Geelong-Ballarat railway line, Victoria

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Geelong - Ballarat railway line, Victoria

Line details
Commenced	1858
Opened	1862
Tracks	Single track, crossing loops
Used by	Freight
Rail transport in Victoria
List of stations Closed railways

The Geelong - Ballarat 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.

1 History
2 Line guide
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Now privately owned Bannockburn station.

The railway to Geelong was opened in 1857,^[2] and agitation soon started in Ballarat for a railway link to serve the growing number of gold mines.^[3]

Work begun on the Geelong - Ballarat line in 1858, and the line was officially opened April 10th 1862. This line was built to a high standard by the Victorian Railways, with double track provided throughout, stone station buildings at all of the initial stations, a number of stone bridges for roads that crossed the line, and the 1450 feet (442 metres) Moorabool Viaduct over the river of the same name.^[2] This line remained the only way 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.^[4] In 1913 the Gherininghap - Maroona line was opened going westwards from the line,^[5]

By 1978 passenger services on the line were withdrawn, and a bus replacement introduced, when the 153hp Walker railmotor used to operate them fell into disrepair.^[6] Passenger trains from Ballarat and beyond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.^[4] It was also at this time that the double line from Ballarat to Warrenheip was converted to two parallel and independent lines, and the junction there abolished.^[7] In 2008 track upgrading work commenced on the line as part of the rail freight improvements to the Mildura line.^[8]

[edit] Line guide

Crossing plains near Bannockburn

Stone road overbridge near Lethbridge

Meredith station and crossing loop

El Zorro operated grain train on the line, 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 dual gauge between between North Geelong and Gheringhap, and Train Order Working from there.^[9] Unattended crossing loops exist at Gheringhap and Warrenheip, Meredith can be used to cross trains if the signal box is attended, and Lal Lal has a crossing loop that is not used.

Geelong - Ballarat railway

Legend