Ballarat railway line, Victoria
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The Ballarat railway line is a regional railway in Victoria, Australia. It has 11 stations, including metropolitan/suburban, greater metropolitan and regional/rural.
List of stations
- Southern Cross (formally Spencer St; greater-metropolitan ends)
- North Melbourne
- Footscray
- Sunshine
- Ardeer
- Deer Park
- Rockbank
- Melton
- Bacchus Marsh
- Ballan
- Ballarat
Ballarat Railway Station
The Ballarat Railway Station is the origin and terminus of most V/Line services to and from Melbourne, however, some peak-hour/commuter services originate and terminate at Bacchus Marsh and Melton. Train services originating and terminating at Ararat also pass through the Ballarat Railway Station on the journey to or from Melbourne.
The Ballarat Station services coaches to and from:
- Bendigo
- Halls Gap & the Grampians National Park (via Ararat & Stawell)
- Horsham, Dimboola & Adelaide
- Geelong
- Hamilton
- Ouyen, Donald & Mildura
- amongst others..
History
Ballarat LineLine via Geelong
The first railway line from Melbourne to Ballarat was via Geelong. The construction began in 1858 and took nearly four years to complete. The project employed 3,000 men and cost approximately 1.5 million pounds. The line officially opened in 1862, with the first train running, at a rate of 15 miles per hour, on April 10, taking around four and a half hours to reach Geelong, amid various complications - inability to pull up a hill and the lack of firewood. The train began it's return trip at 12:20pm, arriving back in Ballarat at 3pm.
Direct Line
The direct line from Melbourne to Ballarat was opened in 1889.
On December 5, 2000 work began on a major redevelopment project on the main regional Victorian railway lines. The Regional Fast Rail project, the biggest on Victorian railway lines in over 120 years, included upgrades on the Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and Latrobe Valley railway lines.
The redevelopment of the Ballarat line saw new, heavier tracks and concrete sleepers installed, renewal of ballast and the installation of a state-of-the-art signalling system. Level crossings were upgraded, increasing from 10 to 44, as well as the construction of seven new bridges. The Lal Lal and Moorabool River bridges, built as part of the project, are amongst the longest in Australia.
The works were completed and the first VLocity train ran on the December 22, 2005.
References
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