The Warrnambool line is a long-distance regional rail service in Victoria, Australia. Operated by V/Line, it is the state's fourth longest railway line at . The line runs from Southern Cross station in central Melbourne to Warrnambool station in the south-west, serving 21 stations via Wyndham Vale, Geelong, Waurn Ponds, and Colac. The line has five return services each weekday and four return services on weekends. Trains on the Warrnambool service run with three-car Vlocity units.
The service was taken over by V/Line after the closure of West Coast Railway in 2004. The track that the service operates on was originally built to connect Melbourne with the rural towns of Geelong, Colac, Warrnambool, and Port Fairy, amongst others. Sections of the Port Fairy line opened as early as 1857, with the line fully extended to Warrnambool in February 1890. A section of the line between Warrnambool and Port Fairy was closed in 1977 due to limited demand. Today V/Line only operates as far as Warrnambool.
Since the 2010s, there have been a number of upgrades to the line to improve the speed, accessibility and frequency of the service, including the Regional Rail Link, the Regional Rail Revival, and the planned Geelong Fast Rail project.
History
19th century
The line to Geelong was originally built by the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company and opened on 25 June 1857, with the line being sold to the Victorian Railways in 1860. The line was designed by English engineer Edward Snell, and built as a single track. The line was later extended south-west, to Winchelsea in 1876, Colac in 1877, Camperdown in 1883, Terang in 1877, and finally Warrnambool, Dennington, and Port Fairy in 1890. The line is now closed beyond Warrnambool, with the last train leaving Port Fairy in September 1977.
20th century
In the early 20th century, a similar service named "The Flyer" was introduced as an extension of the Geelong Flier to Port Fairy. The service shaved 90 minutes off the whole journey, compared with the schedule of its predecessors. This service was operated by the longer-distance E-class carriages and lasted until about 1967.
Whilst the track beyond Waurn Ponds station is mostly single with some passing loops, many duplication projects have occurred along the Geelong section of the line. The section from North Geelong to Geelong was duplicated late April 1922. 37 years later in 1959, the section of track from Corio to North Geelong was duplicated. In 1979 the track from Werribee to Little River was duplicated and the sections from Little River to Lara and Lara to Corio in 1981. The Regional Rail Revival project will duplicate the track from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds in late 2024.
In September 1977, the line beyond Warrnambool was closed, with the final service to Port Fairy being hauled by a Victorian Railways B75 locomotive on 12 September.
In the 1980s the Victorian Railways decided to give names to its flagship services, to follow on from the previously named "Vinelander" & "Gippslander", and "The Westcoaster" was born. It had buffet facilities on board and shaved minutes off the journey time
West Coast Railway was formed in 1993 when the Kennett government privatised long-distance country rail services previously run by the government-owned operator V/Line to private operators. Bids were lodged in February 1993 with West Coast Railway being announced as the successful tender on 30 April of the same year."Sprinters launched as V/Line franchises let" Railway Gazette International June 1993 page 367 The initial franchise was for eight years with operations commencing on 19 September 1993.Agreement for the Supply of Passenger Train Services between Warrnambool and Melbourne Victorian Government The service continued using the name "The Westcoaster" until services were returned to V/Line operation and the name fell into disuse.
21st century In August 2001, Connex purchased a 50% shareholding of West Coast Railway. In 2003, Connex sold its shareholding to Australian Public Trustees."Intelligence" Railway Gazette International December 2003 page 763 West Coast Railway continued to operate the line until 2004 when the contract was handed back the government with V/Line resuming operation of the line.Since transfer to V/Line, five new stations have opened on the line: Marshall station in 2004, Sherwood Park station, near Warrnambool, in 2006, Waurn Ponds station in 2014, and Tarneit and Wyndham Vale in 2015.
From 29 January 2017, V/Line started running a fourth service return service on weekdays with Sunday road coach services being replaced by trains. This meant that three Sunday train services ran in both directions instead of two. Following the timetable change in late August 2017, weekday Warrnambool trains no longer serve Wyndham Vale or Tarneit stations. In December 2018, due to a lack of available rolling stock, H carriages were used on the line past Geelong for the first time. H carriages are no longer used on the Warrnambool service.
From 31 March 2023, the cost of V/Line rail tickets were capped to the same fare as metropolitan services, with daily fares being capped at $9.20 or $4.60 for concession. These changes are expected to bring a large rise in patronage, with fears of overcrowding on V/Line services.
Regional Rail Link
Due to an increase in congestion on the Werribee line where Metro and V/Line services have to share tracks, a proposal was created to construct a separate line for regional trains called the "Tarneit Link". The project was expanded and re-branded as the Regional Rail Link when announced as part of the Brumby Government's Victorian Transport Plan in December 2008.Regional Rail Link to Streamline Train Services Premier of Victoria 8 December 2008 The project was revised to separating all regional trains between Southern Cross and Geelong, Ballarat, and Bendigo, from suburban rail movements, with the proposed route beginning at Southern Cross, travelling through Sunshine and Tarneit to West Werribee.
In December 2013, the first section of the upgrade works were completed and the Warrnambool service could no longer stop at North Melbourne station. On 21 June 2015, the Deer Park–West Werribee railway line opened. Consequently, Warrnambool trains began to run via Wyndham Vale and Tarneit stations, rather than via Werribee and Newport stations on the Werribee Line.
Level crossing removals
The Level Crossing Removal Project removed 3 level crossings in the area surrounding Deer Park in 2022 and 2023. The crossing at Robinsons Road was removed by constructing a road tunnel underneath the rail line, with the project being completed in September 2022. Another crossing was removed at Mt Derrimut Road via the construction of an elevated rail bridge. This removal also included a newly elevated Deer Park station, car-parking, and public open space. The final crossing that was removed was the one at Fitzgerald Road in neighbouring suburb of Ardeer. This crossing was removed in April 2022 via the construction of a road bridge over the line. Despite a large number of remaining crossings on the line, there are no more scheduled to be removed by the Level Crossing Removal Project.
Regional Rail Revival
In 2017, the Regional Rail Revival program was announced which included an upgrade to the Warrnambool service. The first stage was aimed at allowing a fifth return service to be introduced and involved:
Signalling upgrades including the construction of trenches, cabling, and additional infrastructure A new 2.2 km crossing loop at Boorcan 12 level crossing upgrades between Waurn Ponds and Warrnambool with boom gates, flashing lights, bells, and more advanced train detection technology
Stage 1 of the upgrade was completed in December 2022 with a fifth weekday return service introduced between Melbourne and Warrnambool. In September 2021, a second stage of upgrades aimed at allowing VLocity trains to operate on the line was announced with a completion date of late 2024. This second stage included:
Upgrades to train detection technology at more than 50 public level crossings Installation of boom gates, bells, and flashing lights at 17 of those crossings The upgrade of stabling facilities at Warrnambool Station Track upgrades to replace old wooden sleepers Following the project's completion, there are now no unprotected public level crossings on the line, with all protected by boom gates and flashing lights. Additionally, following this project's completion, VLocity trains began operation, and after March 2025, VLocity trains ran all services.
Future
Geelong Fast Rail
The Western Rail Plan is a plan that aims to improve the quality of rail services in Melbourne's western suburbs through infrastructure upgrades on a range of metropolitan and regional lines. Geelong Fast Rail was one project identified in the Western Rail Plan as a matter of priority, as it would allow for Geelong and Warrnambool services to travel back via the Werribee line, cutting travel time and allowing electrification of other corridors to occur which are currently being served exclusively by V/Line trains. Phase 1 of Geelong Fast Rail will consist of the following projects aimed at cutting travel times by 15 minutes:
New track between Werribee and Laverton dedicated to regional services Upgrades and widening of bridges over main roads, creeks, and rivers Upgraded stations at Werribee and Laverton Signalling and train control system upgrades
Construction on the project expected to get underway in 2023, with the Australian and Victorian governments committing $2 billion each to the project which is expected to create 2800 new jobs.
Network and operations
Services Since April 2025, the line has five services per day in each direction. All Warrnambool-bound services operate express between Waurn Ponds and Southern Cross, stopping only at Geelong and Footscray, with the exception of one weekday evening service that additionally stop at North Geelong. Four of the five Melbourne-bound services also operate express in a similar manner in the other direction. The fifth and last Melbourne-bound service of the day (in the evening and night) operates all stations along the line, except on weekends when it runs express through and do not stop at Little River.
Train services on the line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle coach services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters.
Stopping patterns Legend — Station status ◼ Premium Station – Station staffed from first to last train ◻ Host Station – Usually staffed during morning peak, however this can vary for different stations on the network.
Legend — Stopping patterns ● – All trains stop ◐ – Some services do not stop ▲ – Only inbound trains stop ▼ – Only outbound trains stop | – Trains pass and do not stop
Warrnambool Services+StationExpressAll stops◼ ● ▲ ◼ ● ▲ ▲ ▲ ◼ ▲ ◼ ▲ ◐ ◻ ▲ ▲ ▲ ◻ ▼ ▲ ◼ ● ▲ ◼ ▲ ◻ ▲ ◼ ● ▲ ◻ ● ▲ ● ▲ ◻ ● ▲ ◻ ● ▲ ● ▲ ● ▲ ◼ ● ▲
On-board amenities
The Warrnambool service is classified by V/Line as a long-distance service. Standard on all V/Line services, toilets and luggage racks are available in addition to other amenities. Quiet carriages are available on all services.
Operators
Prior to V/Line taking back operation of the Warrnambool service from West Coast Railway in 2004, there had been 3 previous operators. The majority of operations on the line have been government run, with these operators including the Victorian Railways, the State Transport Authority, and the Public Transport Corporation.