Rail transport in Victoria

Railways of Victoria

Victorian railway network, passenger lines in colour, freight only lines in grey
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Dates of operation	1854–
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard, some 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) and 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge
Length	1712 km passenger, 4129 km total.

Rail transport in Victoria, Australia, is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. Victorian lines use 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge, with the exception of a number of standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) freight and interstate lines, a few experimental 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge lines, and various private logging, mining and industrial railways.

Railways were privately owned and operated, until the Colonial Government established the vertically integrated Victorian Railways in 1883. This remained until corporatisation occurred in the 1980s, followed by privatisation in the 1990s. Passenger services today are operated by Metro Trains Melbourne in suburban Melbourne with electric multiple units, and V/Line in regional Victoria with diesel trains. Freight services are operated by Aurizon (interstate), Pacific National and SCT Logistics (interstate and intrastate), and Qube Logistics and TransVolution (intrastate).

The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project. The rail network reached a peak in 1942 but steadily declined, as branch and cross country lines were closed until the 1980s.