Bacchus Marsh railway station

Bacchus Marsh railway station is located on the Serviceton line, in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Bacchus Marsh, and opened on 10 February 1887, as the temporary terminus of the line from Melbourne. On 4 December 1889, the line was extended to Ballan, which completed the direct Melbourne to Ballarat line.

A number of sidings opposite the station are used to stable trains. It also has an operational 70 ft turntable, that is mainly used for turning steam locomotives on special trains.

History
The contract for the construction of the station building was awarded in 1889, for £1809/8/11. A 45 lever interlocking frame, in a signal box, was brought into use in 1890. By this time, the station had a main platform, with a dock platform at the eastern end, a main line and crossing loop, turntable, and a number of sidings. The station was originally provided with a 53 ft turntable. In 1957, it was replaced by a 70-foot unit.

In the late 1940s, brown coal, mined at nearby Maddingley, began to be transported in large quantities by rail, with dedicated trains running between Bacchus Marsh and the APM Siding, in the Melbourne suburb of Fairfield. The coal was used to fire the boilers at the Australian Paper Manufacturers paper mill, with 400 tonnes of coal per day transferred in two trains per day. This traffic continued until the late 1970s, when the boilers were converted to natural gas firing.

Control of trains on the single track was controlled with the Electric Staff system until 1967, when the Automatic and Track Control (ATC) system was provided. At the same time, remote control of the signals Bank Box Loop was provided, with the same being done to the track towards Parwan Loop in 1987. Also around 1987, a number of changes to the station layout occurred, including the removal of a number of points, signals and their relevant posts, and the sleeving of a number of levers. Control of the signals at Rockbank were moved into the signal box in 1990.

As part of the Regional Fast Rail project, the control of signals was relocated to Ballarat, and the platform was extended eastwards, in order to increase the speed of trains passing through the curve, at the western end of the station. In addition, the curves over the Parwan Creek valley were realigned for higher speeds. In 2008, 160 additional car parks were opened at the station, for the use of rail commuters.

At the 2016 Victorian State Budget, money has been allocated for an additional platform and crossing loop, and for stabling facilities at nearby Rowsley. This is part of a larger $518 million project along the Ballarat line, including the duplication of the line between Deer Park and Melton, and between Warrenheip and Ballarat East, additional crossing loops at Ballan (which will include an extra platform) and Bungaree, and stabling facilities at Melton.

Closed station Parwan was located between Bacchus Marsh and Melton, while closed stations Rowsley and Ingliston were located between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan.

Platforms & services
Bacchus Marsh has one platform. It is serviced by V/Line Ballarat, Ararat and Maryborough line services.

Platform 1:
 *  Ballarat line : V/Line services to Wendouree & Southern Cross
 *  Ararat line : V/Line services to Ararat & Southern Cross
 *  Maryborough line : V/Line services to Maryborough & Southern Cross

Transport links
Bacchus Marsh Coaches operates three routes via Bacchus Marsh station:
 * 433: Bacchus Marsh Shopping Centre – Hillview Estate
 * 434: to Telford Park
 * 435: to Darley

Ballarat line upgrade
The Victoria Government's Regional Rail Revival Ballarat Line Upgrade includes duplication from Deer Park to Melton and an additional platform at Bacchus Marsh which will deliver two side platforms, an accessible pedestrian overpass, improved parking and bus bays and new train stabling facilities at Maddingley west of Bacchus Marsh station.

External links & further reading

 * Newsrail September 1984 pp.260-263
 * Victorian Railway Stations gallery
 * Melway map at street-directory.com.au