A quick one, something I edited out of the recent post about the Melton line hybrid (bi-mode) train proposal: peak capacity on RRL.
Currently the Ballarat and Geelong lines merge just west of Deer Park, where they run to Sunshine, joined there by trains from Bendigo (though these don’t actually stop at Sunshine station).
From there, these three lines reach the city via the V/Line Regional Rail Link tracks from Sunshine into Southern Cross (shown in purple above).
So how full are the RRL tracks? Here’s how the timetable looks in peak hour inbound:
| From line | GLG | BGO | GLG* | GLG | BAL* | BAL | GLG | BGO | GLG* | GLG | BAL* | BAL | GLG | BGO | GLG* | GLG | BGO | BAL* | BAL |
| Sunshine | 7:31 | 7:37 | 7:40 | 7:43 | 7:47 | 7:50 | 7:56 | 7:59 | 8:02 | 8:07 | 8:16 | 8:20 | 8:26 | 8:30 | |||||
| Footscray | 7:37 | 7:40 | 7:43 | 7:46 | 7:49 | 7:53 | 7:56 | 7:59 | 8:02 | 8:05 | 8:08 | 8:13 | 8:16 | 8:19 | 8:22 | 8:26 | 8:29 | 8:32 | 8:36 |
| Southern Cross | 7:47 | 7:50 | 7:53 | 7:56 | 7:59 | 8:03 | 8:06 | 8:09 | 8:12 | 8:15 | 8:18 | 8:23 | 8:26 | 8:29 | 8:32 | 8:36 | 8:39 | 8:42 | 8:46 |
| Gap mins | 0:04 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:04 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:05 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:04 | 0:03 | 0:03 | 0:04 |
- GLG=from Geelong line (blue)
- BGO=from Bendigo (green)
- BAL=from Ballarat (orange)
- *Short run service from Wyndham Vale, Bacchus Marsh, Melton
So… mostly a train every three minutes, meaning the RRL tracks are pretty full in peak.
There’s also some careful skip-stop timetabling on the Ballarat line where some trains stop at Rockbank and Ardeer, and others stop at Caroline Springs and Deer Park, to help balance loads and make the most out of the track capacity.
Similarly in peak, the busy Tarneit and new West Tarneit stations are only served by short run services starting at Wyndham Vale.
Pretty full tracks is why to add capacity in the short term, the focus has been on longer/higher capacity trains, with the medium term plan (frustratingly delayed) being Melton electrification: a combination of higher capacity trains, running on the suburban tracks instead, and track expansion between Sunshine and at least Deer Park west.
Other options might include upgraded signalling (though this would likely mean also upgrading the entire V/Line train fleet) – but ultimately, Melton (and Tarneit/Wyndham Vale) are part of suburban Melbourne, and really need a suburban train service.
The sooner it happens, the better.
7 replies on “How full is RRL?”
Why shouldn’t we consider double deck trains for regional services that already board through two doors per carriage?
Sure it might mean a return to loco hauled sets, but separating the engine(s) from the carriages will provide greater flexibility if electrification is on the cards.
The 3 minute frequency on RRL was achieved when they were still using loco hauled trains and the H set carriages (of which were speed-restricted to 100km/h).
Now they are using almost exclusively Vlocity sets, could you squeeze in a few more services in those 5 min gaps? It would require careful timetabling at the Deer Park West junction however.
Boarding/alighting times also remain an issue with the narrow doorways not suited to peak ‘suburban’ loadings.
Medium term, running Melton trains via the Metro Tunnel seems feasible on a 10 min cycle – Sunbury, Airport, Watergardens, Melton (& repeat) all about 2.5 mins apart, using CBTC.
This leaves Wyndham Vale trains to run direct to Southern Cross, with a 10 min peak service becoming possible on the RRL pair without the Melton (Bacchus Marsh) locals.
Wyndham Vale already runs 9 car services in the peaks (more extended last month in anticipation of West Tarneit demand) and Melton will be next year (especially now the new elevated station has opened) – and if they go down the Libs route of running them via the City Loop, they would be restricted to 6 or 7-car operation due to the platform length.
This was one of the yet-to-be-realised benefits of the Metro Tunnel – platforms built for 10 car operation in the future.
The merge of the services west of Sunshine would however be a capacity problem without the proposed quaduplication going ahead though (which also helps Melton trains avoid the flat junction conflicts) and it assumes the bi-mode trains will actually be feasible in the Metro Tunnel.
Note the Sunshine Superhub *does not* include a proposed second track pair from Sunshine to Deer Park West, despite being in some project diagrams/animations. See – https://x.com/craig_halsall/status/2094994363919331791
Also re: Deer Park West Junction & RRL capacity – in the counter-peak direction there are several empty car movements to/from the stabling at Wyndham Vale or trains returning for second runs.
Especially of note in the afternoons where these potentially conflict with down Ballarat Line services.
RRL becoming the rail equivalent of “just one more lane, bro” – a good intermediate step at the time but not the final soultion to the booming population in the outer west, Geelong and Ballarat.
> in the counter-peak direction there are several empty car movements
And they do these empty car transfers while dropping counter peak service frequency to every 40 minutes. Great if you want to head in to the city after work. If you miss a train you can get to the city before the next one by driving
If we’re to meet the needs of a fast growing west Melbourne we’re going to need to separate out the regional VLine trains from the Wyndham Vale and Melton services, most of the corridor has room for this, but becomes very constrained for space in the Footscray area, maybe the under utilised standard gauge line though Footscray could be made dual gauge for Vline services, although would mean regional VLine trains no longer stoping at Footscray.
@Shayne – “maybe the under utilised standard gauge line though Footscray could be made dual gauge for Vline services”
15 years ago that was exactly what Paul Mees suggested instead of building Regional Rail Link – good thing we didn’t try that!
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rail-plan-with-at-least-one-obstacle-footscray-20100506-ugz1.html
This is where I think Melbourne Metro 2 (MM2) can help. Obviously that’s going to carry the Werribee line, but that still leaves plenty of capacity. Imagine building a broad gauge connection between MM2 at Newport, and the existing network at Sunshine, utilising the existing and quite wide standard-gauge corridor. You could then run, say, Airport, Sunbury and Melton via MM1, and have Wyndham Vale join Werribee in MM2. Or it might be easier to run both Melton and Wyndham Vale through to MM2. I know there’d be logistical challenges to work through re junctions at Sunshine and Newport, but it would be relatively minor compared with finding another path through Footscray.