/Line trains, locomotives, carriages and railcars
V/Line - last H set, February 2024
Friday 2 February 2024
On Friday 2 February 2024 the last H type carriage set ran in V/Line service. Set SLH33 ran an up service from Geelong and then back again in the evening, followed by an unplanned outing for carriage set SLH32 from Melbourne to Waurn Ponds that evening.
Bombardier Ballarat East
Thursday 28 December 2023
In 2011 Bombardier opened a new VLocity train maintenance facility at Ballarat East.
707 Operations - Ettamogah carriage transfer, 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
On Sunday 20 August 2023 N457 and T387 headed from Melbourne to Ettamogah to collect a set of retired V/Line standard gauge carriages from storage at Ettamogah, and return them to Melbourne the next day.
V/Line carriage platform strikes
Thursday 14 December 2023
V/Line's fleet of carriages have been known to strike platforms while passing through platforms at speed, resulting in scraped paint on the carriage side.
V/Line to Tarneit and Wyndham Vale
Sunday 10 December 2023
V/Line trains on the Regional Rail Link route from Deer Park, through Tarneit and Wyndham Vale, and on to Manor Junction on the Geelong line.
V/Line to Bacchus Marsh
Friday 8 December 2023
Photos of the V/Line services that run to Bacchus Marsh, taken between there and the end of the wires back at Sunshine. As well as boring old VLocities and Sprinters, loco hauled trains with A, P and N classes are also used in peak times.
V/Line diversions on the suburban lines
Friday 1 December 2023
Since 2015 all V/Line services towards Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo have used the new Regional Rail Link tracks out of Melbourne. An exception to this is major disruptions, when the trains get sent the 'old' way.
707 Operations - Stony Point members train 2023
Sunday 26 November 2023
On Sunday 26 November 2023 707 Operations ran their members train to Stony Point, with R707 leading V/Line locomotives P12 and P15 with carriage set SLH33.
Stony Point line
Sunday 26 November 2023
The Stony Point line is an orphan on the Melbourne suburban network, being an isolated shuttle service without electrification. A class diesel locomotives hauling MTH carriages were the usual consist for a decade, until replaced by Sprinter railcars in 2008.
V/Line - Bacchus Marsh yards
Friday 17 November 2023
Bacchus Marsh is a busy V/Line destination, with a large yard at Maddingley used to stabling trains for weekday commuter trains. This replaced the previous yard at Bacchus Marsh station in 2019, which was needed for construction of a second passenger platform.
VLocity train promotional liveries
Monday 16 October 2023
Since 2009 V/Line has been placing promotional decals over the windows of the centre carriages of their VLocity trains.
V/Line locomotives
Wednesday 30 August 2023
The V/Line locomotive fleet includes the large N and A class mainline units, smaller P class units, and four Y class for shunting
Siemens train recovery, 2023
Tuesday 1 August 2023
On Monday 31 July 2023 a Powercor 22kV power line fell across the railway line at Laverton, causing a power surge on the 1500V DC traction power supply, bringing down the overhead, and cooking two Siemens trains. The next day N456 was out sent to assist, recovering the stranded Siemens trains as individual 3-car sets.
Deer Park level crossing removal replacement buses
Thursday 20 July 2023
Works on the Deer Park level crossing removal project have required V/Line services on the Geelong and Ballarat lines to be replaced by buses.
West Footscray test trains, July 2023
Friday 7 July 2023
In July 2023 Sprinter and Siemens trains operated over the suburban tracks between Sunshine and North Melbourne, testing the train control interfaces at North Melbourne/South Kensington and West Footscray/Tottenham, following commissioning of the new signalling system between the Metro Tunnel portal and the West Footscray turnback.
V/Line around the north east
Tuesday 4 July 2023
V/Line trains on the North East broad gauge line towards Seymour and Shepparton
V/Line carriage transfer to Seymour, 2023
Tuesday 4 July 2023
On Tuesday 4 July 2023 N463 transferred retired V/Line carriage BTN264 from Southern Cross to the SRHC depot at Seymour for preservation.
V/Line to Bendigo, Swan Hill and Echuca
Saturday 24 June 2023
V/Line trains in northern Victoria, headed north from the Melbourne suburb of Sunbury towards Bendigo, Swan Hill and Echuca.
ALARC carriage transfer from Tailem Bend to Ettamogah, 2023
Saturday 3 June 2023
In June 2023 the Australian Locomotive and Railway Carriage Company (ALARC) sent 'Murraylander' liveried diesel locomotive 701 from Tailem Bend to Albury and return to transfer a number of standard gauge carriages between heritage rail operators. The first leg of the trip saw the Steamrail Victoria ex-SAR carriages from Dimboola taken to Albury to be collected by Sydney Rail Services for use on 'The Picnic Train', with the return working taking retired V/Line carriage set SN8 from Ettamogah to Tailem Bend for future use.
SSR D van transfer, 2023
Tuesday 30 May 2023
In May 2023 Southern Shorthaul Railroad transferred a rake of six retired V/Line D vans from Newport Workshops to Bendigo via Tottenham Yard.
V/Line carriage transfer to Castlemaine, 2023
Friday 26 May 2023
On 26 May 2023 V/Line transferred retired V/Line passenger cars BTN 263 and BTN 268 from Newport Workshops to Castlemaine, travelling via Brooklyn.
V/Line - Deer Park driver training, 2023
Sunday 23 April 2023
In April 2023 V/Line ran a fleet of VLocity trains from Sunshine to train drivers on the new elevated tracks through Deer Park.
Caulfield - Dandenong driver training
Saturday 28 January 2023
Driver training trains on the Caulfield - Dandenong rail corridor before the official commencement of passenger services over the new rail viaducts
V/Line carriage transfer to Seymour, 2022
Wednesday 21 December 2022
On 21 December 2022 V/Line transferred retired carriage set VN18 from Newport Workshops to SRHC Seymour for storage, travelling via Brooklyn and the Albion-Jacana goods lines.
V/Line in Canberra
Tuesday 11 October 2022
Yes, V/Line does run into the Australian Capital Territory - just with buses, not trains.
Bendigo line resleepering
Saturday 17 September 2022
In August 2022 V/Line commenced a $15 million project to replace 50,000+ timber sleepers with concrete ones on the 'slow' track between Sunbury and Kyneton. The works will allow VLocity trains to use the line at 130 km/h, up from the 115 km/h limit put in place in August 2019, following the discovery that VLocity trains are now heavier than when first delivered.
V/Line corridor mapping project
Saturday 27 August 2022
In August 2019 V/Line locomotive P12 was fitted with GPS, LIDAR and 360 degree camera equipment and sent all over Victoria to collect data about the rail network. In April 2020 a second survey was undertaken by locomotive P15, with ground penetrating radar equipment supplied by Zetica Rail used to measure trackbed condition, including ballast depth, fouling and roughness.
V/Line - standard gauge transfers to Ettamogah
Tuesday 2 August 2022
Following their replacement by the new standard gauge VLocity trains in 2022, V/Line's fleet of standard gauge carriages used on the Albury line were transferred to the SRHC depot in Seymour for storage. On 2 August 2022 six of the stored carriages, along with three recently retired carriages, were transferred by V/Line from Melbourne to Seymour and on to Albury, where they are being put into storage at Ettamogah on behalf of the rail heritage groups they are being handed over to. From north end the consist was ACN45, BN22, BN10, BN7, BRN34, ACN24 (all stripped of livery) then PTV liveried BN5, BRN43 and ACN48.
V/Line - standard gauge VLocity testing
Monday 6 June 2022
On 23 September 2021 recently gauge converted VLocity VS93 departed South Dynon for Seymour on standard gauge, in preparation for testing on the North East line.
V/Line Warrnambool line
Friday 22 April 2022
V/Line trains on the Warrnambool line heading south-west from Geelong
V/Line via the Albion-Jacana goods line
Monday 24 January 2022
The Albion-Jacana railway line links the Bendigo line near Sunshine to the main North-East line near Broadmeadows via a slow and indirect route. Normally used by freight services, V/Line occasionally diverts Seymour and Shepparton services via the route when the normal route via Essendon is blocked.
V/Line - standard gauge workshops and shunting
Tuesday 23 November 2021
V/Line's fleet of standard gauge trains are maintained at South Dynon, with diesel locomotive P13 retained as a shunter.
V/Line COVID-19 outbreak disruptions
Sunday 26 September 2021
In September 2021 V/Line's lacklustre preparations against the COVID-19 pandemic were exposed, when hundreds of V/Line staff were forced into isolation after a train driver tested positive, cancelling train services on Sunday 12 September, and resulting in a skeleton timetable that slowly returned to normal over the next two weeks.
Steamrail - Ballarat driver training, July 2021
Saturday 31 July 2021
On 31 July 2021 Steamrail's steam locomotive R761 headed from Melbourne to Ballarat and return on a driver training run, hauling V/Line carriage sets SH34 and SH31.
V/Line - Werribee Street driver training
Sunday 9 May 2021
In May 2021 the broad gauge tracks over the Werribee Street bridge in Werribee were finally opened to trains, with V/Line running driver training runs over it to familiarise trains crews with the new signalling layout.
V/Line - Newport-Sunshine driver training
Saturday 6 February 2021
On 6 February 2021 V/Line sent N467 between Sunshine, Tottenham and Newport to train heritage train crews on the route via Brooklyn.
V/Line - Ballarat Line Upgrade driver training
Saturday 30 January 2021
During the commissioning of the final stage of the Ballarat Line Upgrade project, V/Line sent five N classes light engine to Ballarat each day to assist with driver training on the new stations and crossing loops between Bacchus Marsh and Wendouree.
Stony Point line transfers
Tuesday 19 January 2021
Trains running the diesel shuttle service on the Stony Point line run empty cars between Frankston and Southern Cross for maintenance on a weekly basis.
V/Line stored locomotives
Saturday 24 October 2020
In August 2015 V/Line put their fleet of A class locomotives in long term storage, with the P class fleet receiving the same treatment following their withdrawal from service in 2017.