Waking up in Geelong

With a name like ‘Metro’ one would think that trains in suburban Melbourne run more frequently than trains to ‘country’ Victoria. But in Melbourne’s west you’d be wrong – V/Line services run more frequently!

V/Line to Deer Park

Welcome to Deer Park station, located 17 kilometres west from Southern Cross Station.

With nothing of note other than car parks and suburban houses.

In peak many trains run express through the station.

And the trains that do stop are already full of passengers from Geelong and Ballarat.

And Ardeer

Even more forgettable is Ardeer station.

Only 15 kilometres from Southern Cross.

Yet still had a gravel platform as late as 2014.

In 2015 Regional Rail Link transformed the level of service to both stations – going from a train every two hours to a train around every 20 minutes, split between the Ballarat and Geelong lines.

But from 31 January 2021 the service levels have doubled again – off peak, Deer Park now sees six trains per hour, with every second train stopping at Ardeer as well.

Meanwhile riding Metro Trains Melbourne to Sunshine

Sunshine station was rebuilt as part of the Regional Rail Link project in 2014, and is located 12 kilometres from Southern Cross.

With four platforms, served by V/Line and Metro trains.

It is also a major transport hub for connecting buses.

With the area around the station a service and shopping hub for the surrounding suburbs.

But how many trains stop there off peak? Half that of Deer Park – just three trains an hour!

So how to fix it?

Off peak trains run every 10 minutes between the City and Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston despite little promotion, with plans for a wider rollout promised in 2014 but never went anywhere.

But what about the Metro Tunnel, which will allow ‘More Trains More Often’ between Sunbury and the city once it is completed in 2025?

Hahaha!

The original Metro Tunnel business plan from 2016 delivered nothing to the Sunbury line, with millions spent on an extra platform at West Footscray so that trains from the city would not have to continue west to Sunshine and Sunbury!

The only bright spot on the horizon – the upcoming Melbourne Airport Rail Link will run via Sunshine, which will hopefully double the number of trains serving this growing suburban hub.

Footnote: V/Line trains and suburban passengers

For many years V/Line trains stopping at suburban stations have been advertised as ‘Not taking suburban passengers’.

And for a while enforcing it was pretty simple – V/Line had their own system of paper tickets, so conductors could check to see where someone boarded.

But the 2014 introduction of Myki to V/Line removed this distinction, so a new rule was added to the Victorian Fares and Ticketing Manual.

V/Line pick-up and set-down restrictions

For the purposes of the Conditions under this heading, in following three paragraphs, ‘metropolitan railway station’ means a railway station shown on the Melbourne Train Network Map in Figure A of Schedule 2 to these Conditions, other than Ardeer, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Rockbank, Melton, Sunbury and Pakenham railway stations.

A customer may only board a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station if the V/Line train service ends at a railway station that is not a metropolitan railway station.

A customer may only alight from a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station if the V/Line train service ends at a railway station that is a metropolitan railway station or with the permission of an authorised person.

If a customer boards, or alights from, a V/Line train at a metropolitan railway station in contravention of either of the two immediately preceding paragraphs, any ticket held by the customer is not, or ceases to be, valid for the customer’s journey that consists of, or includes, the customer’s travel in that V/Line train or for any entry to a compulsory ticket area associated with that journey.

Basically the new rule renders your valid ticket invalid for travel if you use on a V/Line train at a station with set-down and pick-up restrictions – allowing them to fine you for fare evasion.

Footnote: level crossings at Deer Park

During the construction of Regional Rail Link, residents of Ardeer were worried that level crossings would spend more time closed than open.

And they were surprisingly accurate – the gates down for up to 40 minutes at a time!

At least that problem is about to be solved – the level crossings at Mt Derrimut Road and Robinsons Road in Deer Park, and Fitzgerald Road in Ardeer are about to be grade separated.

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