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
July 2026
Thu 9th						1130 VL357					1931 VL356
Wed 8th			0552 VL356
Tue 7th			0423 VL356			1142 VL357		1453 G526			1926 VL356	2026 G515		2330 VL357
Mon 6th			0425 VL356			1140 G515		1445 G512			1923 VL356	2021 G526		2238 G515
Sun 5th			0442 VL356			1228 G515					1946 VL356			2239 G515
Sat 4th			0443 VL356			1126 G515					1935 VL356			2242 G515
Fri 3rd			0512 VL356			1201 G515		1451 G512			1926 VL356	2019 G526		2253 G515
Thu 2nd						1127 G515		1452 VL353			1925 VL356	2059 G526		2333 G515
Wed 1st		2037 G515	0552 VL356			1121 G515		1452 VL353			1934 G532	2036 VL357
June 2026
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Tue 30th			0551 VL356			1141 VL351		1538 VL353			1932 VL356	2020 VL357		2320 VL351
Mon 29th						1103 VL351					1933 VL356	2022 VL357		2308 VL351
Sun 28th	No trains recorded
Sat 27th	No trains recorded
Fri 26th		0021 G515			1029 G515		1308 VL351	1451 G526			1930 VL353
Thu 25th							1348 VL351	1419 G526			1932 VL353	2006 VL357
Wed 24th					1033 G515		1339 VL351	1454 G526				2020 VL357
Tue 23rd						1112 VL351	1355 VL351	1453 VL356			1924 VL353	2054 VL357
Mon 22nd								1450 VL356			1930 VL353	2046 VL357
Sun 21st			0559 VL353			1202 VL351					1938 VL353			0003 VL351
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sat 20th			0619 VL353			1129 VL351					1745 VL353			2336 VL351
Fri 19th		0004 G515	0553 VL353		1033 G515	1240 VL351		1452 VL356			1931 VL353	2007 VL357		2227 VL351
Thu 18th							1341 VL351	1456 G526				2008 VL357	2137 VL353	2321 VL351
Wed 17th		0016 G515			1030 VL357		1339 VL351	1452 G526			1925 VL353	0300 G526
Tue 16th							1313 VL351	1450 G526			1940 VL353	0326 G526
Mon 15th						1129 VL351		1605 VL356			1931 VL353	0311 G526
Sun 14th	No trains recorded
Sat 13th	No trains recorded
Fri 12th		2348 G515	0552 VL357		1031 G515	1126 G512		1452 VL356			1934 VL357	2031 G526
Thu 11th						1123 G512		1446 VL356			1930 VL357	2028 G526		2308 G512
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Wed 10th											1936 VL357
Tue 9th			0553 VL353		1035 G515	1145 VL351		1453 VL356			1932 VL353	0322 G526
Mon 8th			0546 VL357			1218 VL351					1932 VL353			2307 VL351
Sun 7th			0502 VL357			1135 G512					1937 VL357			2338 G512
Sat 6th		0000 G512	0532 VL353			1213 VL351					1930 VL353	2022 G526		2301 G512
Fri 5th			0553 VL353			1129 VL351		1450 G526			1931 VL353			2321 VL351
Thu 4th			0553 VL353			1119 VL351		1450 G526			1913 VL353	2019 G526		2306 VL351
Wed 3rd			0554 VL353			1150 VL351					1932 VL353			2332 VL351
Tue 2nd			0557 G515					1353 VL353			1924 G515	0311 G526		2335 VL351
Mon 1st						1142 G515		1428 VL353			2003 G515	0345 VL351		2346 G515
May 2026
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sun 31st	No trains recorded
Sat 30th	No trains recorded
Fri 29th		0024 G512	0553 VL356		1052 G512	1127 VL360		1449 VL353			1938 VL356	2016 VL351
Thu 28th			0349 VL356					1451 VL353			1922 VL356	2027 G515		2335 VL360
Wed 27th			0552 VL356			1121 VL360					1925 VL356			2305 VL360
Tue 26th			0452 VL356		1030 G512	1127 VL360		1442 VL353			1925 VL356	0412 G515		2333 VL360
Mon 25th			0558 VL356			1151 VL360		1451 VL353			2326 VL356	0346 G515		2325 VL360
Sun 24th			0608 VL356								1930 VL356			2321 VL360
Sat 23rd			0517 VL356			1205 VL360		1648 VL353			1932 VL356			2335 VL360
Fri 22nd			0545 VL356			1152 VL360		1452 VL353			2036 VL356	2050 G515		2331 VL360
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Thu 21st						1128 VL360		1402 VL353			1923 VL356	2016 G515		2319 VL360
Wed 20th					1042 G512			1448 VL353				0437 G515
Tue 19th								1452 VL353				0336 VL360
Mon 18th								1454 VL353				0328 VL360
Sun 17th	No trains recorded
Sat 16th	No trains recorded
Fri 15th								1418 VL353				2105 G526
Thu 14th								1454 G526				2009 G526
Wed 13th		2251 G515			1030 G515			1448 VL360				2123 VL351
Tue 12th								1444 G526				2038 G526
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Mon 11th								1501 VL360				2016 G526
Sun 10th	No trains recorded
Sat 9th								1451 VL360				2048 G526

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 )