Ballarat and Geelong â 150 years of trains! - V/Line
Ballarat and Geelong â 150 years of trains! - V/Line Ballarat and Geelong â 150 years of trains! - V/Line
Ballarat and Geelong – 150 years of trains!from coverCommunity celebrations on Saturday 14 April.V/Line CEO Rob Barnett said that while both the Geelong andBallarat lines struggled for patronage in their early days, bothwere now booming as Victoria enters a new era of rail travel.“More than 13 million journeys are made on V/Line trainsevery year,” he said.“And while it’s been 1800 months since the opening of theGeelong to Ballarat line, the most recent of those months(March 2012), has been the busiest ever across the regionalnetwork, with almost 1.3 million passenger trips on V/Linetrains.” Mr Barnett said.City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Mark Harris said trains played just asan important role in Ballarat’s future as it did in its past.“The arrival of rail played a crucial role in the development ofour city. To this day, the Ballarat railway station continues toprovide an important transport link for the Ballarat community.”Cr Harris said.Several towns along the line also celebrated the 150th anniversaryof the Geelong-Ballarat railway on the weekend of 14-15 April,with events at Moorabool, Gheringhap, Bannockburn, Lethbridge,Meredith, Elaine, Lal Lal, Yendon, Navigators and Buninyong.V/Line also held a special Community Day at Ballarat Station onSaturday 14 April with more than 500 locals descending on thestation for face painting, music, showbags, sausage sizzle anda jumping castle! Heritage tours of the station and a historicaldisplay were also very popular feature of the day.Page 2
Major track works on Seymour lineThe Seymour line has had 52,000 sleepersreplaced as part of a multi-million dollarprogram of works during 2012.The series of projects, which began on 6 Aprilinvolved the replacement of track andsuperstructures on 10 bridges, replacing trackover four major bridges, repairing of mud holes,a new bridge between Wallan and Kilmore East,and platform works at Donnybrook, Wallan,and Broadford.The Platform works included the replacement ofthe east platform at Wallan and Broadford, and theextensions of the west platform at Donnybrook andWallan to allow passengers to safely exit at anytrain door.Passengers should notice not only a smoother ride,but a marginally faster and more reliable trip asspeed restrictions are lifted from areas of track thiswork has fixed.To allow the bridges to be replaced as quickly aspossible, off-peak train services were replaced bybuses between Friday 6 April and Sunday 29 April.V/Line thanks Seymour line customers for theirpatience while these important works werecarried out.Fast facts• 200 people worked across the 22 days (including during Easter)to minimise disruption to commuters;• Up to 100 pieces of machinery, including excavators, tampers andrail regulators used;• Major renewal of 11 bridges, some more than 100 years old;• 12,000 tonnes of ballast used to repair 6km of mud holes.Photo: Ballast regulator (for laying crushed rock) near Wallan.Page 3
- Page 1: ISSUE 76 April 2012Ballarat and Gee
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- Page 10 and 11: Performance resultsFebruary 2012Sho
<strong>Ballarat</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Geelong</strong> – <strong>150</strong> <strong>years</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>trains</strong>!from coverCommunity celebrations on Saturday 14 April.V/<strong>Line</strong> CEO Rob Barnett said that while both the <strong>Geelong</strong> <strong>and</strong><strong>Ballarat</strong> lines struggled for patronage in their early days, bothwere now booming as Victoria enters a new era <strong>of</strong> rail travel.“More than 13 million journeys are made on V/<strong>Line</strong> <strong>trains</strong>every year,” he said.“And while it’s been 1800 months since the opening <strong>of</strong> the<strong>Geelong</strong> to <strong>Ballarat</strong> line, the most recent <strong>of</strong> those months(March 2012), has been the busiest ever across the regionalnetwork, with almost 1.3 million passenger trips on V/<strong>Line</strong><strong>trains</strong>.” Mr Barnett said.City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Ballarat</strong> Mayor Cr Mark Harris said <strong>trains</strong> played just asan important role in <strong>Ballarat</strong>’s future as it did in its past.“The arrival <strong>of</strong> rail played a crucial role in the development <strong>of</strong>our city. To this day, the <strong>Ballarat</strong> railway station continues toprovide an important transport link for the <strong>Ballarat</strong> community.”Cr Harris said.Several towns along the line also celebrated the <strong>150</strong>th anniversary<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Geelong</strong>-<strong>Ballarat</strong> railway on the weekend <strong>of</strong> 14-15 April,with events at Moorabool, Gheringhap, Bannockburn, Lethbridge,Meredith, Elaine, Lal Lal, Yendon, Navigators <strong>and</strong> Buninyong.V/<strong>Line</strong> also held a special Community Day at <strong>Ballarat</strong> Station onSaturday 14 April with more than 500 locals descending on thestation for face painting, music, showbags, sausage sizzle <strong>and</strong>a jumping castle! Heritage tours <strong>of</strong> the station <strong>and</strong> a historicaldisplay were also very popular feature <strong>of</strong> the day.Page 2
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