Off to Geelong

On Saturday 25 March 2023 I decided to jump on a train from Melbourne down to Geelong, and the trip was mostly uneventful.

Other than a toilet temporarily out of service.

And rock hard seating in what was a ‘short distance’ VLocity carriage.

The first oddity was the ‘No trains departing from platform 1 for the next hour’ message on the next train display at Tarneit station.

Trains to and from Geelong normally run every 40 minutes on the weekend, so that was a confusing sight.

Another odd sight as the large crowd awaiting at North Geelong station, but given their Collingwood and Bulldogs scarves, I assumed it was just a busy day for footy fans headed to the game.

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But on my arrival at Geelong I saw that wasn’t the only crowd.

The next Melbourne-bound train was about to depart, and it had standees all the way down the train.

It turns out the previous service – the 10:38 Waurn Ponds to- Southern Cross – had been cancelled.

The 10:38 Waurn Ponds – Southern Cross service will not run today

More information at https://t.co/IiZLwHhuoI pic.twitter.com/kDmNHRRuYG

— V/Line Geelong Line (@vline_geelong) March 24, 2023

And thanks to the 40 minute weekend service frequency, two services worth of passengers had to try and board a normally rather full service.

Admittedly V/Line put some effort into moving the passengers left behind – 15 minutes later a coach from usual rail replacement operator Endeavour Coach Company arrived at Geelong station.

But for my trip home, the same inadequate timetable struck again – Geelong station was full of intending passengers.

With the next service to Melbourne being an already full long-distance service from Warrnambool.

This train had standees on leaving Geelong, and at stations along the way the train had long delays as intending passengers tried to find a doorway not already filled with standing passengers.

I hate to see what these services look after the fare cuts!

Spare trains ahoy

The reason V/Line doesn’t run any more services isn’t a lack of trains – on my way past Wyndham Vale all four sidings were filled with VLocity trains awaiting their next run on Monday morning.

There were more VLocity carriages in the sidings next to the turntable at Geelong.

Three complete 6-car trains worth.

Another 6-car train parked beside the train wash.

And two older locomotive hauled trains stabled beside Geelong station.

And these trains aren’t ‘awaiting maintenance’ – the only work that gets done at these sidings is overnight refuelling and toilet decanting.

The big shed outside Southern Cross Station is the main maintenance facility.

Alongside the Alstom facility at Ballarat East.

The blame lies at the feet of the State Government.

They’ve allocated $207 million over four years to increase the frequency of weekend services in regional Victoria – but the changes won’t occur until July 2024 for the Geelong line, and July 2025 for the rest of the network.

Just a little late!

Footnote: getting pedantic

Trains might be sitting empty in sidings, but if you decided to utilise them more intensively, then maintenance requirements also increase – something that Connex struggled to do in 2009 on the Melbourne suburban network – and which V/Line ignored following the opening of Regional Rail Link in 2015, which resulted in the mass withdrawal of the VLocity train fleet with wheel wear issues.

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