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
May 2025
Thu 29th		0440 G512	0547 G532		1043 G512	1126 VL356
Wed 28th		0417 G512	0553 G532		1043 G512	1125 VL360		1349 VL353			2003 G532			2330 VL360
Tue 27th		0425 G512	0553 G532		1041 G512	1133 VL360							2113 G532	2343 VL360
Mon 26th					1041 G512			1400 VL353				0333 VL351		2330 VL360
Sun 25th												0341 VL351
Sat 24th	No trains recorded
Fri 23rd								1349 G532
Thu 22nd					1038 G512			1459 VL357
Wed 21st					1049 G512			1349 VL357				0348 VL351
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Tue 20th					1040 G532		1322 G515	1350 VL357				0410 VL351
Mon 19th							1340 VL356	1528 VL357				0332 VL351
Sun 18th	No trains recorded
Sat 17th	No trains recorded
Fri 16th			0557 VL353			1117 VL356		1359 VL357				2112 VL351
Thu 15th		0015 G532	0610 VL353		1039 G532	1147 VL356					2001 VL353			2300 VL356
Wed 14th			0551 VL353			1151 VL356		1349 VL357			2010 VL353			2308 VL356
Tue 13th		0019 G532	0531 VL353		1041 G532	1108 VL356					2002 VL353			2325 VL356
Mon 12th			0554 VL353		1039 G532	1122 VL356		1349 VL357			2326 VL353	0407 VL351		2325 VL356
Sun 11th			0554 VL353			1152 VL356					1927 VL353			2326 VL356
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sat 10th		2251 G532												2313 VL356
Fri 9th		0021 G512	0549 VL353		1040 G512	1158 VL356		1344 VL357			1909 VL353	2021 VL351
Thu 8th			0655 VL353				1350 VL356	1417 VL357				2039 VL351	2112 VL353	2334 VL356
Wed 7th			0629 VL353			1130 VL356		1451 VL357			1959 VL353	2153 VL351		2344 VL356
Tue 6th			0604 VL353			1135 VL356		1437 G515			2001 VL353	2157 VL351		2337 VL356
Mon 5th						1153 VL356		1358 G515			2016 VL353	2109 VL360		2344 VL356
Sun 4th	No trains recorded
Sat 3rd								1340 G515				2024 VL360
Fri 2nd		2005 G532	0605 VL357		1040 G532	1140 VL356		1349 G515			2002 VL357	2105 VL360
Thu 1st		0922 G532	0600 VL357		1441 G532	1126 VL356		1358 G515			2003 VL357	2046 VL360		2344 VL356
April 2025
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Wed 30th		0026 G532	0550 VL357		1039 G532	1133 VL356					2005 VL357	2019 VL360		2332 VL356
Tue 29th		0020 G532	0550 VL357		1119 G532	1200 VL356		1347 G515			2005 VL357			2313 VL356
Mon 28th			0601 VL357			1110 VL351		1412 G512			2006 VL357	2036 VL360		2329 VL351
Sun 27th			0602 VL357			1210 VL360					1927 VL357			2347 VL351
Sat 26th			0624 VL357			1155 VL351					1928 VL357			2342 VL351
Fri 25th			0620 VL357			1131 VL351		1509 G515			1920 VL357	1941 VL356		2343 VL351
Thu 24th			0600 VL357			1129 VL351					1949 VL357			2331 VL351
Wed 23rd					1036 G512			1347 G515				0340 VL360		2319 VL351
Tue 22nd			0602 VL357					1424 G515				0407 VL360
Mon 21st											1923 VL357			2337 VL351
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Sun 20th	No trains recorded
Sat 19th	No trains recorded
Fri 18th												0550 VL360
Thu 17th						1304 VL351							2111 VL357
Wed 16th						1156 VL351		1350 G515			2005 VL357
Tue 15th							1310 VL351				2005 VL357
Mon 14th			0559 VL357			1135 VL351					2000 VL357
Sun 13th			0615 VL357			1148 VL351					1932 VL357			2350 VL351
Sat 12th														2335 VL351
Fri 11th			0601 VL353			1127 VL351		1351 G515			2000 VL353	2031 VL360
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Thu 10th			0559 VL353			1111 VL351		1401 G515			2004 VL353	2105 VL360		2325 VL351
Wed 9th			0559 VL353				1340 VL351					0410 VL360	2121 VL353	2343 VL351
Tue 8th			0551 VL353			1108 VL351		1347 G515			2014 VL353	2031 VL360		2323 VL351
Mon 7th			0509 VL353					1423 G515			2003 VL353	2032 VL360		2319 VL351
Sun 6th														2315 VL351
Sat 5th	No trains recorded
Fri 4th		1041 G512	0527 VL357			1117 VL351		1349 G515			2051 VL357	2120 VL360
Thu 3rd		1022 G512	0553 VL357			1106 VL351					2004 VL357			2325 VL351
Wed 2nd		0019 G512	0554 G515		1039 G512	1155 VL351					2121 VL357	2143 VL360		2341 VL351
Tue 1st			0552 VL357			1207 VL351		1347 G515			2000 VL357			2331 VL360
March 2025
Date	9550	9348	9552	9571	9343	9553	9557	9476	9572	9559	9556	9475	9558	9555	7088
Mon 31st			0602 VL357			1216 VL351		1347 G515			2005 VL357	2032 VL360		2334 VL351
Sun 30th			0410 VL357			1140 VL351					1843 VL357	0332 VL360		2255 VL351
Sat 29th			0444 VL357			1127 VL351					1929 VL357			2310 VL351

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 )