Hi There! Ever since childhood I've been passionate about transit and in particular trains and train travel. Through this Channel, I hope to be able to capture and share the charm and scenery of the railways, their history and what their future holds. If you enjoy these things as much as I do, be sure to Subscribe and watch on as I explore the tracks of this great vast country, Australia.
The Ballarat line is still mostly single track. As the line gets busier more tracks will inevitably be needed, so when a second track is added make the second track dual gauge.
Had the Kew branch line infrastructure remained, it would have been an excellent candidate for conversion to Light Rail. Meanwhile, the fact that bo rail has ever been run to the post-war Balwyn-Bulleen-Doncaster-Templestowe development corridor is a complete failure of urban planning.
There was a planned extension of the Kew line out to Doncaster that was given the green light before the Kew line was closed, they should not have closed the line the extension should have gone ahead because now they want to put a station in Doncaster as part of the Suburban Rail Loop. The Suburban Rail Loop is just a replacement for the old Outer Circle Line, that shouldn't have been closed either but now the Victorian government wants to spend millions on the Outer Circle Lines replacement and call it the Suburban Rail Loop, what a joke!!!!.
Yes what a painful lesson they learned with the outer circle. It was not a success and what makes them think that this suburban rail loop will suddenly be a success. It would be good if it was but it seems they are talking themselves into believing that passengers will want to travel around the suburbs. Passengers would still most likely need to change to a second transport so why not just go via the city.
Why complain? Here in SA we have no country passenger service. Yeah I'm jealous, but in a good way. Here's hoping you do get more improvements. The whole country needs better rail infrastructure, and it is good to see things improve in Vic.
I personally think building a standard gauge line alongside the existing Ballarat line would be a good idea, that line can be used as an Express line for people in Ballarat that would like to not have to stop too often, especially when entering Melbourne, as Well as giving people in Ararat and Horsham a fast service. The Seymour group of lines has this model where Albury services run express to and from Seymour only stopping at Broadmeadows on the way. and then stopping all stations to Albury from Seymour. So maybe trains can run local to Ballarat (Not stopping at Wenduree) and then run express to Melbourne, Stopping at Bacchus Marsh and Melton only before continuing on the express line, the most simple solution would be to build the express line via Wyndham vale or through a new tunnel to Sunshine and joining the existing Standard gauge line to Melbourne, This plan would probably trigger the conversion of all broad gauge track across Victoria to Standard gauge, but this would require multiple shutdowns. and it would be expensive, particularly in the City Loop.
There's never been ANY pollutician, who has ever done anything, that wouldn't fill their pockets. They have NEVER had our best interest in mind, its all ulterior, so they will profit from whatever it is that's being built, developed, whatever. NEVER trust a pollutician.
Interesting how you describe the Outer Circle line as being self serving to politicians. SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP? If it was about need they would build the leg to the airport first, but those electorates always vote Labor.
I'm heading to Dingee today, excited. But it wasnt least used in 2022-23, it had 300 passengers whereas the new Huntly station only had 250. Still will be exciting
The easiest solution would be to dual gauge the line from Ararat to Horsham, it would allow the use of both standard and broad gauge trains to travel through to Horsham. However the use of standard gauge would allow future expansion through to Mt Gambier which would be converted to SG as the right of way is presently mostly out of life.
Having watched your video just now I was more impressed with your camera work, videography and editing. The content, of course, was very interesting. Well done and keep making content.
I think a good option is to take the current broad gauge line to Stawell. It is only 30 kms out of Ararat and is relatively big. Horsham is very far away, but could have a standard gauge service from Stawell to Dimboola or Nhill, via Horsham. If gauge converter trains enter service, then there will be no need for it, as they can just change the gauge at Ararat like you stated in the video.
gauge convertible trains etc. be the best option in the short to medium term, travelling through Ballarat, with a combination of shuttles between Ararat through to Dimboola and a full SG trip from Southern Cross through to Horsham/Dimboola to service towns along the SG route via Geelong, plus have the usual coach services in the region that rail doesn't cover (eg Ballarat-Ararat road coaches). with the potential for a SG/Dual-Track upgrade of the Ararat Broad-Gauge line in the long term
Would you believe the Minister for Pork Barrelling (Transport) now our Premier not only opened another station 15 minutes away at Raywood for $$$ but Goorang. Too tiny towns likely to compete with Dingee for least used stations.
I think Ballarat should be used as a standard gauge hub for a number of reasons. This will bring services to Mildura and Horsham, and hopefully one day a daily V/locity service to Adelaide that will see us stop subsidising a private company for a Sub-par service. For starters having Standard gauge shuttle services run from a major centre than a tiny outlier makes a lot more sense as people travelling from Ballarat don't have to change. People travelling from Melbourne also have the option of catching an earlier train and having a lunch or dinner stop over in Ballarat before continuing their journey, maybe with Family or friends who live there, which wouldn't be possible if you had to take the tight connecting service from Maryborough or Ararat, without changing more than once. It also means the standard gauge services are closer to a drivers hub and maintenance centre lowering costs of labor/ dead running and improving reliability. Also wouldn't get in the way of freight trains at Ararat whilst waiting for their next trip.
I'm sure your video is fascinating, but I haven't even hit 2 minutes and the music is driving me insane. Too loud and just the wrong tempo for the video. I can't finish watching it like this.
I personally think Victoria needs to finish the One Nation plan and convert the rest of there regional rail to Standard Gauge (Minus the Gipland routes since they are selft contained within Victoria). While this solution is taxing and would majorly disrupt services across the states its the only real long term solution that would do away with all these problems.
Swan Hill, Warrnambool (all trains at the moment, but set to be replaced by vlocitys), Late Night Bairnsdale (to Bairnsdale) and Early Morning Bairnsdale to Melbourne.
Sad to see the v/locity rollout affect the N class too. Aside from having an ugly design compared to the stock it’s been replacing, I swear the newer trains are late more times in a single year on the ballarat line than the entire history of Sprinters and A/N class hauled services combined.
Standardising the Ararat-Ballarat-Melbourne line as well as Maryborough plus those that branch off them should be done. Upgrades to level crossings beyond Ararat also should be done.
