V/Line

V/Line is a special group that runs trains and buses for people in the state of Victoria, Australia. It helps people travel on five main train routes close to the city and eight longer train trips from a big station called Southern Cross in Melbourne. V/Line also runs bus services all over Victoria and even into nearby states like New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, and South Australia.

V/Line started using its name in 1983 after splitting from a bigger group called VicRail. For many years, it also helped move goods by train, but that part was sold to private companies in 1999. Today, V/Line is owned by the government of Victoria and works under an organization called Public Transport Victoria.

In the year 2023–24, V/Line helped more than 23 million people travel. This number grew a lot since 2005 because there are more people and better services. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people traveled, with only about 10 million passengers in 2021–22. Even now, V/Line needs money from the Victorian Government to keep running, especially for the longer trips.

History

As a government authority

On 1 July 1983, new transport rules were made. These rules created the State Transport Authority and other transport groups. They replaced an older group called VicRail and started a new brand called V/Line for train and bus services in the countryside. In August 1983, the old train colors were changed to orange and grey, and a new white and green V/Line logo was shown on 21 August 1983 by the transport minister, Steve Crabb, at Spencer Street station. Special trains went to Essendon to celebrate.

On 30 April 1984, the first V/Line bus service started, going daily from Melbourne to Mildura. This replaced services that were run by other companies before. On 2 December 1984, a new bus service called Speedlink started, going from Adelaide through Albury and connecting with a train to Sydney.

More new bus services started in the following months and years, such as from Warrnambool to Mount Gambier, Lang Lang to Inverloch, and many others.

On 27 April 1987, a bus service called Canberra Link started, going from Melbourne to Canberra. On the same day, a service from Mildura to Broken Hill also started.

On 1 July 1994, some of V/Line’s train services were given to private companies. One company, Hoys Roadlines, took over the Melbourne to Cobram service, and another company, West Coast Railway, took over the Melbourne to Warrnambool service. Both returned to V/Line in 2004.

Train services to some places stopped in the 1990s, like Leongatha, Bairnsdale, Cobram, Dimboola, Mildura, and Ararat.

In 1995, V/Line split its train and freight services into two parts. In 1997, they were fully separated. On 1 July 1998, the Stony Point line was given to Bayside Trains. V/Line still lends trains to Metro Trains Melbourne to run this service.

Privatisation

Freight Victoria

V/Line Freight was sold to a group of companies and renamed Freight Victoria on 1 May 1999. It was later sold again and renamed Freight Australia in March 2000, and then sold to Pacific National in August 2004. In May 2007, Pacific National sold the rail lease back to VicTrack.

National Express

On 29 August 1999, National Express took control of V/Line Passenger for 10 years. They also ran M>Tram and M>Train in Melbourne. National Express had to order new trains called VLocitys as part of their agreement.

In December 2002, National Express gave back its Victorian train and tram contracts because they couldn’t agree on new financial terms with the government. KPMG was asked to manage the business for the government.

As a statutory corporation

Full control of V/Line was taken back by the government on 1 October 2003. V/Line now works under an agreement with the Director of Public Transport.

In 2000, the Regional Fast Rail project started to improve tracks between Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, and the Latrobe Valley and Melbourne. This project added new VLocity trains and more train services, starting in December 2005.

Train services to Bairnsdale and Ararat started again in 2004. In December 2008, V/Line said it would extend train services from Ballarat to Maryborough, which started in July 2010. The first train arrived in Maryborough after 15 years in July 2010. V/Line also started running the Shepparton and Warrnambool services again in 2004.

In November 2006, Pacific National agreed to sell its Victorian rail lease back to VicTrack. The sale finished on 7 May 2007, and V/Line became the manager of the Victorian train tracks.

In May 2008, part of the V/Line trains were planned to be changed to work on a different type of track for the Albury line. In December 2008, V/Line stopped selling alcohol on long-distance trains after almost 100 years.

In 2015/16, the cost for each passenger trip was $22.12.

The Transport Integration Act 2010 changed the name of V/Line Passenger Corporation to V/Line Corporation. The Act also gave V/Line new responsibilities for both passenger and freight train services. The Act was approved on 2 March 2010 and started on 1 July 2010.

Regional Rail Revival

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, V/Line had one of its biggest periods of growth and improvement. In 2009, work started on the Regional Rail Link project, a new 47.5-kilometre railway in Melbourne’s west to help separate V/Line and Metro trains. It cost $3.65 billion and opened in 2015. The Deer Park–West Werribee railway line added new V/Line stations at Tarneit and Wyndham Vale.

The number of people using V/Line grew by 83% between 2006/07 and 2015/16, from 8.9 million to 16.3 million. By 2017, the Regional Rail Link caused an 80% increase in people using the Geelong line.

In January 2016, V/Line’s VLocity trains had problems with their wheels and were not allowed to use some tracks. This caused up to 70 services a day to be cancelled. The problems were fixed by changing some tracks and adding speed limits.

In 2017, the state government started the Regional Rail Revival program, a $4 billion project to improve Victoria’s country railways and make train services more reliable and frequent. This included upgrades to many train lines, new tracks, and new stations.

The VLocity trains became the main type of train for V/Line, with 105 three-car sets in use by 2023. In July 2022, VLocity trains started running on a different type of track for the first time after upgrades to the Seymour and Albury lines. During the 2022 state election, the government promised to buy 23 more three-car sets. The government also planned new stations and removing level crossings on the Ballarat line.

In the 2023/24 Victorian Budget, 23 new 3-car VLocity trains were ordered as part of a $601 million investment to replace older trains, bringing the total VLocity fleet to 141 trains once built.

On 1 July 2021, V/Line changed from a state-owned company to a statutory authority.

Services

V/Line runs train services to regional cities such as Albury, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, and Warrnambool. These trains start from Southern Cross station in Melbourne. There are two types of train services: commuter services, which are shorter and more frequent, and long-distance services, which go further. Commuter services use a special smartcard called Myki, while long-distance services need paper tickets.

In addition to trains, V/Line also operates coach (bus) services to towns that are far from the train lines.

Rail services operated by V/Line include routes like the Traralgon line, Seymour line, Bendigo line, Geelong line, and Ballarat line.

Coach services operated by V/Line include routes such as Canberra Link from Melbourne to Canberra, Daylink from Melbourne to Adelaide, Sapphire Coast Link to Batemans Bay, Speedlink from Sydney to Adelaide, and Murraylink from Mildura to Albury.

Fares

Tickets show where you start and end your trip, but the price depends on special zones. The fare system was changed to work with the suburban Metcard system, getting ready for a new smartcard called Myki.

Before March 2023, a single ticket could cost up to $68.60, and $137.20 for travel in one day. Some trips also had first class seating with an extra charge. During the 2022 state election, the government promised to make all V/Line tickets cost just $9.20 per day and $4.60 for people with special cards, no matter how far they travel. This would make ticket prices the same as in Melbourne and be the biggest price cut ever. The price for first class seating and the extra charge for it would also end.

In early 2023, the government said these changes would start on March 31, 2023. The weekend and holiday price cap of $6.70 also began. But this only applied to travel inside Victoria and up to 60 km from the border with other states. For travel further away, the price was still lower but with an extra charge.

People worried the system might get very busy with more passengers, especially on weekends. The government promised more trains and more trips on weekends, but these would not arrive until 2024. In the first week of the new pricing, V/Line carried 420,000 passengers.

As of January 1, 2024, the daily price cap is $10.60, $5.30 for people with special cards, and the weekend and holiday cap is $7.20. The extra charge for travel further than 60 km from the Victorian border is $24.60, making the most you could pay $35.20 for a single daily ticket.

Tickets

V/Line uses the myki electronic ticketing system for its commuter train services, along with printed paper tickets. These paper tickets can be bought from staffed V/Line stations, selected Metro suburban premium stations, V/Line ticket agents, online, or by phone. Passengers at unstaffed stations or coach stops can buy tickets from the train conductor or coach driver. V/Line also offers eTickets that can be purchased online to use instead of paper tickets.

Different ticket types are available, such as single, return, and periodical tickets. Most V/Line services do not require seat reservations, but all long-distance rail services and some coach services do need seats to be booked in advance.

Rolling stock

Coach services are run by 23 private companies. These companies, such as BusBiz, Dineen Group, Donric Group, Dysons, Firefly Express, Mee's Bus Lines, Panorama Coaches and Ventura Bus Lines, are hired by Public Transport Victoria to work for V/Line. The coaches they use have V/Line colors painted on them.

Network access

V/Line helps take care of all the rural train tracks in Victoria that are not used for passengers. This includes tracks that do not have any trains running on them.

Branding

The V/Line train service started using its first logo and color design in August 1983. The trains and other vehicles had orange and grey colors, and the V/Line logo was white and green with a special style. Before this, the trains had a different look with the VicRail "teacup" design.

In 1993, new train cars called Sprinters arrived with teal and yellow colors and had both The Met and V/Line logos. By 1995, the freight and passenger parts of V/Line separated. Freight trains kept the orange and grey look, while passenger trains got a red, blue, and white design. The logo also changed, adding fancy edges to the letters and a curved blue line.

When a company called National Express took over V/Line in 2000, they changed the logo again, using mixed uppercase and lowercase letters with a blue curve underneath. In 2006, the blue line was removed, and a purple line was added.

New VLocity trains started arriving in 2005 with a stainless steel look and purple and green details. In 2007, another new design was shown with grey train bodies and red, white, and purple stripes. It took until 2008 for all the trains to have this look.

In 2013, V/Line started using a new purple and white diamond pattern to match other regional services. Most trains now have this purple design, though some older Sprinter trains still have the older look.

VR Sprinter The Met serifs mixed-case VLocity Public Transport Victoria V/Locitys

Sponsorships

Since 2004, V/Line has helped support a football competition for young players in Victoria. The V/Line Cup happens in September and has games for both boys and girls.

Publication

V/Line published an in-house magazine. It replaced VicRail News and was first called STA News, then later V/Line News, from December 1983 until February 1991.

Network map

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