As a local, Caroline springs stations ANNOYS me soooo much, it’s so inaccessible and it’s in Ravenhall which is just a suburb for industrial buildings and companies, I always forget that it’s an actual station because of how far and annoying it is to merely get to.
Isn’t it meant to be more a park and ride style station? When they came to the UK, they were nowhere near the town they served, but at freeway junctions.
@@mrK163 That’s how a lot of people use this station as like Qazzy said, you can’t walk there however I personally don’t like these stations because a lot of people who use public transport don’t have cars/don’t want to us a car and I feel it defeats the purpose of public transport if you gotta use a car to get there (You can use a bus but buses are too infrequent for that to be an effective alternative)
I work in one of the warehouses next to it (you have to walk through a field to get to the station) and yeah even then it's inaccessible and we're literally the closest buildings
@@boilingcoldtea I understand what you are saying, but what did you expect them to do? Build a 10KM tunnel so that the Ballarat line goes through the heart of Caroline Springs? Personally, I think they did the best they could and they probably did this on the assumption that most of the farmland around the station will be zoned residential in the not too distant future.
Hi mate, I'd like to suggest a couple of stations for a second part if there is one. 1) North Shore, a very bare bones station in suburban Geelong, but also the interchange for the Overland train to Adelaide 2) Footscray, a stop with some of the best V/Line frequencies and also using the former suburban platforms prior to the RRL 3) Clarkefield, one stop away from the suburban terminus of Sunbury, but pretty much in the middle of nowhere 4) Ballarat, former terminus of the Ballarat line, and the junction of Ararat and Maryborough, both have abysmal frequencies. Ballarat Station is the heart of a very old city and one of the best interchanges for local buses and many coaches in the area of regional Victoria 5) Castlemaine, one of the largest stops on the Bendigo line and one of the few V/Line stations to have three platforms. The third platform is used for heritage steam services to Maldon, which are technically operated also by V/Line 6) Seymour, one of the only other stations to have three platforms, not all of them even on the same track gauge. Seymour is the terminus of the intercity line, with standard gauge trains continuing to Albury and the XPT to Sydney. The Seymour line is also the last intercity line to not be primarily serviced by VLocity trains. Also the n set formerly used on the standard gauge Albury line has now been replaced with a dedicated VLocity fleet with a buffet 7) Tarneit and Wyndham Vale, both opened as part of the RRL and to a very similar style. These stations are both located in very car dependant areas and may be electrified as part of the Western Rail Plan. These two stations strongly resemble other suburban stations with their level crossings removed in a similar way, like Ginifer, St Albans, Glen Huntly, Ormond and McKinnon. Tarneit and Wyndham Vale have massive car parks that fill up like crazy in peak time
Wyndham Vale isn't strange but Tarneit station is shocking. Tarneit has so many cancellations and platforms get overcrowded for its purpose of only being a little train stop. Wyndham Vale however is somewhat unique because they dug some trenches to fit the rail line for Wyndham Vale station. I've also been in Castlemaine and it's definitely not as strange as Talbot station. Talbot station from what I remember had an antique shop nearby and only had one active platform for the Maryborough line. I don't even know if you can buy a ticket to ride from Talbot station. Hardly anyone was on the Talbot station platform due to the very poor frequencies on the Maryborough line.
I wish t❤hey would electrify to tarniet and Wyndham Vale... then the people actually going to geelong might not have to fight for a seat at Southern Cross! Or be loomed over by a multitude when going there on the way up.
@@heatherhoward2513legit struggle with this everyday since I go to school in Melbourne and live at towards the end of the waurn ponds line. I have to make sure to be at the very least 15 minutes early just to get a seat otherwise people going to tarneit take it all up just to leave less than 20 mins later
Have to question your comment in #5 about Maldon steam services "technically" being operated by V/Line. They are operated by the Victorian Goldfields Railway, a legally separate entity from V/Line, and basically a volunteer-operated service. There is a connecting track to enable mainline steam to run onto VGR tracks, by special arrangement with V/Line.
It's easy to see that you've not been to North Shore, or it would have been #1 on your list. Fully exposed to weather, nowhere to hide. Fully exposed at night time with bright lights in your face, making it pitch dark 50 meters away. Don't be late, because the train crosses the only entry and by the time it passes and you run up the ramp, it's gone. For two hours. Lastly, don't go there by yourself.
Just a correction.. the side you are on, with the old main building is leased privately as is the old Carlsrhue the Taradale and Elphinstone stations on the Bendigo line. I live in Malmsbury and everytime I catch the train either to Southern Cross or Bendigo, I cannot help being.. so dismayed by the decision years ago not use that side of the line. And that occurred well before I moved up here in 2011. The cream painted "sheds" on the left were once used as storage and adequate, though far from glamorous passenger waiting areas, where one was at least protected from the elements. Sometime after 2011, the design folks at Vline decided to upgrade the passenger waiting area, so they shut the entrance to the old shed, and installed two new designs, where on any rainy and windy day they are absolutely useless. Carlsrhue, Malmsbury and Taradale were the last of the "bluestone" designs, with Elphinstone and beyond to Bendigo the beautiful red and cream brick designs. You must go to Bendigo and take a look at the old sheds. They are amazing, bud sadly not very well looked after. Grant Taylor
No-one really goes to Caroline Springs station because the Sunbury line is closer and cheaper than the Ballarat line! But If Sunbury has works, Caroline Springs is usually packed
@@aidanthomas2510 The closest Sunbury lines are Watergardens, Keilor Plains or St Albans. All get pretty busy unless there’s works (like what the og commenter said)
I will not go to Caroline springs anymore, there’s always only 3 carriages and all packed in peak times, I rather go watergardens or keilor plains at least there’s services every 10-20 minutes
@@boilingcoldtea I'm sure Sunshine would have more trains because not only they're served by the Sunbury line but they're also served by Geelong and Ballarat lines. No direct bus from Caroline Springs to Footscray though.
The Old Station building & Water Tower at Ballan are Heritage Listed. Water Tower used to be (past) 1 end of the Station Building - old B&W photo online showing it. It has been where it is now since at least 1970s. (Oldest Photo I could find of it, in same as current position). Wouldn't been heritage listed then, so why move to it there don't know. Of course a lot of old Water Towers have been used for signage or advertising. Interesting, that Malmsbury Station was leased in Oct 2020. Of course wouldn't been able to do anything for couple years, but they're paying for it with (appears to be) still no use of it. As there's no track alongside it now, it lessens safety risk a fair bit. So could do a craft place with a cafe, or a B&B. Which were couple things I've read some years ago as possibles - was a facebook page (still up, but last post on it was in March 2019). By the way, if driving along Calder Fwy, Malsmbury is the easiest & quickest town to get to, as just straight off Calder Fwy & less than 1km/ a minute. Doesn't have the drive for a few km to get to main part of the town, after exiting the freeway, like Kyneton does and Gisborne. Of course should get the train :) & if do, the lovely Botanic Garden is a few minutes from the Station, & if do walk that way will see the awesome Malmsbury Railway Viaduct which can't see from the main road through town. Not quite as long as Taradale Viaduct, but i think as imposing; perhaps more since Taradale now has additional metal supports structures as well as original stone pillars
The reason to the station building at Malmsbury being fenced off is because there was recently a fire inside the building that took out all the power, which is also why there is a small dot on the display board.
Hi @alan. I wrote a comment about an hour ago re Malmsbury. FYI.. since I have been in Malmsbury (2011) the station has been mostly leased. I think it is Vic Track who organise the leasing of old stations. I really think they could not care less about the historical state of the buildings. Leasing signs at stations advertising conditions state that the cost of any improvements and refurbishments are to be borne by the would be tenants. Deep pockets would be needed I think. Cheers grant taylor
@granttaylor2635 Thanks Grant. With those leasing conditions it more or less dooms this place unless, as you say, someone had deep pockets and the inclination to want to restore it. A real shame.
"....expanding like crazy", means that they're bringing huge numbers of foreigners here, so many so that we're now being outnumbered. It's a nightmare. Let's stop it.
Trying to visit all the Vline stations (in fact only having 15 left) and I think there's definitely some weirder ones out there. Corio : feels very unsafe, dodgy suburb, barbed wire on the roofing, next to no people there when I went and the closest bus stop to get there is 1km away, really small car park, essentially feels unused. Sherwood Park : weird to have a station that services a uni which has a better bus frequency to the closest city. Station is as basic as can be and feels very isolated. Maryborough : massive picturesque station with less than 10,000 passengers a year, very weird for its creation to be justified. Also has a restaurant/cafe in use. Bunyip and Longwarry : new second platforms but completely unused due to only single track, they've sat there for at least a year or two without use, blocked off. Traralgon : only station with access to a Domino's in the building (overpass is also so new it makes the original building look like a trashy anachronism) Swan Hill : big big fish, station building is also a strange rectangular shape, making it feel very odd. Heathcote Junction : only really accessible for the few surrounding houses or by walking along the highway, very very very quiet. Rosedale : can not tell if someone is living in the station building or not, but there are curtains in the windows and it seems like there is. Another incredibly quiet station
Oh and Dingee, wasn't gonna include as it's common knowledge it's the lease used station, but the fact it has a Library in the station I think would make it onto a list like this (I know Yarragon, Trafalgar and Beaufort have art galleries in their stations but that to me is more normal than a library)
They can't use the second platform due to the bridge across the Bunyip river not being able to be duplicated due to power cables which are too expensive/a pain in the arse to move so they will just sit there and all that work they put on duplicating the Gippsland line will be for naught.
Leawarra station in Frankston is probably only kept open to serve the Peninsula Campus of Monash Uni, though I doubt it gets much patronage. I'm surprised Heathcote Junction is still open given that it's only 2 km from Wandong station.
The set-up at Ballan reminds me of post-2021 North Williamstown, in a way. I found out that, although the station was rebuilt in a cutting, the old station building has been preserved. As for (what shouldn't be called) Caroline Springs, I'm baffled by the station's terrible location. It really does look like the V/Line equivalent of Williams Landing.
Hey Qazzy! Great video, once again. Really enjoyable topics and well covered. Must be really enjoyable days out filming these! Nice to hear the Bendigo line single track project called out for stupidity. Still can't fathom how someone thought this was smart. I know a few comments have already covered this but I travel the Bendigo line regularly and once, not too long ago, saw some people setting up on the disused Malmsbury platform for a morning tea or lunch. Did you get the chance to have a walk down underneath the viaduct? Great spot to get some shots of the trains going over it. Can't believe it's taken me a week to realise that one of the strangest Vline stations in Vic is in my hometown of Mildura. There's quite a large, nice Vline office with a customer service window and waiting room. Thing is, there's no trains!!! It's a Vline station but there's only the bus from Swan Hill to Mildura. There's a potential video in that when you have some traveling time 😄 If I still lived there I'd do some filming for you! Keep up the good work mate!
I totally agree with you about malmsbury station. I'm surprised it's not the least used station in regional victoria. With 1 or 2 exceptions every single Bendigo and Echuca Line train stop there and outside of school and commuting times, never seems to get used, most people would probably drive to the far superior Kyneton station instead. The Singlification (i just made that word up) of the Bendigo Line was one of the worst decisions made in the last 25 Years on the V/line network. Just the other day (Labour Day) my service home to Echuca got stuck in a passing loop between Malmsbury and Castlemaine for 20 minutes waiting for a train to come through. I think the person responsible should have to answer for this.
It was done as part of the RFR project in the early 2000's, the government who did it is gone and I doubt very many of the people responsible for it in the public service are still around.
One of the reasons people do drive to Kyneton is because not all Bendigo/Southern Cross trains stop at Malmsbury For example if you live in Malmsbury and work in the city, or just need to get to Southern Cross early, you can catch the 7.30am..and if you miss that one the next is around 9.22am. The 3.06,pm from Southern Cross does not not stop at Malmsbury, so if you had planned to be on the 2.06pm and just missed it, you wait until the 4.06 or the 4.29 I have had an early afternoon doctor's appointment go horribly late, just missed the 2.06, and then waited until 4.06. So yes.. most times now I drive to Kyneton. It just seems silly. " If you build it.....
I've cycled with my friend to Caroline Springs station, and holy moly it was horrible. You were at the discretion of drivers letting you cross unprotected crossings and the entrance to the station from the footpath isn't obvious
When i moved to Melbourne in 2019, my local bus route took me straight to caroline springs, so I'd been to those shops many times. One weekend i decided I'd swing by the shops there on my way back from the city then hop on the bus back home Imagine my surprise when i get off the train and im in the middle of a giant paddock...
Another great vid mate. Lots of armchair experts in the comments but as a non-VLine user I found this video really interesting and fun to watch. Keep it up
Just watched your video again, and another contender for a strange V/Line Station came to mind, namely Heathcote Junction. Firstly, it's no longer a junction although you can see the former alignment behind Platform 2, together with the base for the former signal box, which was relocated when the standard gauge line was built. Secondly, it has what has to be the shortest platform on V/Line, being Platform 1. Most conductors will remind passengers of this and of the need to alight from the leading carriage. This can be a problem if on a train formed by Sprinters which don't have walk-through facilities and you're in the 2nd or third car. I guess the regular passengers know this. Minimum facilities with just a basic "bus-shelter". Patronage is probably the lowest on the Seymour Line, partly because Wandong is quite close. Most trains stop here, with the exception of some Shepparton services. Despite all that, I quite like it for its heritage name and quaintness.
the kiosk window at caroline springs use to be a small cafe i'm pretty sure they closed it due to low customers and i remember it only being open in the mornings around early 2020
One other thing is note about Malmsbury is that the platform isn't that long. If there is a double train running, the conductor will tell you to move up to a different carriage to get off.
Malmsbury Station is so sad. There's just something so special about heritage country stations and its always sad to see them neglected. My town (Albany, WA) still has its original railway station from 1888 that connected it to Perth, but the platform itself its falling apart. At least the building is used though
surprised heathcote junction isnt on this list. On the seymour/shep line, but shep trains dont stop there. Its platform 1 is too short even for 3 carriage sprinters, and its usage is very small, given wandong station is 5 minutes up the road and is a much better quality station. As the name suggests it used to have a junction with a train line up to heathcote, but that got dismantled yonks ago. theres a rumour that it only still exists cos one of the higher ups at vline lives there and wants to keep it there
You should check the timetables more carefully. During weekdays between the peaks, both Ardeer and Caroline Springs have a 20 minute frequency service, which is better than Metro stations past Ringwood. Yes it is an hourly service on weekends. As trains don't need to cross at Ballan on weekends, the original platform is used for both directions, but the weekday timetable has trains crossing there, which is why the new platform was built to provide for a 40 minute frequency. Deer Park has probably the most frequent service for a V/Line station, with both Geelong and Melton/Ballarat trains stopping inter-peak giving 6 trains per hour, each way.
I remember being stranded in the last one. In some days vline trains are free and I thought that day was free but it wasn’t and I got on and I had to leave at malmsbury. There’s wasn’t any place to buy tickets and just free rides home
Realignment should have been a piece of cake. Even shifting a track inwards 500mm would enable sufficient clearance between the bridge and outer edge of the vehicles. With the technology available, it would be a simple task.
Huntly is probably the most empty station around (just outright in the middle of nowhere). Or a station that is just there in the middle of nowhere like Shippea Hill in England.
V/Line is basically a bus service these days. That’s how much commitment this government has to regional and rural rail. The other lot are even worse (even though it was Labor who changed the Bendigo line to single track).
Caroline Springs looks like it's the Williams Landing of the V-Line stations. Which is to say, weird. Why would the government not just once, BUT TWICE make a station not near the major infastructure areas
It could only happen in Victoria taking a double line track and converting it to single line track now it cannot handle the volume of use and now there having to build more passing sidings
I remember decades ago ( vaguely) jumping on the wrong train in the city I think , ( I’m not a train traveler) , it was about tea time , anyway I dozed off and this train took me express out in the woop woop somewhere , I think it may have been Werribee or somewhere in that general direction , I awakened from my slumber to the realisation of where the ( insert expletive ) am I 😂, I got of at this lonely lonely creepy station and had to wait what seemed like an eternity for another train to come to head back to Melbourne, don’t ask me how I did it , I did end up getting on a train in the right direction taking me to outer northern burbs 😂, railways in Victoria can be such an adventure 😊.
I used to use the Ardeer station after having my bike on the train to ride to work in Derrimut which was not well serviced by buses. Very few other people got on or off. I remember one time people taking sleepers out of ground in the then unused track section at Ballan before the new platform was built. If they are not going to use the second platform what a waste. Spoils the look of the station as well.
What about the Mildura station that they decided to use a bus station instead of the train as it was built for, there is still tracks going past but only for a freight train that heads to a Depot in Merbein
You need to check out heathcote junction. A second station in a town of less then 5000 people with platforms so short you have to be careful which carriage you get in from Melbourne
With the email to the Malmsbury guy, perhaps a quick sentence to say that you do train video content for TH-cam and are researching stations mighy have got a response?
Vline is really quite obsessed with only serving work commuters (terrible intrapeak and being scared of the dark) rather than providing proper effective transport
The water tower was when steam trains worked through Ballan. Locomotives needed water after the drag up Islington Bank, that big hill you came up. RESEARCH!!!
Reasoning for Malmsbury being singled not entirely correct or accurate. Contract required certain timings to be possible for trains, which required many alterations to the alignment beyond Kyneton. It was found that using 1 track across both former up and down line alignments (and even partway between the two at times) would allow for the target timings to be achievable without needing to spend an outrageous amount on widening cuttings, embankments etc. as for the heritage structures which have been fine with trains for over a century, while true, one factor you've not considered is that the amount of lateral roll that railway vehicles do increases at higher speeds, and so with the greater lateral clearances required for 160km/h running compared with 130km/h running, most of those double track structures suitable for 130km/h would not be acceptable for 160km/h.
i understand that there are more reasons for the singling of the line but I didn't want to go too much into detail in the video. Still a very stupid project that showed a complete lack of vision for the future
Also one of the tales is the contractors that came up with the plan were Queensland-based and had bugger all understanding of broad gauge let alone standard gauge trains
The only thing that irks me about this is the infrequency of trains and lack of patrons that’s mentioned is because he’s travelling on the weekend…us who regularly travel on these lines during the week see something completely different, much busier and more frequent services so for total accuracy I would recommend documenting both weekend and weekday services before posting another video like this.
the creation of stations in huge carparks making it awkward for pedestrians is a US and Canadian thing, there is a YT on it. I envisioned Melbourne’s airport station (called “Airport”) being located 3km from the airport in an enormous carpark with a mini bus shuttle to the airport.
TBH thinking it's unlikely to see melton and tarneit line electrification within 10 years is an optimistic view. It's unlikely to ever happen due to the whole airport rail taking half the capacity, the government would rather spend 10times as much to get a tiny bit of capacity on the m8
@@QazzyTransport Can also confirm that the carpark at Ballan was full both sides yesterday. I would say most people would use the service Monday to Friday.
a common practice in the ‘70s was to bulldoze away the platform edge. The worst of this was Buffalo Station on the Yarram line where the VR bulldozed the platform and the guard provided a ladder for the two old ladies to alight. The line was scheduled to close within a few weeks, they could have waited until then.
You may want to check your facts a little more you stated that half of the Bendigo line had been changed from double track to single in fact it is only 17km that had been singled out of approximately 160km of line and your assumption that Malmesbury was not a private residence was again incorrect it has been occupied for over 12 months now you may have noted the new water tank next to the old lamp room this was only installed in the latter half of 2023
the single track section is a lot more than 17km - how is Malmsbury a residence??? the building is incredibly run down and there doesn't appear to be any accessible doors.
The station is occupied unfortunately the station suffered a fire just over a month ago the person who is the occupant was interviewed by the Bendigo Advertiser news paper after the fire the Bendigo railway line is only single track from Kangaroo Flat Station to Ravenswood loop just after big hill it's then double to North Harcourt then single to Castlemaine Main at the north end of the yard double approximately the location of the Castlemaine prison then single through till Elphinstone double to the southern side of the Taradale viaduct single to Kyneton yard then double all the way to Melbourne
As I have been on the Bendigo train every day of my working life for the past 16 years I have some idea of the line and Malsbury has quite a few people board and alight as commuters most working days most trains around the 5 to 10 people at a time
No, you’re wrong about Ballan! It’s a commuter station, very busy during the week in the morning and afternoon. It’s also a major connection for towns like Daylesford to Melbourne. A VLine bus connection to and from Daylesford would solve a lot of issues beyond the one bus daily to and from…
Sorry to correct you, but there are at least 2 bus routes that depart to and from Caroline Springs railway station - the 460 and 462, both of which run every day of the year, so your assertion that people have no choice but to drive to that station is not quite true. However, the frequency of those routes is not of a high level, and could be improved.
WHy'd you ban me from discord, i'm appealing to discord in order to get me unbanned and getting your acccount terminated. Say goodbye and i'm unsubscribing.
Incorrect facts, lack of knowledge and then when called out you can't handle it. All I can say is you remind me of someone else in the VIC gunzel community that is greatly hated by many in the rail industry. My advice to you, if you are seek employment in the rail industry in the future you might want to get your facts correct before posting videos and stop being such a know it all gunzel and accept when you are being corrected.
As a local, Caroline springs stations ANNOYS me soooo much, it’s so inaccessible and it’s in Ravenhall which is just a suburb for industrial buildings and companies, I always forget that it’s an actual station because of how far and annoying it is to merely get to.
Isn’t it meant to be more a park and ride style station? When they came to the UK, they were nowhere near the town they served, but at freeway junctions.
@@mrK163 That’s how a lot of people use this station as like Qazzy said, you can’t walk there however I personally don’t like these stations because a lot of people who use public transport don’t have cars/don’t want to us a car and I feel it defeats the purpose of public transport if you gotta use a car to get there (You can use a bus but buses are too infrequent for that to be an effective alternative)
I work in one of the warehouses next to it (you have to walk through a field to get to the station) and yeah even then it's inaccessible and we're literally the closest buildings
Hey I'm a local too hahaha
@@boilingcoldtea I understand what you are saying, but what did you expect them to do? Build a 10KM tunnel so that the Ballarat line goes through the heart of Caroline Springs?
Personally, I think they did the best they could and they probably did this on the assumption that most of the farmland around the station will be zoned residential in the not too distant future.
Hi mate, I'd like to suggest a couple of stations for a second part if there is one.
1) North Shore, a very bare bones station in suburban Geelong, but also the interchange for the Overland train to Adelaide
2) Footscray, a stop with some of the best V/Line frequencies and also using the former suburban platforms prior to the RRL
3) Clarkefield, one stop away from the suburban terminus of Sunbury, but pretty much in the middle of nowhere
4) Ballarat, former terminus of the Ballarat line, and the junction of Ararat and Maryborough, both have abysmal frequencies. Ballarat Station is the heart of a very old city and one of the best interchanges for local buses and many coaches in the area of regional Victoria
5) Castlemaine, one of the largest stops on the Bendigo line and one of the few V/Line stations to have three platforms. The third platform is used for heritage steam services to Maldon, which are technically operated also by V/Line
6) Seymour, one of the only other stations to have three platforms, not all of them even on the same track gauge. Seymour is the terminus of the intercity line, with standard gauge trains continuing to Albury and the XPT to Sydney. The Seymour line is also the last intercity line to not be primarily serviced by VLocity trains. Also the n set formerly used on the standard gauge Albury line has now been replaced with a dedicated VLocity fleet with a buffet
7) Tarneit and Wyndham Vale, both opened as part of the RRL and to a very similar style. These stations are both located in very car dependant areas and may be electrified as part of the Western Rail Plan. These two stations strongly resemble other suburban stations with their level crossings removed in a similar way, like Ginifer, St Albans, Glen Huntly, Ormond and McKinnon. Tarneit and Wyndham Vale have massive car parks that fill up like crazy in peak time
Wyndham Vale isn't strange but Tarneit station is shocking. Tarneit has so many cancellations and platforms get overcrowded for its purpose of only being a little train stop. Wyndham Vale however is somewhat unique because they dug some trenches to fit the rail line for Wyndham Vale station.
I've also been in Castlemaine and it's definitely not as strange as Talbot station. Talbot station from what I remember had an antique shop nearby and only had one active platform for the Maryborough line. I don't even know if you can buy a ticket to ride from Talbot station. Hardly anyone was on the Talbot station platform due to the very poor frequencies on the Maryborough line.
I wish t❤hey would electrify to tarniet and Wyndham Vale... then the people actually going to geelong might not have to fight for a seat at Southern Cross! Or be loomed over by a multitude when going there on the way up.
@@heatherhoward2513 Agree but not the biggest priority. Much like the Geelong to Melbourne fast rail
@@heatherhoward2513legit struggle with this everyday since I go to school in Melbourne and live at towards the end of the waurn ponds line. I have to make sure to be at the very least 15 minutes early just to get a seat otherwise people going to tarneit take it all up just to leave less than 20 mins later
Have to question your comment in #5 about Maldon steam services "technically" being operated by V/Line. They are operated by the Victorian Goldfields Railway, a legally separate entity from V/Line, and basically a volunteer-operated service. There is a connecting track to enable mainline steam to run onto VGR tracks, by special arrangement with V/Line.
Malmsbury is probably the single worst case of government funded vandalism without dismantling entire lines.
truly bizarre
Juive is there! No surprise.
It's easy to see that you've not been to North Shore, or it would have been #1 on your list. Fully exposed to weather, nowhere to hide. Fully exposed at night time with bright lights in your face, making it pitch dark 50 meters away. Don't be late, because the train crosses the only entry and by the time it passes and you run up the ramp, it's gone. For two hours. Lastly, don't go there by yourself.
Corio too!
Forgot to mention the miniature platform that the overland used. Very unique
Plus don't forget that The Overland stops there too! That is pretty unique.
Just a correction.. the side you are on, with the old main building is leased privately as is the old Carlsrhue the Taradale and Elphinstone stations on the Bendigo line. I live in Malmsbury and everytime I catch the train either to Southern Cross or Bendigo, I cannot help being.. so dismayed by the decision years ago not use that side of the line. And that occurred well before I moved up here in 2011.
The cream painted "sheds" on the left were once used as storage and adequate, though far from glamorous passenger waiting areas, where one was at least protected from the elements.
Sometime after 2011, the design folks at Vline decided to upgrade the passenger waiting area, so they shut the entrance to the old shed, and installed two new designs, where on any rainy and windy day they are absolutely useless.
Carlsrhue, Malmsbury and Taradale were the last of the "bluestone" designs, with Elphinstone and beyond to Bendigo the beautiful red and cream brick designs.
You must go to Bendigo and take a look at the old sheds. They are amazing, bud sadly not very well looked after.
Grant Taylor
No-one really goes to Caroline Springs station because the Sunbury line is closer and cheaper than the Ballarat line! But If Sunbury has works, Caroline Springs is usually packed
What Sunbury line station is close to Caroline Springs? I'm guessing Keilor Plains/Watergardens, or possibly Albion/Sunshine in the other direction.
@@aidanthomas2510 The closest Sunbury lines are Watergardens, Keilor Plains or St Albans. All get pretty busy unless there’s works (like what the og commenter said)
Aren't they the same zone 2\1 fare?
I will not go to Caroline springs anymore, there’s always only 3 carriages and all packed in peak times, I rather go watergardens or keilor plains at least there’s services every 10-20 minutes
@@boilingcoldtea I'm sure Sunshine would have more trains because not only they're served by the Sunbury line but they're also served by Geelong and Ballarat lines. No direct bus from Caroline Springs to Footscray though.
It makes me happy to see the vline network slowly coming into your videos more
The Old Station building & Water Tower at Ballan are Heritage Listed. Water Tower used to be (past) 1 end of the Station Building - old B&W photo online showing it.
It has been where it is now since at least 1970s. (Oldest Photo I could find of it, in same as current position). Wouldn't been heritage listed then, so why move to it there don't know.
Of course a lot of old Water Towers have been used for signage or advertising.
Interesting, that Malmsbury Station was leased in Oct 2020. Of course wouldn't been able to do anything for couple years, but they're paying for it with (appears to be) still no use of it.
As there's no track alongside it now, it lessens safety risk a fair bit. So could do a craft place with a cafe, or a B&B. Which were couple things I've read some years ago as possibles - was a facebook page (still up, but last post on it was in March 2019).
By the way, if driving along Calder Fwy, Malsmbury is the easiest & quickest town to get to, as just straight off Calder Fwy & less than 1km/ a minute. Doesn't have the drive for a few km to get to main part of the town, after exiting the freeway, like Kyneton does and Gisborne.
Of course should get the train :) & if do, the lovely Botanic Garden is a few minutes from the Station, & if do walk that way will see the awesome Malmsbury Railway Viaduct which can't see from the main road through town. Not quite as long as Taradale Viaduct, but i think as imposing; perhaps more since Taradale now has additional metal supports structures as well as original stone pillars
The station was leased - what ... this sounds so strange
The reason to the station building at Malmsbury being fenced off is because there was recently a fire inside the building that took out all the power, which is also why there is a small dot on the display board.
Great video. Pity there was no response regarding Malmsbury Station. It would be good to see places like these restored. Keep up the good work!
Hi @alan. I wrote a comment about an hour ago re Malmsbury. FYI.. since I have been in Malmsbury (2011) the station has been mostly leased. I think it is Vic Track who organise the leasing of old stations. I really think they could not care less about the historical state of the buildings. Leasing signs at stations advertising conditions state that the cost of any improvements and refurbishments are to be borne by the would be tenants. Deep pockets would be needed I think.
Cheers grant taylor
@granttaylor2635 Thanks Grant. With those leasing conditions it more or less dooms this place unless, as you say, someone had deep pockets and the inclination to want to restore it. A real shame.
Sometimes those closed Kiosk are only open in the morning peak hour and close at 11am or earlier...
Enjoyed the video though! :)
So let me get this straight... Melbourne‘s west is expanding like crazy, and they need public transport.
So they completely stuff it up🙄
"....expanding like crazy", means that they're bringing huge numbers of foreigners here, so many so that we're now being outnumbered. It's a nightmare. Let's stop it.
4:14
This is pretty much what it's like when our parents say they remember an area had nothing back in their day.
Trying to visit all the Vline stations (in fact only having 15 left) and I think there's definitely some weirder ones out there.
Corio : feels very unsafe, dodgy suburb, barbed wire on the roofing, next to no people there when I went and the closest bus stop to get there is 1km away, really small car park, essentially feels unused.
Sherwood Park : weird to have a station that services a uni which has a better bus frequency to the closest city. Station is as basic as can be and feels very isolated.
Maryborough : massive picturesque station with less than 10,000 passengers a year, very weird for its creation to be justified. Also has a restaurant/cafe in use.
Bunyip and Longwarry : new second platforms but completely unused due to only single track, they've sat there for at least a year or two without use, blocked off.
Traralgon : only station with access to a Domino's in the building (overpass is also so new it makes the original building look like a trashy anachronism)
Swan Hill : big big fish, station building is also a strange rectangular shape, making it feel very odd.
Heathcote Junction : only really accessible for the few surrounding houses or by walking along the highway, very very very quiet.
Rosedale : can not tell if someone is living in the station building or not, but there are curtains in the windows and it seems like there is. Another incredibly quiet station
Oh and Dingee, wasn't gonna include as it's common knowledge it's the lease used station, but the fact it has a Library in the station I think would make it onto a list like this (I know Yarragon, Trafalgar and Beaufort have art galleries in their stations but that to me is more normal than a library)
They can't use the second platform due to the bridge across the Bunyip river not being able to be duplicated due to power cables which are too expensive/a pain in the arse to move so they will just sit there and all that work they put on duplicating the Gippsland line will be for naught.
Leawarra station in Frankston is probably only kept open to serve the Peninsula Campus of Monash Uni, though I doubt it gets much patronage.
I'm surprised Heathcote Junction is still open given that it's only 2 km from Wandong station.
The set-up at Ballan reminds me of post-2021 North Williamstown, in a way. I found out that, although the station was rebuilt in a cutting, the old station building has been preserved.
As for (what shouldn't be called) Caroline Springs, I'm baffled by the station's terrible location. It really does look like the V/Line equivalent of Williams Landing.
Hey Qazzy! Great video, once again. Really enjoyable topics and well covered. Must be really enjoyable days out filming these! Nice to hear the Bendigo line single track project called out for stupidity. Still can't fathom how someone thought this was smart.
I know a few comments have already covered this but I travel the Bendigo line regularly and once, not too long ago, saw some people setting up on the disused Malmsbury platform for a morning tea or lunch. Did you get the chance to have a walk down underneath the viaduct? Great spot to get some shots of the trains going over it.
Can't believe it's taken me a week to realise that one of the strangest Vline stations in Vic is in my hometown of Mildura. There's quite a large, nice Vline office with a customer service window and waiting room. Thing is, there's no trains!!! It's a Vline station but there's only the bus from Swan Hill to Mildura. There's a potential video in that when you have some traveling time 😄 If I still lived there I'd do some filming for you!
Keep up the good work mate!
I totally agree with you about malmsbury station. I'm surprised it's not the least used station in regional victoria. With 1 or 2 exceptions every single Bendigo and Echuca Line train stop there and outside of school and commuting times, never seems to get used, most people would probably drive to the far superior Kyneton station instead.
The Singlification (i just made that word up) of the Bendigo Line was one of the worst decisions made in the last 25 Years on the V/line network. Just the other day (Labour Day) my service home to Echuca got stuck in a passing loop between Malmsbury and Castlemaine for 20 minutes waiting for a train to come through. I think the person responsible should have to answer for this.
It's not the least used because Dingee exists
@@kirbstagoontheaxolotl and elmore
@@lauriewhite8153 True. I've been through Elmore on my way up to Deniliquin, it's actually a nice country town
It was done as part of the RFR project in the early 2000's, the government who did it is gone and I doubt very many of the people responsible for it in the public service are still around.
One of the reasons people do drive to Kyneton is because not all Bendigo/Southern Cross trains stop at Malmsbury
For example if you live in Malmsbury and work in the city, or just need to get to Southern Cross early, you can catch the 7.30am..and if you miss that one the next is around 9.22am. The 3.06,pm from Southern Cross does not not stop at Malmsbury, so if you had planned to be on the 2.06pm and just missed it, you wait until the 4.06 or the 4.29
I have had an early afternoon doctor's appointment go horribly late, just missed the 2.06, and then waited until 4.06.
So yes.. most times now I drive to Kyneton. It just seems silly. " If you build it.....
There Is A Train Station Called Gordon It’s On the Ballarat Line and nobody uses the train station anymore. Awesome video I do agree with your lists.
I've cycled with my friend to Caroline Springs station, and holy moly it was horrible. You were at the discretion of drivers letting you cross unprotected crossings and the entrance to the station from the footpath isn't obvious
When i moved to Melbourne in 2019, my local bus route took me straight to caroline springs, so I'd been to those shops many times. One weekend i decided I'd swing by the shops there on my way back from the city then hop on the bus back home
Imagine my surprise when i get off the train and im in the middle of a giant paddock...
Another great vid mate. Lots of armchair experts in the comments but as a non-VLine user I found this video really interesting and fun to watch. Keep it up
I’ve never been very interested in transit but I’ve been hooked on your videos lately, keep up the good work
Just watched your video again, and another contender for a strange V/Line Station came to mind, namely Heathcote Junction. Firstly, it's no longer a junction although you can see the former alignment behind Platform 2, together with the base for the former signal box, which was relocated when the standard gauge line was built. Secondly, it has what has to be the shortest platform on V/Line, being Platform 1. Most conductors will remind passengers of this and of the need to alight from the leading carriage. This can be a problem if on a train formed by Sprinters which don't have walk-through facilities and you're in the 2nd or third car. I guess the regular passengers know this. Minimum facilities with just a basic "bus-shelter". Patronage is probably the lowest on the Seymour Line, partly because Wandong is quite close. Most trains stop here, with the exception of some Shepparton services. Despite all that, I quite like it for its heritage name and quaintness.
the kiosk window at caroline springs use to be a small cafe i'm pretty sure they closed it due to low customers and i remember it only being open in the mornings around early 2020
Love your videos bro. They’re the BEST!
The kiosk at Caroline springs is for coffee on weekdays. You should try doing some of these trips on weekdays
i dont have time
One other thing is note about Malmsbury is that the platform isn't that long. If there is a double train running, the conductor will tell you to move up to a different carriage to get off.
Rosedale is much the same. Only long enough for 2 carriages.
Malmsbury Station is so sad. There's just something so special about heritage country stations and its always sad to see them neglected. My town (Albany, WA) still has its original railway station from 1888 that connected it to Perth, but the platform itself its falling apart. At least the building is used though
Another smashing video!! 🙌
You’re well on track to 10k!! 😂
All that land at caroline springs will have houses on it in the next five years!
Your videos are getting better
surprised heathcote junction isnt on this list. On the seymour/shep line, but shep trains dont stop there. Its platform 1 is too short even for 3 carriage sprinters, and its usage is very small, given wandong station is 5 minutes up the road and is a much better quality station. As the name suggests it used to have a junction with a train line up to heathcote, but that got dismantled yonks ago. theres a rumour that it only still exists cos one of the higher ups at vline lives there and wants to keep it there
You should check the timetables more carefully. During weekdays between the peaks, both Ardeer and Caroline Springs have a 20 minute frequency service, which is better than Metro stations past Ringwood. Yes it is an hourly service on weekends. As trains don't need to cross at Ballan on weekends, the original platform is used for both directions, but the weekday timetable has trains crossing there, which is why the new platform was built to provide for a 40 minute frequency. Deer Park has probably the most frequent service for a V/Line station, with both Geelong and Melton/Ballarat trains stopping inter-peak giving 6 trains per hour, each way.
Thank you Greg for your detailed answer. It is disappointing that videos are put up before the author has adequately researched a topic.
Caroline springs just spawned a few years ago and nobody cared about it.
I remember being stranded in the last one. In some days vline trains are free and I thought that day was free but it wasn’t and I got on and I had to leave at malmsbury. There’s wasn’t any place to buy tickets and just free rides home
Hey I’m pretty sure you go to my school! I’ve been watching these for ages now! Amazing!
cool, who is this?
I’m Isla and I’m pretty sure I sit across from you at lunch sometimes @@QazzyTransport
Realignment should have been a piece of cake. Even shifting a track inwards 500mm would enable sufficient clearance between the bridge and outer edge of the vehicles. With the technology available, it would be a simple task.
Huntly is probably the most empty station around (just outright in the middle of nowhere). Or a station that is just there in the middle of nowhere like Shippea Hill in England.
V/Line is basically a bus service these days. That’s how much commitment this government has to regional and rural rail. The other lot are even worse (even though it was Labor who changed the Bendigo line to single track).
Yes it’s pretty sad.
Caroline Springs looks like it's the Williams Landing of the V-Line stations. Which is to say, weird. Why would the government not just once, BUT TWICE make a station not near the major infastructure areas
think the rail line was already there, they just made the station
It could only happen in Victoria taking a double line track and converting it to single line track now it cannot handle the volume of use and now there having to build more passing sidings
I’ve seen people hanging out on the old Malmsbury Platform before, presumably the owners
I remember decades ago ( vaguely) jumping on the wrong train in the city I think , ( I’m not a train traveler) , it was about tea time , anyway I dozed off and this train took me express out in the woop woop somewhere , I think it may have been Werribee or somewhere in that general direction , I awakened from my slumber to the realisation of where the ( insert expletive ) am I 😂, I got of at this lonely lonely creepy station and had to wait what seemed like an eternity for another train to come to head back to Melbourne, don’t ask me how I did it , I did end up getting on a train in the right direction taking me to outer northern burbs 😂, railways in Victoria can be such an adventure 😊.
I used to use the Ardeer station after having my bike on the train to ride to work in Derrimut which was not well serviced by buses. Very few other people got on or off.
I remember one time people taking sleepers out of ground in the then unused track section at Ballan before the new platform was built. If they are not going to use the second platform what a waste. Spoils the look of the station as well.
That vline station looks so weird !
I know both lines quite well. I was living next to the Bendigo line when it was *_upgraded._* A lot of work to make things worse. Oh well ...
they all give me Nullarbor vibes even though its in Victoria
What about the Mildura station that they decided to use a bus station instead of the train as it was built for, there is still tracks going past but only for a freight train that heads to a Depot in Merbein
FYI Both bus routes operate to caroline 7 days a week,with 1 of the 2 having a very low freq,45-60 minutes
when I went there only one was running
@@QazzyTransport hmmm
RIP Malmsbury Station, a clearly once grand building absolutely wasted.
swan hill has got some nice old buildings as well
Water tower was for filling up steam trains
You need to check out heathcote junction. A second station in a town of less then 5000 people with platforms so short you have to be careful which carriage you get in from Melbourne
I don't think I've ever been to any of these stations. Maybe a few day trips are in order.
With the email to the Malmsbury guy, perhaps a quick sentence to say that you do train video content for TH-cam and are researching stations mighy have got a response?
Ballan only uses plaform one on weekends. even during peak in both directions during the week the train uses platform 1
you make a good vid man
Max speed at Ardeer is 115 on the Up and Down. But the speed does increase to 130 on the Down just after Ardeer.
Guess this means that the Ballarat line is the strangest line then
Ardeer works well during peak times for work commutes
Vline is really quite obsessed with only serving work commuters (terrible intrapeak and being scared of the dark) rather than providing proper effective transport
After travelling throughout Europe by train I now realise how bloody disgusting train travel is in Victoria.
The water tower was when steam trains worked through Ballan. Locomotives needed water after the drag up Islington Bank, that big hill you came up. RESEARCH!!!
I lived Walsh Street many years ago...
this is wild!
Reasoning for Malmsbury being singled not entirely correct or accurate. Contract required certain timings to be possible for trains, which required many alterations to the alignment beyond Kyneton. It was found that using 1 track across both former up and down line alignments (and even partway between the two at times) would allow for the target timings to be achievable without needing to spend an outrageous amount on widening cuttings, embankments etc. as for the heritage structures which have been fine with trains for over a century, while true, one factor you've not considered is that the amount of lateral roll that railway vehicles do increases at higher speeds, and so with the greater lateral clearances required for 160km/h running compared with 130km/h running, most of those double track structures suitable for 130km/h would not be acceptable for 160km/h.
i understand that there are more reasons for the singling of the line but I didn't want to go too much into detail in the video. Still a very stupid project that showed a complete lack of vision for the future
Also one of the tales is the contractors that came up with the plan were Queensland-based and had bugger all understanding of broad gauge let alone standard gauge trains
3:19 that is for the steam train era memorial.
deer park better than "our deer"
would Cobblebank Station be similar to Caroline Springs?
Not really because they are building housing around Cobblebank over time, unlike Caroline Springs
caroline springs is not an hourly frequency station? its every 20/30 mins, what day did you rock up there lmao
weekend
CAROLINE SPRINGS MENTIONED 🗣️🔥🤫🧏🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Ballan will only use plaftorm 1 on weekends.
The only thing that irks me about this is the infrequency of trains and lack of patrons that’s mentioned is because he’s travelling on the weekend…us who regularly travel on these lines during the week see something completely different, much busier and more frequent services so for total accuracy I would recommend documenting both weekend and weekday services before posting another video like this.
i don't have time on weekdays
It is not correct that Caroline Springs is only accessible by car. As you say, there are 2 bus routes.
ok.
I think the amenities are better at the old platform side at Ballan
the creation of stations in huge carparks making it awkward for pedestrians is a US and Canadian thing, there is a YT on it. I envisioned Melbourne’s airport station (called “Airport”) being located 3km from the airport in an enormous carpark with a mini bus shuttle to the airport.
Well done Labor Minister
Track speed at Ardeer is only 115kph Not as you stated 160kph
god dammit it becomes 160 literally 100 metres from the station
TBH thinking it's unlikely to see melton and tarneit line electrification within 10 years is an optimistic view.
It's unlikely to ever happen due to the whole airport rail taking half the capacity, the government would rather spend 10times as much to get a tiny bit of capacity on the m8
We're Australians, they're "RAILWAY STATIONS"
wouldnt that make tram stops "tramway stops"?
Werribee is a very wired station it has a comeng inside
i used to live in ballan and the train frequency was bad
YOOOO VLINE BUSSIN
160kmh😂 thats cute😂
Ballarat line actually has a 40 minute frequency during weekday peak not 60 minute as you reference several times in this video.
60 minutes on weekends which is when i get footage and also when most people who would visit these stations would go
@@QazzyTransport Can also confirm that the carpark at Ballan was full both sides yesterday. I would say most people would use the service Monday to Friday.
Ballan is planning for future growth not current requirement
Perhaps they should remove these stations then in 20 years time we can complain about that too !
a common practice in the ‘70s was to bulldoze away the platform edge.
The worst of this was Buffalo Station on the Yarram line where the VR bulldozed the platform and the guard provided a ladder for the two old ladies to alight. The line was scheduled to close within a few weeks, they could have waited until then.
E scooter to the train bro
You may want to check your facts a little more you stated that half of the Bendigo line had been changed from double track to single in fact it is only 17km that had been singled out of approximately 160km of line and your assumption that Malmesbury was not a private residence was again incorrect it has been occupied for over 12 months now you may have noted the new water tank next to the old lamp room this was only installed in the latter half of 2023
the single track section is a lot more than 17km - how is Malmsbury a residence??? the building is incredibly run down and there doesn't appear to be any accessible doors.
They ripped up most of the double track. If you're sitting on a bendigo train you'd know.
The station is occupied unfortunately the station suffered a fire just over a month ago the person who is the occupant was interviewed by the Bendigo Advertiser news paper after the fire the Bendigo railway line is only single track from Kangaroo Flat Station to Ravenswood loop just after big hill it's then double to North Harcourt then single to Castlemaine Main at the north end of the yard double approximately the location of the Castlemaine prison then single through till Elphinstone double to the southern side of the Taradale viaduct single to Kyneton yard then double all the way to Melbourne
As I have been on the Bendigo train every day of my working life for the past 16 years I have some idea of the line and Malsbury has quite a few people board and alight as commuters most working days most trains around the 5 to 10 people at a time
No, you’re wrong about Ballan! It’s a commuter station, very busy during the week in the morning and afternoon. It’s also a major connection for towns like Daylesford to Melbourne. A VLine bus connection to and from Daylesford would solve a lot of issues beyond the one bus daily to and from…
never said it wasn't busy
As long as the nuff nuffs in the west of Melbourne keep voting Labor each and every election, don't expect anything to change.
Sorry to correct you, but there are at least 2 bus routes that depart to and from Caroline Springs railway station - the 460 and 462, both of which run every day of the year, so your assertion that people have no choice but to drive to that station is not quite true. However, the frequency of those routes is not of a high level, and could be improved.
i literally mentioned both routes in my video? Only one of them was operating the day I was there
0:49 bruh
Why not just close Caroline springs
Try the long distance stations next time
don't have the time
Maybe during the holidays might work
WHy'd you ban me from discord, i'm appealing to discord in order to get me unbanned and getting your acccount terminated. Say goodbye and i'm unsubscribing.
have you watched the 1998 movie BASEketball starring matt stone and trey parker it really is a cinematic masterpiece
@@QazzyTransport have you watched cars 2 it wondeful also translate grated mr crabs in french
160 kph???????
Ummm, Yeah,........Right.😅
apologies, it becomes 160kph 200 metres after the station
Just restore the 2nd track
Incorrect facts, lack of knowledge and then when called out you can't handle it. All I can say is you remind me of someone else in the VIC gunzel community that is greatly hated by many in the rail industry. My advice to you, if you are seek employment in the rail industry in the future you might want to get your facts correct before posting videos and stop being such a know it all gunzel and accept when you are being corrected.
Stop gibbering and concentrate on the reality.....
have you seen the 1998 movie BASEketball