Reviewing the V/Line VLocity | Melbourne to Ararat by train 

Wow - what a bargain!

Thank you so much for the feedback. That’s great to hear! 😊

That sounds wonderful. Yes, agree re noise cancelling headphones.

Wow, regional fare cap must be doing you wonders.

Thank you! Really appreciate the feedback. Hope you have a great one too. 😁

Glad to hear that.

Thank you! Glad you liked it! 😃

Yes, let’s hope such features become standard. 🤞

at the start of this year I was on a v line train to Bendigo and it had usb ports

The issue with public USB changing is a fake socket can be installed over the top of the real socket. This fake socket is used to place malware on the connected device. See "juice jacking".

That’s lovely to hear. I’m very keen to visit Japan. The trains (and scenery) looks incredible. Hopefully 2023. 🤞

Awesome to hear. Thank you!

That’s so good to hear. Thank you!

Hi John. Glad you liked it. The Overland will be a bit of a mammoth editing task. 😉

Thank you Corinne. Great to hear! 😊

Hi Maureen - thank you. Take care!

Wonderful to hear that. Hope you enjoy it!

Hola Rodolfo. Muchas gracias!

Thank you - glad you liked it. 😊

Hi Jim. Thank you - appreciate that!

Thanks Nathan!

Hey Dom. Wonderful to hear. Thank you!

Glad you liked it - thanks!

Totally agree. I made the comment above that if you are anything other than skinny (large, solid, pregnant) those tables stick into the seat area that much they are unusable as your wedged in or can’t even get them flat. And this is because they cram too many seats in and they are too close together. I’ve traveled the world and taken rail extensively specially in Europe and Britain and without a doubt the Vlocitys are the worse designed uncomfortable long distance trains I’ve come across. They have basically tried to shoe horn a high capacity short distance suburban commuter train interior into a long distance one. And they have removed toilets to put in more seats as well. Apart from speed these units are a huge step backwards: don’t let the funky modern streamlined front fool you.

Thank you! Appreciate the issues you raise but I’d love any type of regional train service where I live. Sadly there are no regional passenger trains in South Australian. At least Victoria is continuing to invest in regional railways.

Yes, I can imagine. Cheers!

Thanks Adam! Lovely to hear that.

Thank you!

That’s awesome to hear. Thanks for watching!

Thank you! Yes, the standardisation has in some ways disadvantaged communities in western NSW. Perhaps they could introduce a standard gauge Vlocity between Ararat and Horsham, connecting with the broad gauge Vlocity to Melbourne. 🤔

Thank you for sharing - interesting detail. Cheers!

Thank you!

Yes, the station at Ballarat is great. Ha - I can only imagine travelling on such a train packed with footy fans. 😂

Thank you!

Ha! Very funny! 🤣

Thank you! Yes, solar powered level crossings would be great! I saw a media story a while ago about someone working on a lower cost solution for regional crossings. There’s a special viewing platform near the flyover where you can get great shots. Here’s the location: Rail Viewing Platform goo.gl/maps/rRTgDSnThGVV4rd29

Thank you! Yes, definitely thinking about Albury although I’d like to do it when the cafe bars open.

@@FromtheWindowSeat it has on 3VS96

@@Lachtrain oh great - I didn’t know that.

Thank you! Yes, that would be awesome.

Wow. That’s a lot. Cheers!

Thank you! Yes, I appreciate I didn’t really explain quiet carriages. Of course it’s not enforced so people still make noise even in the quiet carriage.

Thank you! Oh right … I’ve learnt something. 🤔 Cheers!

Yeah, that would be cool.

Oh cool. Yes, I guess there are a few ways to put together a Horsham itinerary.

Ah, interesting. Yes, overall it’s a great way of travelling to Ararat and very good speeds. 🙌

Sounds like a joke to me. 🤔🤣

No worries. Thanks for watching!

You can catch the SkyBus from the airport to Southern Cross station, and then catch the train from there to Ararat.

Yeah, they seem quite decent. I presume NSW went through a full tender process. I understand Bombardier (which makes the VLocities) was initially involved but withdrew from the tender process at some point.

@@FromtheWindowSeat Lowest bid probably won. The contract went to Momentum Trains, which is a consortium including CAF - the manufacturer of the newish Sydney trams that are out of action due to cracking. I expect the travelling public will get what the government deserves.

The Queensland 160 Series, Perth B Series & Adelaide 4000 Series are all close cousins to the VLocity.

That’s a worry. Thanks for your comment.

Yes, fair enough.

Thank you. Useful to know. 🤔

Thank you! I’ve heard that but haven’t been on enough Sprinters to say.

@@FromtheWindowSeat I’m finding them quite a bit firmer which is noticeable for me as I have a back problem, but I do like the handles on the top of all of the aisle seats. Cheers 🙂

Good points. Let’s hope they improve the service.

My theory is use freed up Sprinters converted to Standard Gauge and run Horsham or Dimboola and Hamilton shuttles that meet up with Melbourne BG VLocity services.

I’ll try to. Cheers.

I use Final Cut Pro X. If you’ve used iMovie, it’s a similar system but much more advanced. 🤔

Ok thanks

Hi. No, the seats on the VLocity don't recline. The seats aren't as plush as on locomotive hauled trains, although at least in economy the VLocity is 2x2 seating, whereas there's 3x2 seating in economy on loco-hauled sets. The general consensus is that the loco-hauled sets are a bit more comfortable and quieter (because there's no underfloor engines) but personally I find VLocities fine for 2-3 hours.

Hi Vincent. Mostly it’s a GoPro Hero 8 on a suction cup mount. But any shots with zoom are taken with a iPhone 12 Pro Max.

@@FromtheWindowSeat thanks. Do you record continuously or just on and off?

@@vincentweatherly9991 On and off. Otherwise I’d have many hours of footage and need more memory cards and batteries. 😉

@@FromtheWindowSeat thanks

Sorry - what makes you say that? 🤔

Definitely

There are many different DMUs. The DMU in this video is the Vlocity built by Bombardier. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V/Line_VLocity

That’s what it says in the data. 😳

Hmmm. That an interesting one. I don’t know the answer I’m afraid.

Fair enough. 🤔

Interestingly, the new standard gauge VLs on the Albury line have gone back to the old style more padded seats in the earlier VLs, so that’s a win 👍😀

So where did you go? 🤔

Thank you! Music is always difficult because it’s so subjective - I don’t think it’s possible to find something that everyone will like but I’ll try my best. 🤔

@@FromtheWindowSeat Adam, it's not the type of music I think but more the contribution the music make to the overall piece and maybe the volume?!

Will be interesting to see what the new CAF Civity trains are like in NSW when they replace XPTs and Xplorers. 🤔

Because Australia’s states each started as separate colonies and until federation in 1901, each did their own thing. So unfortunately they each ended up adopting different rail gauges. We’re still dealing with the legacy of that today. 🤔

When the first railways were being planned in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, they agreed to use the same gauge. New South Wales had hired an Irish engineer, and he recommended the Irish gauge (5'3"). But then he was replaced with a Scottish engineer, who persuaded NSW to adopt standard gauge instead. NSW notified Victoria and South Australia of the change, but they said sorry, they've already committed to broad gauge. Queensland and Western Australia, with huge distances to cover and small populations, decided that 3'6" would be cheaper, so chose that gauge instead. Tasmania I think initially went with broad gauge, but then swapped to 3'6". But then that's an island with no connection to the other states, so it doesn't matter so much. Since then, things have gotten more complicated. South Australia decided to economise also, and started building lines to 3'6". I think they even converted some from broad to narrow, although later converted some back! (Or converted some built narrow to broad? SA's gauge conversion history is complex.) Western Australia agreed to join the Commonwealth as long as they got a railway connection with the rest of the country. So that was built by the commonwealth, not the states, and that was built as standard gauge, connecting to the narrow gauge in Western Australia, and to the broad (or both broad and narrow?) in South Australia. NSW extended one of its SG lines to Brisbane in Queensland, but that's a minor thing. In 1962 Victoria build a standard gauge line between Melbourne and the NSW border, to create a through SG line between Melbourne and Sydney (and Brisbane). To go from Sydney to Perth by train involved one of two or three routes: 1) Standard gauge from Sydney to Broken Hill (near the SA border), then private narrow gauge into SA, then narrow or broad(?) to Port Augusta, then standard to Kalgoorlie, then narrow to Perth. 2) Standard gauge from Sydney to Albury (Vic./NSW border) then broad gauge to Melbourne and then to Adelaide, then broad again (I think) to Port Augusta, then as above. 3) From 1962, Standard gauge from Sydney to Melbourne, then as above. However, in the 1970s, standard gauge was extended from Broken Hill to Port Augusta and from Kalgoorlie to Perth, giving a through journey, and a new through Sydney-Perth service named the Indian Pacific (after the oceans it connected). Around the same time, SA's railways, apart from the Adelaide suburban network, were handed over to the Commonwealth, which either closed or regauged to standard gauge the entire state. As a result of this, one of the broad gauge routes between Melbourne and Adelaide was converted to standard gauge (or made dual gauge in parts), and some Victorian branches off that line were also changed to standard gauge. So now, all mainland state capitals are connected by standard gauge. But Tasmania, WA, and Qld are still otherwise narrow gauge, and much of Victoria, and Adelaide's suburban network, are still broad gauge. Not included above are the isolated standard gauge iron ore lines in Western Australia. And some other details that could be mentioned!

@@PJRayment So, we can blame an Irishman for much of the muddle. Good thing that metre gauge wasn't used too !

@@grahamstevenson1740 "So, we can blame an Irishman for much of the muddle." The Irishman wasn't the one who changed the original decision!

Because the section from Ballarat to Ararat has relatively low patronage so there’s no point running an additional DMU that’s not needed. That way, those three cars are available to boost capacity on a return journey to Melbourne.

6 car set is too long for the broad guage platform at Ararat.

@@ghead58 That too. 😉

as already mentioned the line from Ballarat to Ararat is quiet enough to not need a 6 car set, same goes with Ballarat to Maryborough in fact some 6 car sets split at Ballarat and go to both Ararat & Maryborough and reforming a 6 car set on the return trip. Also means a Ballarat based driver and conductor can be used for the shorter run and return meaning effectively one crew can run two trains from Melbourne to Ballarat.

Awww - thanks!

Hard to say. 🤔 Although I do have a review of a trip on the Victorian Goldfields Railway, if that counts. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2Ex2hNU2jh4.html

Hi. I’m not sure but yes, I’d hope they are exploring more environmentally friendly fuels.

@@FromtheWindowSeat Possibly in the future, renewable diesel HVO (biofuel) and e diesel (e fuel) are the indicated for those trains. 🙌🏻♻️

Many thanks! 🙏

I found their online booking system easy to use … buy yes, odd they still require paper tickets.

Just as bad as their PTV app. So bad. Not sure who they employ in IT.

A lot more to do with the hellish impact of the Kennett years than one isolated misconduct instance. Kennett and his band of ideologues robbed much of rural Vic of its train service. All systems basically had to start from scratch. The volume of trains to and from Ararat is not great - five per day presently and it just isn’t viable to systematise such low volumes. You can use your myki to Wendouree.

@@lizziebkennedy7505 realistically it would only need a handful of Myki units at the stations to expand the card system to the whole of the network as the whole network is already set up into the required Zones anyway.

Ha! Fair call.

@@FromtheWindowSeat ride was good, comfort was good for an hour and a half, acceleration and speed was good but the noise - 30 years working in industry (9inch angle grinders and such) - it was like spending that time in a busy workshop

Hi. Thanks for explaining some of the issues. I guess it’s a very different experience when you rely on them for daily commuting compared to one off trips like mine. Hopefully they are able to improve the service. Sounds frustrating.

If a Govt made policy on the basis of one whinger, the rest of us would be pretty unimpressed. I catch this line every week, and there are very few delays between SthnX and Melton, but moreover, it’s a public sector operated service. We had privatised VLine under Kennett. It was 90% replacement buses running hideously behind schedule, and with more passengers that could fit on. Maybe if you endured that, you’d appreciate what you’ve got.

Okay. Thanks for watching.

If no one is using services, why should we run them? At the end of the day taxpayers subsidise the current services, imagine how much we will spend to increase them

Yes, first class will be missed.

Agreed. I think they’re installing them on newer VLocities.

Oh. Which details? 🤔

Cheers! Will be interesting to check out the new standard gauge VLocities which have USB ports and are meant to have cafe bars fitted (although I don’t think any cafes are operating yet). My understanding is that the second toilet was removed in only four sets that are meant to be restricted to shorter runs and that all the newer ones have a second toilet. 🤔

@@FromtheWindowSeat yes. They sound a much better version. I still think they could take out a row of seats and spread the balance out.

I think the point you might be missing is that these are mostly commuter trains and not leisure services! So any people have moved much further out from the city and suburbs and so regional rail in Victoria has become much more commuter-centric than discretionary travel.

Yeah, most of the VLocitys feel like just another commuter train. But that's because that's mostly what they are. Victoria isn't that big 🙂 plus it has a piss poor level of electrification, if we're being honest. Even in Australia, trains like the XPT have a much higher level of amenity... but there's also not 100+ of them in service!

Yep. Haha

Fair enough.

Sorry to hear you didn’t like it.