West Coast Railway (Victoria)
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The company operated passenger services between Melbourne and Warrnambool
Warrnambool, Victoria
-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...
from 1993 to 2004.
History
West Coast Railway was formed in 1993 when the KennettJeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
offered long-distance country rail services previously run by the government-owned operator V/Line
V/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
to private operators. Their bid was entered in February 1993 and was announced as the successful tender on April 30 the same year. The initial franchise was for 8 years, being later extended for 3 more. Their head office in Geelong was opened on July 12, 1993 and the company officially came into existence on August 1.
While several rail services were replaced by road coach services, West Coast Railway successfully tendered to maintain the South-West region's rail service, thus - in the words of the company - "giving new life to a region serviced by rail for over 100 years". During the 11 years of WCR operation of the line, patronage increased by 20%. The first rail service under WCR operated on September 19 when V/Line
V/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
locomotive N466
V/Line N class
The N Class are a diesel locomotive operated by V/Line from 1985. They have formed the core of Victoria's passenger fleet since introduction, and are seen throughout the state. The N Class members are numbered N451 to N475 with all in service, and all but one have been named after rural cities in...
City of Warrnambool hauled the 17.00 up Warrnambool to Melbourne service.
In 2001, the two directors of the company brought a 50% share in Tranz Scenic
Tranz Scenic
Tranz Scenic is the long-distance passenger train brand of KiwiRail, formed from the New Zealand Railways Corporation InterCity Rail services. Tranz Scenic was renamed along with the other operating divisions of Tranz Rail in 1995...
, the national passenger operator in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. However, the investment was not successful, and the share was sold in 2003 to Toll NZ
Toll NZ
Toll Group Limited is a New Zealand trucking company. A subsidiary of the Australian company Toll Holdings, it has its headquarters in Auckland. It carries out operations by road and in the air, and formerly by rail and sea....
.
Fleet
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s and rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
bought second-hand from the Victorian Government, replacing the 1980s-built locomotives and rolling stock V/Line
V/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...
had operated on the line until 1993. This was in contrast to the successful tenderer for the Shepparton line rail service, Hoys Roadlines
Hoys Roadlines
Hoys Roadlines was an Australian bus operator based in the Victorian city of Shepparton. For 11 years from 1993 to 2004 the company also had a contract to operate train services on the Shepparton line on behalf of the State Government...
, who decided to lease rolling stock from V/Line.
The fleet included early streamlined B class and S class
Victorian Railways S class (diesel)
The Victorian Railways S class mainline diesel electric locomotive were built from 1957 by Clyde Engineering for the Victorian Railways of Australia...
GM EMD diesel-electric locomotives, and former Spirit of Progress
Spirit of Progress
The Spirit of Progress was the premier express train passenger service on the Victorian Railways in Australia, running from Melbourne to the Victorian border, and later through to Sydney.-Route:...
S
S type carriage
The S type carriages are a compartment layout passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. The carriages were constructed by the Victorian Railways in 1937 for use on the Spirit of Progress, with additional carriages built until the 1950s for other trains.Two major types of...
and Z type
Z type carriage
The Z type carriages are an air conditioned steel passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. The carriages were constructed by the Victorian Railways from 1957 for use on intrastate services....
passenger carriages. The WCR fleet was painted in a distinctive blue, white and yellow livery
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
, to symbolize the water, sand and sky of the beach.
The first locomotive to be fully overhauled by WCR was S 300 which begun trials on January 23, 1995 and entered regular service two weeks later. The railway depot at Ballarat East was leased by the company as a heavy maintenance base, with transfer runs being made over the Geelong-Ballarat railway.
Specially modified R class
Victorian Railways R class
The R class was an express passenger steam locomotive that ran on Australia's Victorian Railways from 1951 to 1974. A long overdue replacement for the 1907-era A2 class 4-6-0, their development and construction was repeatedly delayed due to financial constraints caused by the Great Depression and...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s were also used to operate a Saturday return service, becoming the fastest regular steam hauled passenger service in the world. R711 entered service on regular trains on November 21, 1998 and was fitted with multiple unit
Multiple unit
The term multiple unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelled carriages capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one driving cab. The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets consisting of more than one carriage...
control equipment for diesel electric locomotives.
As well as operating regular Warrnambool passenger services, West Coast Railway also offered charter services and operated special excursion trains to various destinations within Victoria. The company assisted with the restoration of a number of steam locomotives, with R711 and Y112
Victorian Railways Y class
The Victorian Railways Y class was an example of the new policy of standard design principles being adopted by the railways of the time. The original pattern locomotive was built by Kitson & Co. at Leeds in England in 1885 and was exhibited along with E426 at the Centennial Exhibition in the...
made operational, with work being carried out on J 536
Victorian Railways J class
The J class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1954 to 1972. A development of the successful Victorian Railways K class 2-8-0, it was the last new class of steam locomotive introduced on the VR...
, D3 638
Victorian Railways Dd class
The Dd class was a passenger and mixed traffic steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1902 to 1974...
, D3 641, and A2 986
Victorian Railways A2 class
The A2 class was an express passenger locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1907 to 1963. A highly successful design entirely the work of Victorian Railways' own design office, its long service life was repeatedly extended as economic depression and war delayed the introduction of more...
.
The company also took advantage of Victoria's newly privatised rail freight market by leasing T class
Victorian Railways T class (diesel)
The Victorian Railways T class diesel electric locomotive are a small branch line and shunting unit built by Clyde Engineering . They were the most numerous class of diesel locomotives in the state....
locomotives to private rail freight operators.
Demise
West Coast Railway encountered a series of operational difficulties during 2003–04 which impacted on its business.The death of one of the company's key founding principals, Gary McDonald, on April 25, 2003 removed the guiding light and spirit of the company. The closure of the Warrnambool line between Melbourne and Geelong
Geelong, Victoria
Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...
for rebuilding as part of the 160 km/h (100 mph) Regional Fast Rail project
Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project was a rail transport project of the State Government of Victoria, Australia undertaken between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving the passenger services on the Victorian regional railway network , specifically to reduce travel times, enhance service frequency and...
caused the company to temporarily replace rail services with road coaches while construction works were underway, with a resulting drop in passenger numbers.
On 31 May 2004, only a short time after West Coast Railway's rail services resumed on 1 March 2004, the Victorian Department of Infrastructure issued an alert on stress cracks in the underframes of B and S class locomotives including the units owned by West Coast Railway. Once again, the company was forced to replace two of its three daily-return rail services with road coaches.
There had also been a change in government transport policy following the election of the Bracks
Steve Bracks
Stephen Philip Bracks AC is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Australian Labor Party, and was party leader and Premier from 1999 to 2007....
Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
following the failure of privatisation of V/Line Passenger, with then-Opposition transport spokesman Geoff Leigh predicting the proposed retendering of statewide regional rail operations in 2006 would result in West Coast Railway being "executed".
Although West Coast Railway announced as recently as May 2004 its intention to negotiate a new contract to operate Warrnambool services beyond the expiry of its then-current contract in June 2004, the expected locomotive repair bill in excess of A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
1,000,000 was the last straw for the company. On 31 August 2004, West Coast Railway operated its final services and handed back the contract to the Government. V/Line Passenger resumed passenger rail services to Warrnambool the following day with the 05:40 8220 Up Warrnambool to Melbourne passenger service.
External links
- web.archive.org 2004 archive of West Coast Railway corporate website