This area covers the south west of Victoria with services to Geelong, and beyond to Colac, Camperdown, Terang and Warrnambool where the railway line terminates.

I have no issues with the Geelong service, especially with the recent introduction of the new station at Marshall. But beyond that (and this applies throughout Victoria) there are places that do demand a station re-opening. In particular on this line I want to see Moriac, Panmure and Allansford re-opened.

A new diversion is planned to separate all south west services from the Werribee Metlink services, with a link between Deer Park on the Ballarat line through Tarneit and Wyndhamvale to Little River.

Western region

This area covers the western areas of Victoria with services to Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat (including the new station at Wendouree) and beyond to Ararat where the service terminates. The line beyond Ararat is standard gauge which is handled by Great Southern Railway. In late July 2010, the line to Maryborough was re-opened.

This is the line I now live on, and my pet peeve is the reliance on single carriageways. There should be two lines except where it's not possible - such as through the Werribee Gorge, travelling down the valley into Bacchus Marsh and maybe the crossing over the Melton Reservoir. But there is no reason why a second line can't be run where there isn't one already otherwise, especially between Deer Park and Melton. I also want to see stations at Gordon, Buangor and also Talbot.

A new dual carriageway track is apparently planned to take services away from the Sydenham Metlink services, but I can't see where they would put it. This work goes with the Tarneit diversion for the south west. Services to Maryborough are planned to start sometime in 2010.

Northern region

This area covers the northern parts of Victoria with services to Sunbury, Woodend, Kyneton, Castlemaine and Bendigo. Beyond that to Kerang and Swan Hill where the railway line terminates. There is also a spur from Bendigo to Rochester and Echuca, which was a weekend service only but is now a daily service.

Until the massive upgrade work, the line to Bendigo was dual carriageway. What possessed the builders to rip it up beyond Kyneton I will never know. With the faster trains I can understand why the tunnels at Chewton and Ravenswood were an issue, but not the rest! A ridiculous decision that needs to be reversed as soon as possible. Also I want to see stations at Taradale, Elphinstone, Harcourt and Golden Square - as well as Raywood, Mitiamo and Lake Boga.

North East region

This area covers the north east of Victoria with services to Kilmore, Broadford and Seymour where the passenger services split into two directions. The north section travels through Nagambie and Mooroopna before terminating in Shepparton. The north east section travels through Euroa, Benalla, Wangaratta, Chiltern and Wodonga before terminating in Albury.

This area has been the least affected by the upgrades, but there are still stations missing. On the Albury section I want to see stations at Longwood, Glenrowan and Barnawartha. The section between Seymour and Albury is in the process of becoming standard gauge right through allowing for the combination of V/Line services with standard gauge freight and the Countrylink XPT to Sydney.

Eastern region

This area covers the eastern areas of Victoria with services to Drouin, Warragul, Moe, Morwell and Traralgon. Beyond that to Sale, Stratford and Bairnsdale where the railway line terminates.

There is a pre existing single carriageway that needs to be duplicated between Bunyip and Longwarry. I thought they had torn up the dual carriageway between Drouin and Warragul but thankfully I was wrong. The only station I would be adding to this line is at Darnum.

The Kennett Legacy

When the Kennett government came to power in Victoria in 1992 the destructive effect on country services soon became apparent. The services to Ararat, Mildura, Cobram, Bairnsdale and Leongatha were cut, infuriating a lot of voters especially in Bairnsdale and Mildura. When Kennett was put out of office, the current government has been working to get services back up. Ararat and Bairnsdale are back now, and Leongatha is apparently on the drawing board although it has apparently been shelved. Mildura is a mixed issue apparently pending a change to standard gauge for the line as it is apparently going to link up with the line to Darwin for freight - in spite of the Maryborough re-opening on the line. There are no plans to bring back Cobram which is annoying to say the least. The Kennett government did a great deal of harm to rail services in country Victoria and for that they should be ashamed. If anyone ever considers bringing back a Liberal government in this state they should keep this legacy in mind.

Standard gauge interference

Another general annoyance in country Victoria is the standard gauge issue. Two standard gauge lines travel into Victoria which is mostly broad gauge. The first is the original from Sydney, placed alongside the broad gauge line from Albury to Broadmeadows where it diverts down a goods line to Sunshine and then through the back of the Tottenham and Dynon Road rail yards. This isn't so bad and will improve as mentioned above, but the change to standard gauge for the line to Adelaide is a pest. The Overland, which is the only train running between Melbourne and Adelaide, was sent onto standard gauge, which travels out past the same yards before diverting the long way around to Newport and following the broad gauge line from there to North Shore in Geelong, where it goes to the west on a converted existing line through the small towns of Cressy and Lismore before reaching Ararat and continues on to Adelaide. This cut V/Line off at Ararat whereas originally the services went through to Dimboola.

As far as I know V/Line have no plans to run services on the standard gauge line towards Adelaide, and this is a mistake. Especially as the Overland doesn't call at Stawell which is insane. Arranging with Great Southern Railway for V/Line fares within Victoria is a poor response. It's about time V/Line started running a service along the standard gauge line to service the towns between Geelong and Ararat, as well as Stawell and terminate at Nhill. The Overland only runs three times a week in both directions so there is room to do it.

If the rumours are true about the delays to the Mildura service, there is a solution. Build a new track from Swan Hill. That would use the current structure, and it will ease matters for those who want the overnight Vinelander service (which could take the current route through Ouyen and Donald) for the time being. There is also a chance of the planned direct line from Melbourne to Brisbane could service stations beyond Shepparton to Cobram, and maybe even beyond.

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