School Strike for Climate 2019
Friday 20 September 2019
On 20 September 2019 trams across the Melbourne CBD were disrupted by the School Strike for Climate march.
X'Trapolis transfer, September 2019
Thursday 19 September 2019
On 19 September 2019 SSR locomotives P14 and T363 with the usual power van BVDY52 and transition wagon BQJX 2481W led X'Trapolis train 94M-1347T-93M and 129M-1365T-130M from Newport Workshops to Alstom Ballarat via Bacchus Marsh for upgrade works.
HCMT set 5 delivery transfer, September 2019
Friday 20 September 2019
On the morning of 20 September 2019 the fifth High Capacity Metro Train set was transferred from the Downer facility at Newport Workshops to the future HCMT depot at Pakenham East. Southern Shorthaul Railroad ran the transfer, with B75 and T385 in the lead, followed by a mix of SSR flat wagons loaded with empty spoil containers, then by P18, P17, generator van BVDY51, and finally the HCMT set. The emergency brake was operational onboard the new train, but the ECP service brake was not, hence additional braking wagons were required to accompany the movement.
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.
Smashed up Melbourne tram stops
Sunday 3 March 2024
Melbourne has an endless supply of idiot motorists ready to crash into tram stops.
Level crossing accidents at North Shore, Geelong
Tuesday 29 October 2019
I’m not sure what is in the water down in Geelong, but the boom gates at the North Shore Road / Station Street level crossing next to North Shore station seem to spend more time under cars than stopping them.
Damaged level crossing at Brooklyn
Monday 13 February 2023
Clueless truck drivers have a history of destroying the level crossing lights located at the corner of Somerville and McDonald Road in Brooklyn.
Flipped truck under the Flinders Street Viaduct, February 2016
Monday 1 February 2016
On 1 February 2016 an overheight truck attempted to pass under the Flinders Street Viaduct at Spencer Street but failed, ending up sideways.
Derailed oil tanker at Tottenham Yard, July 2010
Friday 9 July 2010
In July 2010 vandals released the hand brake of an oil tank wagon stored at Tottenham Yard, causing it to roll towards the city, until it derailed as expected on the derail block at the end of the siding.
Evacuating Metrol, June 2015
Thursday 18 June 2015
On 18 June 2015 the Metrol train control centre was evacuated due to a false fire alarm, which resulted in every train in Melbourne having to stop for 15 minutes until train controllers could return.
William Street tram stop crash, January 2012
Friday 27 January 2012
The driver of a southbound ute managed to crash into the 'safety zone' fence on William Street at Bourke Street, destroying it. Thankfully no passengers were there waiting for a tram!
Snookered trams on Swanston Street
Wednesday 10 April 2013
Southbound Z2.101 was trying to turn from Swanston into La Trobe Street, blocked by a northbound tram across the intersection, with more northbound trams blocked by a tram shunting through the crossover, which couldn't move because of the tram stuck behind the turning Z2.101!
South Melbourne Depot
Wednesday 14 March 2012
South Melbourne Depot was located on the corner of Kings Way and Dorcas Street in South Melbourne. It was replaced by Southbank Depot in 1997.
Glenhuntly Depot
Sunday 5 February 2012
Glenhuntly Depot on Glen Huntly Road, Caulfield South supplies trams to routes 3, 64 and 67.
East Preston Depot
Saturday 27 July 2019
East Preston Depot on Plenty Road, East Preston once supplied trams to routes 11 and 86. It was replaced by the 'New' Preston Depot in April 2016, with the site now used for refurbishing trams.
Malvern Depot
Sunday 14 November 2021
Malvern Depot off Glenferrie Road in Armadale supplies trams to routes 5, 6, 16, 58 and 72.
Southbank Depot
Friday 24 February 2023
Southbank Tram Depot located on the Port Melbourne light rail line supplies trams to route 12, 30, 35 and 96.
Kew Depot
Wednesday 23 June 2021
Kew Depot on at the corner of Barkers Road and High Street, Kew supplies trams to route 48, 78 and 109.
Essendon Depot
Wednesday 21 October 2020
Essendon Depot on Mount Alexander Road, Travancore supplies trams to routes 57, 58, 59, 82.
Brunswick Depot
Tuesday 2 November 2021
Brunswick Depot off Sydney Road in Brunswick supplies trams to route 1, 6 and 19
Camberwell Depot
Saturday 13 July 2019
Camberwell Depot in Hawthorn East supplies trams to route 70 and 75.
Stabled trams in Royal Park
Friday 7 February 2014
In February 2014 the tram tracks through Royal Park were used as a temporary stabling location while Essendon Depot was unavailable due to trackwork on Mount Alexander Road. As a result route 55 trams were replaced by buses
Southern Shorthaul Railroad grain hopper transfer
Tuesday 27 October 2015
In October 2015 Southern Shorthaul Railroad overhauled a rake of BGGX/BGGY grain hoppers at their Bendigo Workshops and transported them by road to Benalla, were they were placed on standard gauge for the trip north to NSW.
Sunbury Line Upgrade
Friday 9 February 2024
In 2019 work started to upgrade signalling, overhead wiring and platforms to enable High Capacity Metro Trains to operate on the Sunbury line following the completion of the Metro Tunnel.
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.
Qube Logistics broad gauge cement train
Friday 11 November 2022
In September 2019 Qube Logistics started a new containerised cement service running on broad gauge between North Dynon and the Kimberly Clark siding at Dandenong South. The loaded cement containers are brought down from New South Wales by train to Victoria Dock.
Diamond Valley Railway
Sunday 1 September 2019
The Diamond Valley Railway is a 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) ridable miniature railway that extends along a 2 km circuit through Eltham Lower Park in Melbourne, Victoria.
Yarra Trams - industrial action 2019
Sunday 8 December 2019
In 2019 the Rail, Tram and Bus Union launched industrial action against Yarra Trams, following the breakdown in negotiations around their new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. The result was a four hour stopwork between 10am and 2pm on Friday 30 August 2019, and again on Thursday 26 September 2019.
Steamrail - Hurstbridge Wattle Festival 2019
Sunday 25 August 2019
On 25 August 2019 K153 and K190 headed to the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival to run shuttle services between Eltham and Hurstbridge. Carriages 38 BE, 17 BE, 7 ABE, 25 BE, 1 BCE made up the train.
SmartBus PIDS
Tuesday 11 January 2022
Bus stops on SmartBus routes in Melbourne are provided with real time bus arrival information screens.
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.
Tottenham Yard wagon scrapping
Monday 30 September 2019
In July 2019 Pacific National started another clean out of the stored wagons at Tottenham Yard. T392 was used to transfer them to North Dynon, where they were loaded onto trucks to be moved to the scrap yard by road.
Bacchus Marsh Coaches
Friday 8 December 2023
Bacchus Marsh Coaches runs town bus services in the township of Bacchus Marsh.
Fender bender on Elizabeth Street, July 2019
Friday 26 July 2019
On 26 July 2019 a delivery van tried to turn from Elizabeth Street into Little Collins Street, and was cleaned up by tram B2.2034 headed south on route 59
707 Operations - Cruise Express charter, July 2019
Sunday 21 July 2019
On 21 July 2019 707 Operations ran a charter for 'Cruise Express' from Southern Cross to Newport Workshops and Seymour. R707 and Y127 led the first half of the tour, with R707, H3 and H5 taking over to Seymour, with carriages PCP 294, ACZ 255, BRS 224, BS 205, BS 212, Club 1, JTA6, D318 and Dining Car making up the train.
Qube Logistics Ultima freight
Monday 8 January 2024
In June 2019 Qube Logistics commenced a new service conveying containerised hay from Ultima to the Port of Melbourne for export.
Steamrail - Cruise Express charter, July 2019
Saturday 20 July 2019
On 20 July 2019 Steamrail Victoria ran a charter train for 'Cruise Express' from Southern Cross to Ballarat, via North Geelong in the morning, and via Bacchus Marsh on the return. A2 986 led the train, with carriages 18 CE, 12AE, 14BRS, 8AS, 600BK, 17BE and water gin VZVF1.
SRHC - Cruise Express charter, July 2019
Friday 19 July 2019
On 19 July 2019 the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre ran a special broad gauge train from Seymour to Southern Cross to convey passengers on a 'Cruise Express' tour. X31 and B74 led the train, along with carriages State Car 4, Mitta Mitta, State Car 5, 30AE, 1BE, 14BE and Yarra.
X'Trapolis transfer, 11 July 2019
Thursday 11 July 2019
On 11 July 2019 SSR locomotives P17 and P18 with the usual power van BVDY52 and transition wagon BQJX 2481W led X'Trapolis train 47M-1324T-48M and 943M-1672T-944M to Alstom Ballarat for upgrade works, travelling via North Geelong, with a run via the suburban lines through Footscray to run around at Melbourne Yard.
P20 transfer to Newport Workshops
Tuesday 9 July 2019
On 9 July 2019 P20 was dead transferred between G527 and G536 from the scrap row at South Dynon, to Newport Workshops
X'Trapolis transfer, 9 July 2019
Tuesday 9 July 2019
On 9 July 2019 SSR locomotives P17 and P18 with the usual power van BVDY52 and transition wagon BQJX 2481W led X'Trapolis train 98M-1349T-97M and 179M-1390T-180M to Alstom Ballarat for upgrade works. The plan was for the train to reach Ballarat via North Geelong, the locomotives to run around the consist at Tottenham Yard, but instead they continued through to Melbourne Yard, running around there, then heading to North Geelong via the Brooklyn goods lines.
707 Operations - Winter School Holiday Steam to Gisborne, 2019
Sunday 7 July 2019
707 Operations ran a school holiday special to Gisborne on 7 July 2019, with R707 leading PCP294, ACZ255, BRS224, Club1, BS205, BS202 and D318. Due to the lack of turntable, the train returned to Melbourne tender first
Steamrail - Northern Weekender, July 2019
Friday 7 June 2019
Over the June long weekend Steamrail Victoria ran their 'Northern Weekender' tour to Swan Hill and Echuca, with R711 and S313 hauling PCP292, Goulburn, SJ282, Moorabool, 14 BRS, Werribee, Indi, Coliban, Inman,67BW, 68BW, and water gin VZVF1.
Steamrail - K190 transfer to Castlemaine, 2011
Saturday 29 October 2011
On 29 October 2011 Steamrail steam locomotive K190 was transferred from Newport to Castlemaine, to help out over summer at the Victorian Goldfields Railway
SRHC - Cruise Express charter, May 2019
Friday 31 May 2019
On 31 May 2019 the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre ran a special standard gauge train from Albury to Southern Cross to convey passengers on a 'Cruise Express' tour. T357 and P22 led the train, with 1BS, 11BS, 4AS and Parlor Car in the consist.
Southern Cross Station storm damage, 2010
Tuesday 4 May 2010
On Saturday 6 March 2010 a storm hit Melbourne with severe wind gusts and hailstones up to 10 centimetres wide. Rail and hail ripped large holes in the roof of Southern Cross Station, leading to its evacuation and forcing metropolitan and country trains to bypass the station. Repairs were estimated to cost $5 million, with 43 of the 60 air pillows needing replacement, work commencing in April 2010 and lasting 12 to 14 weeks.
Macaulay Light Repair Centre
Monday 16 May 2022
The Macaulay Light Repair Centre is located off at Upfield line at North Melbourne, and is used for the stabling of trains as well as light repairs.
Rescuing a failed Z3 class tram, October 2013
Monday 21 October 2013
On 21 October 2013 Z3.212 failed somewhere, so classmate Z3.126 was sent out on a rescue mission to drag the tram home to Essendon Depot.
707 Operations - Seymour, May 2019
Saturday 18 May 2019
On 18 May 2017 707 Operations ran a private charter from Newport to Seymour and return, via Southern Cross Station. H5 and H3 lead the train, made up of PCP 294, BRS 224, Club Car 'Victoria', BK 708 & Overland sleeper 'Kuldalai' JTA6.