Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways
VicRail (1974–83)
Company typeState-owned enterprise
PredecessorDepartment of Railways
Founded1859; 165 years ago (1859)
Defunct1 July 1983 (1983-07-01)
FateSplit into MTA and STA, then MTA was merged into MMTB to form The Met.
Successor
Headquarters67 Spencer Street,
Area served
Victoria
Parent
  • Victorian Railways Commissioners (1883–1973)
  • Victorian Railways Board (1973–83)

The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations. Most of the lines operated by the Victorian Railways were of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). However, the railways also operated up to five 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge lines between 1898 and 1962, and a 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge line between Albury and Melbourne from 1961.