Melbourne Broad Gauge Freight Trains

Below is a listing of trains sighted taking the viaduct between Southern Cross Station and Flinders Street Station. Trains, as they pass through this area, will (where possible) be recorded in the table below. The times indicate when they pass through, not when they arrive. Sometimes the trains sit in this area waiting for a path in either direction!

Service	Frequency	Description
9343/9348 QUBE Apex Gravel Service	Tue - Fri	Runs from Kilmore East Quarry to Westall Cement Plant. Usually around midnight on the down and then a 10am up through South Yarra/Richmond/Flinders St. Note that if the morning time is around 4am then it's actually the 9350 service... but I've put them both in the same column.
9571/9572 QUBE Cement Service	Mon & Thu/Fri	Runs from Tottenham(?) to Dandenong. New Service. Very random runner... sometimes mondays instead of tuesdays and sometimes fridays instead of thursdays.
9475/9476 QUBE Maryvale Paper Train	Daily	Runs from Appleton Dock to the Maryvale Paper Plant. Takes paper to be recycled out to plant and returns empty? Heads out at 8pm at night and returns around 2pm the next day. Every so often you'll find the train heading out at around 4am in the morning. This is actually the 9473 service, but I've put it in the same column as the evening down. Note that it means it actually ran the next morning!
955* PacNat Long Island Steel Train	Daily (excl Friday)	Runs from the northernmost road of South Dynon to the Long Island Steel Plant in Frankston. The midday runner 9553 usually DOES NOT run on Fridays unless there's a weekend shutdown and they need to shift more steel beforehand. 9557 (1pm) and 9559 (7pm) are also only as-required! The actual service pairing is as follows: 9555-9552, 9553-9556, 9557-9558, 9559-9550
708, 9*2 Possible Metro Train Transfer	Totally Ad-Hoc	Currently serviced by SSR, this might be the HCMT Metro Train Transfer path from Newport to Pakenham. It's totally random and the train running this path may not actually be a transfer! Please note that I've merged services 7080, 7082, 7084, 7086 and 7088, 9502, 9902 into once cell. Spoil trains and driver training runs will also fall into this path.

2022 NOTE: QUBE has taken over the PacNat Steel Services.. the numbers have changed. They've been piped into the PacNat slots and are showing below. Once they've stabilised, I'll explain them further.

Please note that this is an automated service based on sightings from another location. It wont be 100% foolproof but, with careful consideration of the numbers and days, one should be able to get a good idea as to what is visible and when. Also note that services might show up out-of-order. For example, the Apex gravel ran in a much later slot on 30/31st January 2020.

Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
November 2026
Sun 1st			0609 G524
October 2026
Sat 31st											2329 G526			2330 G524
Fri 30th	No trains recorded
Thu 29th	No trains recorded
Wed 28th	No trains recorded
Tue 27th	No trains recorded
Mon 26th	No trains recorded
Sun 25th	No trains recorded
Sat 24th			0616 G524			1224 G524
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Fri 23rd							1343 G524				1935 VL353			2340 G524
Thu 22nd			0552 G532					1451 VL351			2107 G532
Wed 21st						1205 G515		1454 VL351			1933 G532			2331 G515
Tue 20th			0603 G532			1127 G515		1452 VL351			1922 G532
Mon 19th			0554 G532			1147 G515		1541 G512			1924 G532	2018 G512		2312 G515
Sun 18th			0507 G532			1116 VL351		1442 G526			1933 G532	2253 G512		2327 VL351
Sat 17th								1447 G512				1957 G512		2315 VL351
Fri 16th			0615 G532			1132 VL351		1446 G512			1927 G532	2006 G512		2311 VL351
Thu 15th			0554 G532			1149 VL351		1446 G512			1928 G532	2109 G512		2331 VL351
Wed 14th			0555 G532								1921 G532
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Tue 13th			0554 G524					1459 G512			1851 G532	0327 G512		2242 VL351
Mon 12th			0552 VL357			1114 VL353					1845 VL357			2323 VL351
Sun 11th			0527 VL357			1145 VL353					1731 VL357			2344 VL353
Sat 10th			0611 VL357			1130 VL353								2318 VL353
Fri 9th			0534 VL357			1148 VL353		1452 G512			1934 VL357	2006 G512		2249 VL353
Thu 8th							1348 G532	1457 G512				2030 G512	2121 VL357	2319 VL353
Wed 7th								1451 G512			1923 VL357	2024 G512
Tue 6th							1329 VL353	1450 G538			1947 VL357	2026 G512
Mon 5th			0552 VL357								1905 VL357	2037 G538
Sun 4th			0442 VL357			1206 G515					1931 VL357			2327 VL351
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sat 3rd			0415 VL357			1137 G515					1939 VL357			2233 G515
Fri 2nd			0553 VL357			1159 G515		1508 G538			1943 VL357	2035 G538		2255 G515
Thu 1st			0555 VL357			1146 G515					1935 VL357	2117 G538		2327 G515
September 2026
Wed 30th			0553 VL357			1152 G515		1506 G538			2001 VL357	2032 G538		2328 G515
Tue 29th			0553 VL357			1130 G515		1458 G538			2018 VL357	2009 VL353		2308 G515
Mon 28th			0553 VL357			1143 G515		1513 G538			1924 VL357	2031 VL353		2302 G515
Sun 27th						1156 G515					1932 VL357			2319 G515
Sat 26th			0505 VL357			1137 G515					2006 VL357
Fri 25th			0603 VL357			1113 G515					2257 VL357			2256 G515
Thu 24th			0550 VL357			1132 G515		1453 G538			1930 VL357	2016 VL353		2323 G515
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Wed 23rd			0550 G515				1322 G515	1452 VL353				2058 VL353	2134 VL357	0001 G515
Tue 22nd			0547 G524				1332 G532	1451 VL353			2311 G515	2055 G538		2311 G532
Mon 21st								1452 VL353			1855 G524	2029 G538		2310 G532
Sun 20th			0536 G532			1148 G524					1932 G532			2341 G532
Sat 19th			0541 G532			1148 G524					1953 G532			2340 G524
Fri 18th			0602 G532				1327 G524	1441 VL353			2319 G532	2059 G538		2318 G524
Thu 17th			0551 VL357				1329 G524	1451 VL353			1925 G524	2010 G538		2318 G524
Wed 16th			0551 VL357			1115 G524					2347 VL357			2348 G524
Tue 15th			0239 VL357			1147 G524		1449 VL353			1926 VL357	2022 G538		2237 G524
Mon 14th			0251 VL357			1106 G524		1452 VL353			2217 VL357	2115 G538		0239 G524
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sun 13th			0504 VL357			1133 G524
Sat 12th			0459 VL357								1746 VL357			2309 G524
Fri 11th			0553 VL357				1342 G524	1453 G538				2018 G538	2121 VL357	2318 G524
Thu 10th							1336 G524	1444 VL353				2032 G538	2122 VL357	2340 G524
Wed 9th											1934 VL357
Tue 8th							1308 G524	1447 VL353			1924 VL357	0343 G538
Mon 7th												0413 G538

Comments (11) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

Royden
November 28th, 2019 - 08:27

Great Work Steven. Would it be possible to include the HCMT transfers as well?

( REPLY )
- stevenh
  November 28th, 2019 - 08:43
  
  Morning,
  Very good question. Due to the infrequency, there wont be much data… but I can try keep an eye out for them.
  Steven
  
  ( REPLY )
  - Royden
    November 28th, 2019 - 08:49
    
    Ok Thanks. Would be great to know when they are coming through!!
    
    ( REPLY )
    - stevenh
      April 2nd, 2020 - 08:28
      
      I’ve added, based on the historical data, what I think are the transfers.
      I just missed one last night!
      
      ( REPLY )
      - Royden
        April 2nd, 2020 - 18:54
        
        Hello Steven
        Thank you for including this data into the table!!
        Would it be possible to change the destination on the possible metro transfers to include Pakenham as well, just to get the correct information.
        Thanks
        Royden
        
        ( REPLY )
        
        stevenh
        April 2nd, 2020 - 23:30
        
        Ah ha… of course. No point having incorrect information!
        
        ( REPLY )
      - Royden
        April 2nd, 2020 - 19:08
        
        Hello Steven
        Thank you for adding the HCMT transfer data into the table!!
        Royden
        
        ( REPLY )
Royden
November 28th, 2019 - 09:13

Hello Steven,
Can i ask how you receive this data for these trains?
Thanks
Royden

( REPLY )
- stevenh
  December 2nd, 2019 - 14:13
  
  A mixture of sightings from Facebook and other locations.
  
  ( REPLY )
chicane
August 13th, 2020 - 15:14

Great site and record of freight trains, i live near Richmond Station and you have demystified the freight train movements i hear at various times during the day. Cheers

( REPLY )
- stevenh
  August 13th, 2020 - 17:11
  
  chicane,
  Very happy to help!
  
  ( REPLY )