Reopening Railway Stations

Feasibility Assessment

VLine currently operates passenger rail services on 7 routes throughout Victoria as listed below:-

• Melbourne to Bairnsdale
• Melbourne to Albury
• Melbourne to Shepparton
• Melbourne to Echuca (via Bendigo)
• Melbourne to Swan Hill
• Melbourne to Ararat
• Melbourne to Warrnambool

Each of these services includes stops at various towns located along the routes while there are other towns along the routes where trains do not stop. Stopping patterns along each route vary considerably, with some stations often expressed and others frequently stopped at.

As there is no published patronage information for the various stations, it is assumed that one of the main criteria which determines the level of service to each town located along each route is the population of each town.

The tables below compare the population of towns along each line with the number of services that stop at each station. Note that where large towns have multiple stations, the total population of the large town has been divided evenly amongst the multiple stations. The tables also include stations located on the routes which are not currently used. (Note that the tables are based on 2005 service levels.)

Melbourne to Bairnsdale
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Nar Nar Goon	102	607	6.0
Tynong	102	335	3.3
Garfield	105	703	6.7
Bunyip	102	1106	10.8
Longwarry	105	641	6.1
Drouin	146	5815	39.8
Warragul	161	10437	64.8
Nilma	0	<100	N/A
Darnum	0	316	N/A
Yarragon	113	707	6.3
Trafalgar	113	2279	20.2
Moe	139	15387	110.7
Morwell	139	13527	97.3
Traralgon	139	19614	141.1
Rosedale	41	1042	25.4
Sale	41	12854	313.5
Stratford	28	1330	47.5
Lindenow	0	303	N/A
Bairnsdale	28	10667	381.0

Melbourne to Albury
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Craigieburn	142	13944	98.2
Donnybrook	131	<100	N/A
Beveridge	0	<100	N/A
Wallan	114	3955	34.7
Wandong	96	683	7.1
Heathcote Junction	96	683	7.1
Kilmore East	116	3632	31.3
Broadford	116	2657	22.9
Tallarook	96	291	3.0
Seymour	166	6441	38.8
Avenal	18	552	30.7
Euroa	39	2710	69.5
Violet Town	28	593	21.2
Benalla	39	8614	220.9
Glenrowan	0	348	N/A
Wangaratta	39	16342	419.0
Springhurst	28	165	5.9
Chiltern	28	1039	37.1
Barnawartha	0	531	N/A
Wodonga	39	28160	722.1
Albury	39	42458	1088.7

Note that the listed populations for Wandong and Heathcote Junction are half the combined population which appears in the “Know Your Area” website. Also note that the listed population for Kilmore East is based on the population for nearby Kilmore.

Seymour to Shepparton
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Nagambie	26	1409	54.2
Murchison East	26	672	25.8
Arcadia	0	288	N/A
Mooroopna	26	6877	264.5
Shepparton	26	28951	1113.5

Note that the listed population for Murchison East is based on the population for nearby Murchison.

Melbourne to Echuca
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Diggers Rest	161	1801	11.2
Sunbury	253	25156	99.4
Clarkefield	56	<100	N/A
Riddells Creek	112	2265	20.2
Gisborne	159	5290	33.3
Macedon	116	1419	12.2
Woodend	183	3017	16.5
Kyneton	189	4121	21.8
Malmsbury	28	494	17.6
Taradale	0	174	N/A
Castlemaine	135	8287	61.4
Harcourt	0	422	N/A
Kangaroo Flat	14	22905	1636.1
Bendigo	135	22905	169.7
Elmore	3	665	221.7
Rochester	3	2624	874.7
Echuca	4	10955	2738.8

Bendigo to Swan Hill
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Eaglehawk	29	22905	789.8
Raywood	0	134	N/A
Dingee	14	<100	N/A
Mitiamo	0	100	N/A
Pyramid	14	498	35.6
Kerang	14	3719	265.6
Lake Boga	0	679	N/A
Swan Hill	14	9771	697.9

Melbourne to Ararat
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Ardeer	110	2741	24.9
Deer Park	110	12664	115.1
Rockbank	91	872	9.6
Melton	243	32071	132.0
Bacchus Marsh	193	12130	62.8
Ballan	126	1730	13.7
Gordon	0	390	N/A
Ballarat	126	72999	579.4
Beaufort	28	987	35.3
Ararat	28	7052	251.9

Melbourne to Warrnambool
Station	Weekly services	Population	People per Service
Little River	185	361	2.0
Lara	269	9206	34.2
Corio	201	21699	108.0
North Shore	196	21699	110.7
North Geelong	275	21699	78.9
Geelong	302	21699	71.9
South Geelong	185	21699	117.3
Marshall	38	21699	571.0
Moriac	0	480	N/A
Winchelsea	38	1101	29.0
Birregurra	20	426	21.3
Colac	38	10182	267.9
Camperdown	38	3130	82.4
Terang	38	1862	49.0
Allansford	0	529	N/A
Warrnambool	38	28812	758.2

Looking at the tables it is possible to compare towns which receive a generous amount of train services with respect to population with those that receive a relatively poor level of service.

As a guide, I have suggested that any town that has less than 10 people per the total number of weekly train services is possibly getting too many stopping services, while town that have more than 100 people per the total number of weekly train services are possibly receiving too few.

The following is the list of towns that may be receiving too many stopping services based on the above criteria (in order from most too many to least too many).

· Donnybrook

· Clarkefield

· Dingee

· Little River

· Tallarook

· Tynong

· Springhurst

· Nar Nar Goon

· Longwarry

· Yarragon

· Garfield

· Heathcote Junction

· Wandong

· Rockbank

The following is the list of towns that may be receiving too few stopping services based on the above criteria (in order from most too few to least too few).

· Echuca

· Kangaroo Flat

· Shepparton

· Albury

· Rochester

· Eaglehawk

· Warrnambool

· Wodonga

· Swan Hill

· Ballarat

· Marshall

· Wangaratta

· Bairnsdale

· Sale

· Colac

· Kerang

· Mooroopna

· Ararat

· Elmore

· Benalla

· Traralgon

· Melton

· South Geelong

· Deer Park

· Moe

· North Shore

· Corio

The remaining towns all have between 10 and 100 people per the total number of weekly train services.

Another criterion which is appropriate to consider is the minimum population size for a town before it should be provided with a station stop on the passenger rail service. Looking at the existing towns which currently receive a station stop and other towns which currently miss out, a possible minimum size population criterion could be 400 people.

Under this criterion, the following towns which currently are provided with a station stop could have their station closed (ordered by line).

Bairnsdale Line

· Tynong (pop 335)

Albury Line

· Donnybrook (pop <100)

· Tallaroook (pop 291)

· Springhurst (pop 165)

Echuca Line

· Clarkefield (pop <100)

Swan Hill Line

· Dingee (pop <100)

Conversely, the following towns could have their station reopened (ordered by line).

Albury Line

· Barnawartha (pop 531)

Echuca Line

· Harcourt (pop 422)

Swan Hill Line

· Lake Boga (pop 679)

Warrnambool Line

· Moriac (pop 480)

· Allansford (pop 529)

The above lists show that the existing stations that form part of the VLine network are generally consistent with population based criteria; however there are a number of anomalies which cannot easily be explained. Perhaps there should be some scope to better provide stations in locations to meet the needs of population.