Ballarat North Workshops
Encyclopedia
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
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...
. They are located in the suburb of North Ballarat on Creswick Road, and occupy 5.5 hectares of land beside the junction of the Mildura and Serviceton railway lines.
History
The workshops were opened in April 1917 by the main rail operator in Victoria, the Victorian RailwaysVictorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...
. They were opened in response to political pressures from provincial groups for decentralisation, with the Victorian Railways preferring the cheaper option of expanding the existing Newport Workshops in suburban Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. The main work carried out was repairs and maintenance of existing wagons and locomotives, however, but from 1919-22 a small number of new 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 built. By the 1960s goods wagons were also being built, and by the 1980s work was also being carried out on Melbourne suburban electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
s.
The 1980s were also a time of restructuring, with run down facilities replaced and modernised, but a large number of the 540 employees were made redundant. With the breakup of the Victorian Railways the workshops passed to the State Transport Authority
State Transport Authority (Victoria)
The State Transport Authority was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body which operated country passenger and freight trains in Victoria, Australia. It was established under the Transport Act 1983, succeeding the Victorian Railways...
and then the Public Transport Corporation
Public Transport Corporation
The Public Transport Corporation was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services in Victoria, Australia....
. With privatisation the workshops were sold to Alstom Australia
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
in 1999 for $7 million. In 2005 Alstom sold their Australian operations to United Group
United Group
UGL Limited is an engineering and property services company. The company provides construction, maintenance and asset management services to the rail, resources and infrastructure sectors and corporate real estate, facilities management and business process outsourcing services to property users...
, including the workshops at Ballarat.
Operations
Railways in Melbourne
The Melbourne rail network is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under franchise from the Government of Victoria. The network is based on a commuter rail model centred on the Melbourne Central Business District and Flinders Street Station, rather than a rapid transit model, with a focus on...
and tram
Trams in Melbourne
The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
networks, 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...
Passenger, Freight Australia
Freight Australia
Freight Australia was a railway company in Australia. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in the state of Victoria, later expanding into freight haulage in other states. Freight Australia was taken over by Pacific National in...
and Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia.
Recent work include the work on suburban trains for Connex Melbourne
Connex Melbourne
Connex Melbourne was a wholly owned subsidiary of French company Veolia Environnement, which had a franchise from the State Government of Victoria to operate all suburban passenger rail services in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In August 2007, Connex's contract was extended to 30 November 2009....
, including the refurbishment of Comeng and Hitachi
Hitachi (train)
Hitachi is the name given for one of a set of electric multiple unit trains that operate on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Australia. Introduced to service in 1972, the trains are the oldest in the city's suburban fleet still in revenue service...
trains, as well as the fitout of new Alstom X'Trapolis 100
X'Trapolis 100
The X'Trapolis 100 is a single deck electric passenger train, one of Alstom's X'Trapolis family of trains, used in Melbourne, Australia and Valparaiso, Chile.-First order:...
trains inported from France. It has also fitted Train Protection & Warning System equipment to the 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...
fleet, and constructed 61 new 100-tonne bulk grain hoppers for Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia.