Finally The State Govt has Finally started to do something about the ageing locos on the Albury Line, having them eliminated from service and Yayyyy! New trains have finally been confirmed to be ordered in 2019 specifically for the Albury Line.

http://billtilley.com.au/archives/benam ... north-east

A Liberal Nationals Government will spend $633M to buy new trains for the North East and all other long- haul lines across the state. That’s 96 engines and carriages, 16 new train sets, capable of travelling at 160kmh, capable of carrying more passengers in greater comfort and with greater reliability.

Member for Benambra Bill Tilley says a Liberal Nationals government will give the North East the rail service it deserves with a $633 million investment to replace the ageing fleet of diesel hauled trains with new-generation, faster, long haul variants of the successful V/Locity trains.

The first step to revolutionise our regional rail service will be to replace V/Line’s ageing diesel, long-haul train fleet with new rail cars that will provide better comfort for passengers and most importantly, will be reliable.


Under the Liberal Nationals plan, an order will be placed in June 2019 with the new fleet delivered during the first term of government,” Mr Tilley said.

“The fleet replacement of 16 new train sets, consisting of 96 new railcars, capable of speeds up to 160 km/h will be built in Victoria for our major regional lines – Albury, Warrnambool, Shepparton, Bairnsdale and Swan Hill lines.

“This will enable the existing 1980s-era trains to be gradually phased out of service.”

Mr Tilley said he was about delivering trains, not looking for an excuse to further delay the replacement of these N-Class relics.

“The failure of these 30-year-old trains is responsible for almost half the cancellations,” he said.

“The Labor Government’s latest excuse is the track, well we are getting on with it, and we’ll bring new trains to the North East and continue to lobby for a better line.

“We brought the trains back to the NE after the trackworks in 2011, something Labor couldn’t do, and now we are going to deliver new trains in 2022, much sooner than any of the current government’s glossy brochures with their work-shopped titles would suggest.”

Er ... if they are elected at the State Election, they might ….

Regards,
Paul

But It’s not just Albury that has to Deal with faulty trains though, places like Bairnsdale and Warrnambool have to deal with faulty trains too so if we were to see some on the line, then the Loco services will gradually stop running

If I recall correctly, isn’t the main reason that the Vlocity units aren’t run to Warrnambool is because a lot of the level crossings along the line are unprotected? Which, as far as I know, has been allocated funding to be changed.

Cheers,
Mitch

Okay then, Albury line requires Standard gauge Bogies, Warnambool line has lots of unprotected level crossings, what about Bairnsdale?

B10BLE wrote:The Avon River bridge.

Thanks B10BLE, If the Bridge was to be fixed and the Level crossings got protected then we would definitely see The V/locities run on the lines,

Since the line to Albury is Standard Gauge and the V/locities run on Broad Gauge then we would have to see some on Standard Gauge bogies

Bus883&1022 wrote:Since the line to Albury is Standard Gauge and the V/locities run on Broad Gauge then we would have to see some on Standard Gauge bogies

The main reason why the Albury line is standard gauge is because of the NSW TrainLink Sydney to Melbourne XPT the many NSW bound Pacific National freight trains and the weekly Melbourne to Brisbane SCT logistics container train

Thank you Campbelltown busboy, since an order could be placed specifically for that line, we would definitely see some V/locities runon that Line..

Bus883&1022 wrote:

B10BLE wrote:The Avon River bridge.

Thanks B10BLE, If the Bridge was to be fixed and the Level crossings got protected then we would definitely see The V/locities run on the lines,

Since the line to Albury is Standard Gauge and the V/locities run on Broad Gauge then we would have to see some on Standard Gauge bogies

The Vlocity units are manufactured with the availability of being converted to SG so I don’t think that would be much of a problem. Its the infrastructure along the regional lines that’s the issue. It’s not just a case of getting new trains and problem solved.

Cheers,
Mitch

Campbelltown busboy wrote:

Bus883&1022 wrote:Since the line to Albury is Standard Gauge and the V/locities run on Broad Gauge then we would have to see some on Standard Gauge bogies

The main reason why the Albury line is standard gauge is because of the NSW TrainLink Sydney to Melbourne XPT the many NSW bound Pacific National freight trains and the weekly Melbourne to Brisbane SCT logistics container train

The Albury line is SG because of a national standard gauge network from Brisbane to Perth that was started back in the 1960s. It was predominantly for the benefit of freight movement. The Syd-Melb XPT (and its predecessor loco hauled trains) was more a benefit of that conversion, rather than the reason for it.

So most of Australia is Standard Gauge, right? But Victoria seems to be a bit different so some lines are broad while others are Standard Gauge????

No - suggest you read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_gauge_in_Australia

Agreed. Many different gauge lines still operate. Example in Perth is apart from the east west link, perth is dominantly narrow gauge. Melbourne is dominantly broad gauge. So on and so on

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Bus883&1022 wrote:Okay then, Albury line requires Standard gauge Bogies, Warnambool line has lots of unprotected level crossings, what about Bairnsdale?

Bairnsdale is in the east, they don't care about the east (case in point, the suburban lines: Hurstbridge, Lilydale, Belgrave, Cranbourne and Stony Point - the Pakenham and Frankston lines are the absolute minimum passable standard). The only reason Skyrail and all the other grade separations (e.g. Lilydale/Belgrave lines) happened is due to roads, the rail upgrades were only a side effect of grade separation so that people can drive their Mercedes (just like the guy on the recent Youi ad) all the way from the suburbs to the CBD and back without having to wait at the boom gates for those annoying trains.

Bus883&1022 wrote:Finally The State Govt has Finally started to do something about the ageing locos on the Albury Line, having them eliminated from service and Yayyyy! New trains have finally been confirmed to be ordered in 2019 specifically for the Albury Line.

Aye, does thy smell an election in Victoria shortly?

But if you don't want your locomotives & N-Set carriages. . .

PS: N-Class coupled to N-Set carriages, what a coincidence!

It seems the "bridge has been fixed" and "they do care about the east" if sending Vlocity DMUs there is considered caring: https://www.vline.com.au/News-Alerts/Ne ... Bairnsdale

krustyklo wrote:It seems the "bridge has been fixed" and "they do care about the east" if sending Vlocity DMUs there is considered caring: https://www.vline.com.au/News-Alerts/Ne ... Bairnsdale

The VLocity day was held today at Bairnsdale with a standard set, not the greatest for the full journey!

The VLocity day was held today at Bairnsdale with a standard set, not the greatest for the full journey!

True, but after being critical of the idea of the Vlocity platform replacing N-sets and travelling on some recently, they are better than I remembered to ride in and, as was pointed out to me at the time of my criticism, with suitable long distance facilities they might be OK. Perhaps a seat upgrade, a first class section and a buffet, and combined with a maximum speed that is almost half again as fast as the 115 km/h of an N-set (and probably reaches it as quickly as an N-set gets to 115 km/h) on the upgraded parts of the RFR, they might be quite OK for the full journey, as well as cutting travel time.

For some examples, the 7.41am Swan Hill takes 2 hrs, 15 mins to get to Bendigo, the similar stopping pattern of the 12.20pm takes 1hr 43 (32 mins quicker). On the Geelong line, the closest comparison I can make is between the 17:13 Warrnambool making 5 stops to Geelong in 65 mins vs. the 16:43 Waurn Ponds making 5 stops in 54 minutes. There aren't any comparable trips on the Gippsland line as the Bairnsdale trains all run mostly express whereas Traralgon Vlocity units stop all/most stations past Pakenham. It is notable though that the times are variable between trains so I suspect other limtations may affect any direct comparison between specific trains, with Bairnsdale trains not saving any notable amounts of time running express compared to other trains stopping at many more stations. Equally, the Albury line is difficult to predict as the 8:30 XPT takes 3 hr 19 mins compare to the 3hr 55 of the 7:05 Albury, but the XPT stops at few stations whereas the Albury stops at most. I also have a feeling that the XPT is limited to 130 km/h in Victoria, not much more than the 115 km/h of the N set.

If a new train could cut 30 minutes off the average long distance trip on existing track, that isn't to be sneezed at, even with a standard Vlocity set. I do wonder how much premium people put on first class or a buffet compared to cutting 30 mins off journey time? The main things I'd be interested in would be a decent coffee and maybe some light lunch type stuff that could be supplied by a food trolley on an existing Vlocity. What do airlines supply on trips to Perth or Brisbane nowadays? When I went to the Gold Coast it was light lunch / muffin or snack / drinks trolley kind of stuff, and the time is vaguely comparable to a longer distance trip in the Victorian context seemingly without any detriment to the number of people flying to Perth or Queensland...

2 of the 3 Bairnsdale trains are now standard Vlocities, no snack bar no first class carriage, no reserved seating, not sure the locals are impressed, but time will tell what transpires

From the (perhaps unreliable) "Railway Express", April 23, 2020......

"The design of the new VLocity trains for the North East line in Victoria have been released.

The new model will be manufactured by Bombardier at its Dandenong workshops, said Minister for Public Transport, Melissa Horne.

“These new trains will be the first VLocitys to run on standard gauge tracks on Victoria’s regional network and will provide North East line passengers with a more comfortable and reliable train journey,” said Horne.

Features of the new trains include built in USB chargers, six luggage racks and overhead luggage storage, a modern catering facility, and six wheelchair spaces with companion seats nearby. Three bike racks will be installed, as well as four shared tables so groups can sit together. The design also includes accessibility improvements so that transport is accessible to people of all abilities.

The units will be manufactured in three car sets which can run coupled together for a six carriage train. Todd Garvey, director sales & marketing Australia for Bombardier, said the company has utilised its local knowledge and expertise."

But will the new trains have reversible seating? (Indeed, do the current Vlocitys have reversible seating?) It was a big deal in Sydney's new regional train designs).
12604

lunchbox wrote:But will the new trains have reversible seating? (Indeed, do the current Vlocitys have reversible seating?) It was a big deal in Sydney's new regional train designs).
12604

The Vlocity's have never had reversible seating. In fact NONE of the fleet from either Metro or V/Line as far as I'm aware of (other than probably some of the Z-Type carriages when they were first rolled out) has had reversible seating, and ASIDE from NSW the other states which have a metropolitan + regional rail network (i.e. QLD, WA and SA) don't really have them either. In fact, reversible seating on the VLo's would be the last thing Victorians would be wondering about, since the only state in Australia that seems to query about reversible seating is NSW. So the reversible-seating foam-riot is indeed restricted only to the folk north of the Murray. (or should I say Sydney...)

Like the decal reads: 'Made in Victoria for Victoria'

EDIT: Yeah, about approaching Rail Express with caution, here's a more 'sure' link straight from the mob:
https://transport.vic.gov.au/our-transp ... ram-orders

Sydney/NSW has had reversible seating for years. The few trains that have had fixed seats have been the subject of complaints, which has resulted in the replacement of seats (XPTs) and elimation in later suburban cars (after the C and T sets).

They are now sneaking them back in the the new intercity cars.