Rail transport in Victoria

Railways of Victoria
Regional Victoria train network logo
Victorian railway network as at 2014, passenger lines in colour, freight only lines in grey
Overview
LocaleVictoria, Australia
Dates of operation1854–present
Technical
Track gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge,
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard,
some 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) and 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge
Length1712 km passenger, 4129 km total.[1]

Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)) freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres,[2] upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.

The government-owned VicTrack owns all railway and tram lines, associated rail lands and other rail-related infrastructure in Victoria,[3] which it leases to Public Transport Victoria which then sublets assets and infrastructure as appropriate to rail and tram operators. The state has four railway networks:

Victoria does not have a dominant mining base as with other states, and has traditionally been more dependent on agriculture for rail freight traffic.[4] By the 1990s road transport had captured most general freight traffic,[1] with an average of only 6.1 million tonnes of intrastate freight carried each year between 1996 and 1998;[1] containers being the major cargo, followed by cement, logs, quarry products and steel.

  1. ^ a b c John Hearsch (1 February 2007). "Victoria's Regional Railway Past, Present and Potential" (PDF). RTSA Regional Rail Symposium, Wagga Wagga. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Victorian Railway Maps 1860–2000". Victorian Railways Resources. Andrew Waugh. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  3. ^ Annual Report 30 June 2013 Archived 5 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine VicTrack
  4. ^ Peter Foote (October 1987). "V/Line Grain Handling". Newsrail. Vol. 15, no. 10. Vic: ARHS Victoria Division. pp. 292–297. ISSN 0310-7477. OCLC 19676396.