The Warrnambool line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between the state capital, Melbourne, and the regional city of Warrnambool.

Warrnambool

Overview
Service type	Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Current operator(s)	V/Line
Route
Termini	Warrnambool railway station Southern Cross railway station
Stops	21
Distance travelled	270.82 kilometres (168.28 miles)
Average journey time	3 hours 37 minutes
Service frequency	4 services weekdays, three services weekends each direction
Line(s) used	Warrnambool Deer Park–West Werribee
On-board services
Class(es)	First and economy
Disabled access	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	No
Catering facilities	Yes
Baggage facilities	Yes
Technical
Rolling stock	Locomotive-hauled N-class carriages
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	110
Track owner(s)	VicTrack
Route map Legend km Zone Warrnambool line to Port Fairy 270.82 Warrnambool 23 264.97 Sherwood Park 23 257.52 Allansford (closed) 251.1 Cudgee (closed) 246.20 Panmure (closed) 234.1 Garvoc (closed) Mortlake line to Mortlake 224.30 Terang 18 214.55 Boorcan (closed) Timboon line to Timboon 202.01 Camperdown 16 191.01 Weerite (closed) 186.42 Pomborneit (closed) 180.2 Stoneyford (closed) 171.85 Pirron Yallock (closed) 163.3 Larpent (closed) Alvie line to Alvie 156.91 Colac 11 Crowes line to Crowes 148.8 Irrewarra (closed) Colac–Ballarat line to Wendouree 141.5 Warncoort (closed) 137.80 Birregurra 10 Forrest line to Forrest 127.46 Armytage (closed) 117.26 Winchelsea 8 105.3 Buckley (closed) Wensleydale line to Wensleydale 100.20 Moriac (closed) 92.5 Pettavel (closed) 91.79 Waurn Ponds 4 90.09 Grovedale (closed) 88.49 Marshall 4 Barwon River 87.79 Geelong Racecourse (closed) Queenscliff line to Queenscliff 83.24 South Geelong 4 81.38 Geelong 4 78.85 North Geelong 3/4 Geelong–Ballarat line to Ballarat Western line to ● Adelaide Parklands 75.90 North Shore ● 3/4 72.78 Corio 3/4 Princes Freeway Hovells Creek 60.18 Lara 2/3/4 Little River 56.25 Little River 2 46.29 Manor Warrnambool line to Newport Western line to ● Southern Cross 40.34 Wyndham Vale 2 Werribee River 29.50 Tarneit 2 Skeleton Waterholes Creek Western Freeway Serviceton line to ● Ararat & ● Ballarat 17.83 Deer Park ●● 2 Stations not served Western Ring Road 15.05 Ardeer 2 Kororoit Creek Deniliquin line ●●●● via Albion North East line to ● Albury & Central (Sydney) 12.25 Sunshine 2 Newport–Sunshine line to Newport Stony Creek Western line to ● Adelaide Parklands 9.80 White City (closed) 9.10 Tottenham 2 7.33 West Footscray 2 6.61 Middle Footscray 2 Williamstown line to ● Werribee & ● Williamstown 5.62 Footscray ●●●●●●●■ 1 Stations not served Maribyrnong River 3.49 South Kensington 1 Tocumwal line ●●●● via Kensington CityLink Moonee Ponds Creek Upfield line to ● Upfield 1.68 North Melbourne 1 City Loop ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● via Flagstaff 0.00 Southern Cross ●●●●●● 1 City Loop ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● via Flinders Street

History

In 1993, passenger services on the line were contracted by the State Government to a private company, West Coast Railway. That arrangement lasted until 2004, when the contract was handed back to the government, and V/Line resumed the operation of Warrnambool services. Three new stations have opened on the line since then: Marshall station in 2004,[1] Sherwood Park station, near Warrnambool, in 2006,[2] and Waurn Ponds station in 2014.

Services

Four services operate on weekdays and three on weekends (and public holidays) in each direction. On weekdays, all Melbourne-bound services operate express between Geelong and Southern Cross, stopping only at Footscray. One service also operates express between Waurn Ponds and Geelong. Each Warrnambool-bound service operates to different stopping patterns; however, all services operate express between Southern Cross and Lara, with an intermediate stop at Footscray.

On weekends, most services stop at all stations between Warrnambool and Tarneit, but some services operate express on part of the journey. Deer Park is only served by two of the three Southern Cross-bound services each day. All services operate express between Deer Park and Footscray, and between Footscray and Southern Cross.

Warrnambool trains are classified by V/Line as a long-distance service, so first-class accommodation is available and an on-board snack bar is provided. Locomotive-hauled N-class carriages are used. In December 2018, due to a lack of available rollingstock, H carriages were used on the line past Geelong for the first time.[3]

After 22 December 2013, following the opening of the first section of the Regional Rail Link (RRL) from Southern Cross to South Kensington, Warrnambool services no longer stopped at North Melbourne station.

From 12 October 2014, V/Line Warrnambool train services began stopping at the new Waurn Ponds station as part of the extension of Geelong line services to that location.

On 21 June 2015, the new RRL line from Manor Junction to Deer Park West opened. Consequently, Warrnambool trains began to run via Wyndham Vale and Tarneit stations, rather than via Werribee and Newport stations on the Werribee Line.[4]

From 29 January 2017, V/Line started running a fourth service in both directions on weekdays, and Sunday road coach services were replaced by trains, so that three Sunday train services run in both directions instead of two.[5] Following a timetable change on 27 August 2017, weekday Warrnambool trains no longer serve Wyndham Vale or Tarneit stations.

In 2019, upgrades are scheduled to be completed that will allow V/Locity railcars to travel to Warrnambool. These upgrades include new signalling, level crossing upgrades and a crossing loop at Boorcan, near Camperdown. [6][7]

v t e Warrnambool V/Line Service
Legend
h:mm 0:00 0.0 km Southern Cross Zone 1 0:08 5.6 km Footscray Zone 1 0:17 17.9 km Deer Park Zone 2 0:25 29.5 km Tarneit Zone 2 0:32 40.3 km Wyndham Vale Zone 2 0:39 56.3 km Little River Zone 2 0:45 60.2 km Lara Zone 2/3/4 0:49 72.8 km Corio Zone 3/4 0:52 75.9 km North Shore Zone 3/4 The Overland 0:55 78.9 km North Geelong Zone 3/4 0:59 81.4 km Geelong Zone 4 1:04 83.2 km South Geelong Zone 4 1:09 88.5 km Marshall Zone 4 1:11 91.8 km Waurn Ponds Zone 4 1:35 117.3 km Winchelsea 1:50 137.8 km Birregurra 2:04 156.9 km Colac 2:32 202.0 km Camperdown 2:46 224.3 km Terang 3:14 265.0 km Sherwood Park 3:39 270.8 km Warrnambool
Standard timetabled journey from Southern Cross

See also

• West Coast Railway (Victoria)

References

External links

• http://www.vline.com.au
• Official map
• Rail Geelong: Line History