Geelong–Ballarat railway line

Geelong - Ballarat railway line, Victoria
Line details
Commenced 1858
Opened 1862
Tracks Single track, crossing loops
Used by freight
Former connections Lal Lal racecourse branch
Rail transport in Victoria

The Geelong - Ballarat railway line is a broad gauge railway in western Victoria, Australia between the cities of Geelong and Ballarat.[1] Towns on the route include Bannockburn, Lethbridge, Meredith, Elaine and Lal Lal. Major traffic includes general freight from the Mildura line, and grain.

History

Now privately occupied Bannockburn station.

The railway from Melbourne to Geelong was opened in 1857,[2] and agitation soon started in Ballarat for a railway link to serve the growing gold mining area.[3]

The prospectus for the £1,000,000 "Geelong Ballaarat and North Western Railway Company" was advertised in January 1854 [4] with the Francis Bell as the engineer. Bell surveyed and designed the line, and lithographed plans were made available with the prospectus. As private railway companies were unable to raise the capital in London, the colonial government took over the trunk railway lines. Bell's plans were then used by George Christian Darbyshire as the basis for the current railway alignment.

Construction work began on the Geelong - Ballarat railway in 1858 under the supervision of the Victorian Railways Engineer Robert Watson and was officially opened 10 April 1862. The line was built to a high standard by the Victorian Railways, with double track provided throughout, bluestone station buildings at all of the initial stations, a number of stone bridges for roads that crossed the line, and the 1,450-foot (440 m) Moorabool Viaduct over the river of the same name.[2] This line remained the only rail route from Ballarat to Melbourne until 1889 when the current direct line was completed.

The line connected with the Geelong railway at North Geelong station, and the 'direct line' from Ballarat to Melbourne branched off at Warrenheip station. Single tracking of the line commenced in 1892, with the largest section (Bannockburn to Warrenheip) done in 1934.[5] In 1913 the Gheringhap - Maroona line was opened going westwards from the line.[6]

By 1978 passenger services on the line were withdrawn, and a bus replacement introduced, when the 153hp Walker railmotor used to operate them fell into disrepair.[7] Passenger trains from Ballarat and beyond continued to use the line as an alternate route to Melbourne until the 1990s, not stopping at any stations along the line.

In 1995 the line between North Geelong and Gheringhap was converted to dual gauge as part of the gauge standardisation of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway.[5] It was also at this time that the short section of double line from Ballarat to Warrenheip was converted to two parallel and independent lines, and the junction there abolished.[8] In 2008 track upgrading work commenced on the line as part of the rail freight improvements to the Mildura line.[9] Improvements included installing gauge upgradeable sleepers, dual gauging level crossings, drainage and ballast renewal.[9] Upgrade work was completed in 2009.[9]

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Geelong-Ballarat railway, a special train ran from Geelong to Ballarat and return on Tuesday 10 April 2012,[10] and further celebrations were held the following weekend, 14 & 15 April.

As part of its election policy, the State Coalition government elected in November 2010 instituted a study into reintroducing passenger services on the line.[11] The so-called "Rail Revival Study", obtained by the Herald Sun in mid-2013 using Freedom of Information laws, concluded that returning rail passenger services to the line was not viable due to the high cost.[12] This decision has been discussed in detail at Regional Rail Link = Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo where it is believed the re-opening can be achieved for considerably less cost. Most recently in November 2013 there has been a renewed push for the re-opening of these railway sections for passenger traffic.[13]

Line guide

Crossing plains near Bannockburn
Bluestone road overbridge near Lethbridge
Meredith station and crossing loop
El Zorro-operated grain train near Meredith
Running though forest near Lal Lal
V/Line VLocity train at the junction with the Melbourne-Ballarat line at Warrenheip station

The line uses centralised traffic control on the 13.5 km dual gauge section between North Geelong and Gheringhap, and Train Order Working from there.[14] Unattended crossing loops exist at Gheringhap and Warrenheip. Meredith can be used to cross trains if the signal box is attended. Lal Lal has a crossing loop that is not used.

Geelong - Ballarat railway
Legend
Melbourne-Geelong railway towards Geelong
69.950 km North Geelong Junction
70.900 km Fyansford branch line
Melbourne-Geelong railway towards Melbourne
71.142 km North Geelong C
Western standard gauge towards Melbourne
77.483 km Moorabool
78.820 km Moorabool Viaduct
Western standard gauge towards Adelaide
83.454 km Gheringhap
89.702 km Bannockburn
97.100 km Lethbridge Block Point
99.262 km Lethbridge
101 km RMSP 13
105.390 km Medina
107.401 km RMSP 52
110.619 km RMSP 12
114.198 km Meredith
117.055 km RMSP 14
122.959 km Elaine
134.758 km Lal Lal
137.440 km Lal Lal Block Point
140.268 km Yendon
144.810 km Navigator
Melbourne-Ballarat railway towards Melbourne
148.800 km Warrenheip
154.694 km Ballarat East
155.386 km Ballarat
Serviceton railway west and Mildura railway north

References

  1. ↑ "Blue Bridge (Rail), Mount Doran Egerton Rd, Elaine, VIC, Australia (entry AHD3945)". Australian Heritage Database. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rail Geelong - Geelong Line Guide". www.railgeelong.com. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  3. ↑ "Ballarat Australia History - Rail Heritage". www.ballarathistory.org. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  4. ↑ "Advertising.". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) (Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia). 25 January 1854. p. 6. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "VICSIG - Infrastructure - Gheringhap Loop". www.vicsig.net. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  6. ↑ "VICSIG - Infrastructure - Inverleigh". www.vicsig.net. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  7. ↑ Andrew Waugh. "Geelong - Ballarat (1990) (1925K)". Victorian Station Histories. www.vrhistory.com. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  8. ↑ Andrew Waugh. "Warrenheip station". Victorian Station Histories. www.vrhistory.com. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Mildura Rail Freight Upgrade". Department of Transport website. Department of Transport. 2 April 2011.
  10. ↑ http://railgallery.wongm.com/geelong-ballarat-150th/,
  11. ↑ "Rail Revival Study: Geelong – Ballarat – Bendigo investigations underway". Retrieved 2012-05-10.
  12. ↑ Harris, Amelia (2013-06-02). "Too costly to get trains back on track between Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, study shows". Herald Sun. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  13. ↑ http://www.railpage.com.au/news/article-13330 Residents revive push for regional rail link
  14. ↑ "North Geelong to Yelta" (PDF). V/Line ~ Network Access ~ Information Pack. www.vline.com.au. Retrieved 2008-04-23.

Further reading

External links

Media related to Geelong–Ballarat railway line at Wikimedia Commons