Geelong V/Line rail service

The Geelong V/Line rail service is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves 15 stations towards its terminus in Waurn Ponds, a southern suburb of Geelong, via the Regional Rail Link. It is the most used regional rail service in Victoria, carrying 8.15 million people in the 2022-23 financial year.

Beyond Waurn Ponds, the service continues as the Warrnambool V/Line rail service to its coastal destination in the state's south-west.

19th and 20th centuries
The line to Geelong was originally built by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company and opened on 25 June 1857. The line was designed by English engineer Edward Snell, and originally built as a single-track railway.

The line was sold to the Victorian Railways in 1860. Following its sale, the line was progressively extended south-west, to Winchelsea in 1876, Colac in 1877, Camperdown in 1883, Terang in 1877, and lastly to Warrnambool, Dennington, and Port Fairy in 1890. The line is now closed beyond Warrnambool, with the last train leaving Port Fairy in September 1977.

In February 1959, the line from North Geelong to Corio was duplicated. Werribee to Little River was duplicated in October 1970, and Little River to Lara was duplicated in June 1981.

21st century
There have long been calls to electrify the line, but plans were put on hold by the State Government in 2002, with diesel locomotives and railcars utilised instead.

Regional Fast Rail
Train services between Melbourne and Geelong received a package of upgrades under the Regional Fast Rail project, primarily focusing on upgrading the line to support 160 km/h running and the introduction of V/Line VLocity diesel multiple unit train sets. VLocity trains entered service on the line in 2006.

Construction of Waurn Ponds railway station was completed in 2014, with several Geelong line services being extended to terminate at Waurn Ponds.

Regional Rail Link
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, trains on the Geelong – Melbourne corridor were chronically late. As of March 2010, trains had officially run late for 44 consecutive months on the line. The poor performance of V/Line was well documented in the local Geelong press. Recurring issues on the line included poor communication, commuters worried about losing their jobs in Melbourne due to delays, and overcrowding. In 2008 the Regional Rail Link project was announced, consisting of a new pair of tracks exclusively for V/Line services, avoiding the need to share tracks with Metro's electrified suburban services. The tracks begin west of Werribee, following an alignment up to Deer Park, then running into two new platforms at Southern Cross, completely bypassing Tottenham, West Footscray, Middle Footscray, South Kensington, and North Melbourne; but still stopping at Sunshine and Footscray at two platforms dedicated to V/Line services. The main benefit of the project was for the Geelong line service, which used to run along the same tracks as Metro's Werribee line, resulting in significant congestion. Ballarat and especially Bendigo services benefited less, only being separated from Metro's Sunbury line service between Sunshine and Southern Cross. While the project was overall well-received for increasing service reliability, the choice to bypass North Melbourne was especially criticised.

The Regional Rail Link included two new stations to be served by Geelong V/Line trains: Tarneit and Wyndham Vale. Since its opening, overcrowding has become a persistent and chronic issue, especially at Tarneit, which is the most-used V/Line station other than Southern Cross.

Regional Rail Revival
The line is receiving another significant package of works as part of the Regional Rail Revival project. Most notably, the line is being duplicated from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds. To support this duplication, a new stabling facility is being constructed at Waurn Ponds and three level crossings are being removed. These upgrades will allow 5 trains per hour during peak and 3 trains per hour off peak.

Services
The current V/Line timetable has weekday services operating approximately every 20 minutes from Southern Cross to either South Geelong or Waurn Ponds in an alternating pattern. Some services originate and terminate at Wyndham Vale.

On weekdays, peak morning services from Southern Cross stop all stations, except the 06:05 and 06:28 services which run express through Marshall; in the evening, the 19:16 service runs express through the station as well. Eight services are timetabled to terminate at Wyndham Vale: the 15:55, 16:13, 16:36, 16:55, 17:15, 17:35, 18:34, and 19:03, all running express through Deer Park.

Several weekday afternoon−evening peak services from Southern Cross have unusual stopping patterns, including two which terminate at Geelong instead of the usual terminus of South Geelong or Waurn Ponds. According to the current timetable:


 * The 16:09 Waurn Ponds runs express through Tarneit, Little River and Corio
 * The 16:25 South Geelong runs express through Tarneit, Corio and North Shore
 * The 16:31 terminates at Geelong and runs express from Footscray to Lara, additionally running express through North Shore
 * The 16:46 Waurn Ponds runs express from Sunshine to Lara, additionally running express through Corio and South Geelong
 * The 16:49 South Geelong runs express through Tarneit and North Shore
 * The 17:12 South Geelong runs express through Deer Park, Tarneit, and Corio
 * The 17:29 Waurn Ponds runs express from Sunshine to Lara, and from Lara to North Geelong
 * The 17:32 Waurn Ponds runs express through Tarneit, Wyndham Vale, and Corio
 * The 17:46 Waurn Ponds runs express through Deer Park, from Tarneit to Lara, and from Lara to North Geelong
 * The 17:53 Waurn Ponds runs express through Deer Park and Corio
 * The 18:12 terminates at Geelong and runs express through Deer Park, Little River, and Corio
 * The 18:31 Waurn Ponds runs express through Deer Park, Tarneit, and North Shore

Weekday peak services towards Southern Cross typically originate at either South Geelong or Waurn Ponds in an alternating pattern, and most stop all stations. There are six services timetabled to originate from Wyndham Vale, the 06:54, 07:16, 07:35, 07:50, 08:14, and 08:36.

Off-peak services to and from South Geelong usually run express through Corio and Little River, while off-peak services to and from Waurn Ponds run express through North Shore. On weekends, service frequency is reduced to approximately every 40 minutes, with all trains timetabled to originate and terminate at Waurn Ponds and stopping all stations.

All Geelong services run express through Ardeer; it is only served by Ballarat services.

Rolling stock
Almost all services are run using V/Line VLocity diesel multiple unit trains in either a 3- or 6-car configuration. Some services originating and terminating at Wyndham Vale are operated with a 9-car VLocity set. A few services are still operated by locomotive-hauled V/Line N class locomotives and H type carriages. S type carriages were used until 2010. Built in the 1950s, the S type carriages were over 60 years old upon their discontinuation.

Electrification and quadruplication to Wyndham Vale
The 2018 Western Rail Plan identified a need to electrify the line up to Wyndham Vale, which would significantly resolve the overcrowding problem due to the fact Metro's trains can hold more people than V/Line's. The plan also featured quadruplication, avoiding the problem of a new electric service causing congestion for V/Line services along the corridor. In 2023, it was widely reported that track quadruplication was no longer part of the Western Rail Plan, and there is no concrete plan for electrification.

Geelong Fast Rail
Geelong services used to run on the same tracks as Metro's Werribee line until the Regional Rail Link was opened in 2015, diverting trains along a new alignment completely bypassing it. In 2020, the Geelong Fast Rail project was announced, which planned to reroute Geelong trains back to the Werribee corrdior, this time with an express track exclusively for Geelong services between Werribee and Laverton, potentially reducing travel times by up to 15 minutes. In 2023, the Federal Government cut funding to various infrastructure projects, resulting in Geelong Fast Rail being shelved.