Geelong V/Line rail service

The Geelong line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between state capital Melbourne and the regional city of Geelong.

According to V/Line it carries more passengers than any other regional rail line in Australia.

History
V/Line commuter services to Geelong once terminated at Geelong station, being extended to the existing South Geelong station in 1968, and to the newly rebuilt Marshall station in 2005.

In February 1959 the line from North Geelong to Corio was duplicated. The line from Werribee to Little River was duplicated in October 1970. In June 1981, the line to Lara was duplicated and the platform at Lara converted into an island platform, while the Little River station got a second platform.

Construction of Waurn Ponds railway station was completed in 2014 and opened on 12 October, extending Geelong line services to Waurn Ponds.

There have 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. Train services between Melbourne and Geelong received a government funded upgrade under the Regional Fast Rail project between 2004 and 2005, with new high speed VLocity railcars manufactured by Bombardier in Dandenong entering service to Geelong in early 2006.

Services


Services on the Geelong line operate to a variety of stopping patterns during the weekday peak, to a frequency of 6 to 36 minutes depending on the station. Services may originate or terminate at Wyndham Vale, Geelong, South Geelong, Marshall or Waurn Ponds.

Outside the peak period, services operate to a 20-minute frequency, alternating between two stopping patterns:
 * from Waurn Ponds, stopping all to North Shore, then express to Lara, then to Wyndham Vale, then stopping all to Deer Park, then express to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross (and the reverse);
 * from South Geelong, stopping all to North Geelong, then express to Corio, then stopping all to Deer Park, then express to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross (and the reverse).

During the weekends, services operate to a 40-minute frequency, stopping at all stations between Waurn Ponds and Deer Park, and express from Deer Park to Sunshine, then to Footscray, then to Southern Cross. However, some services are filled by Warrnambool line services, which operates to different stopping patterns.

Almost all services are run using VLocity railcars, but some Sprinters and locomotive-hauled N-class carriages are also used. 70-year-old S-class carriages were used until 2010.

Prior to the opening of the Regional Rail Link, services ran every 20 minutes during weekdays and hourly later at night, with more frequent services during peak. Services operated every 40 minutes on weekends. In December 2013, after the opening of the first section between Southern Cross and South Kensington, Geelong trains no longer stopped at North Melbourne. From 21 June 2015, Geelong trains commenced running via the Deer Park–West Werribee line, no longer using the original line via Werribee and Newport.

Performance
Trains on the Geelong – Melbourne corridor are chronically late. V/Line has failed to meet their punctuality targets since 2006. As of March 2010, trains had officially run late for 44 consecutive months on the Geelong line. The poor performance of V/Line has been well documented in the local Geelong press. Recurring issues on the line include poor communication, commuters worried about losing their jobs in Melbourne due to delays and overcrowding.