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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2025 | |||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||
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 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
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 | |||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||
Fri 28th | 0024 G532 | 0601 VL357 | 1107 G532 | 2112 VL357 | 2329 VL351 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
Thu 27th | 0600 VL353 | 1037 G532 | 1121 VL351 | 2001 VL357 | 2320 VL351 | ||||||||||
Wed 26th | 0600 VL353 | 1518 G532 | 1125 VL351 | 2006 VL353 | 2319 VL351 | ||||||||||
Tue 25th | 0600 VL353 | 1038 G532 | 1153 VL351 | 2002 VL353 | 2318 VL351 | ||||||||||
Mon 24th | 1126 VL351 | 2002 VL353 | 2328 VL351 | ||||||||||||
Sun 23rd | No trains recorded | ||||||||||||||
Sat 22nd | No trains recorded | ||||||||||||||
Fri 21st | 1331 VL360 | 2004 VL353 | |||||||||||||
Thu 20th | 1400 VL357 | 2121 VL353 | |||||||||||||
Wed 19th | 1332 VL360 | 2112 VL353 | |||||||||||||
Tue 18th | 1032 G532 | 1342 VL360 | 1410 VL357 | 0425 G515 | 2110 VL353 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
Mon 17th | 1327 VL360 | 2112 VL353 | |||||||||||||
Sun 16th | 0452 VL353 | 0424 G512 | |||||||||||||
Sat 15th | 0453 VL353 | 1203 VL360 | 1925 VL353 | 2310 VL360 | |||||||||||
Fri 14th | 2052 G532 | 1036 G532 | 1348 VL357 | 2241 VL360 | |||||||||||
Thu 13th | 0601 VL353 | 1136 VL351 | 1348 VL357 | 1958 VL353 | 2025 VL356 | ||||||||||
Wed 12th | 1353 VL357 | 2022 VL356 | 2240 VL351 | ||||||||||||
Tue 11th | 0551 VL353 | 1154 VL351 | 1345 VL356 | 1959 VL353 | 2021 VL356 | ||||||||||
Mon 10th | 0409 VL353 | 1134 VL351 | 1932 VL353 | 2252 VL351 | |||||||||||
Sun 9th | 0416 VL353 | 1207 VL351 | 1927 VL353 | 2240 VL351 | |||||||||||
Sat 8th | 0511 VL353 | 1138 VL351 | 1938 VL353 | 2300 VL351 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
Fri 7th | 0043 G532 | 0600 VL353 | 1208 G532 | 1128 VL351 | 1347 VL356 | 1959 VL353 | 2018 VL357 | 2344 VL351 | |||||||
Thu 6th | 0559 VL353 | 1118 VL351 | 2000 VL353 | 2019 VL357 | 2321 VL351 | ||||||||||
Wed 5th | 0559 VL353 | 1120 VL351 | 1400 VL356 | 1959 VL353 | 2329 VL351 | ||||||||||
Tue 4th | 0601 VL353 | 1127 VL351 | 1413 VL356 | 2336 VL353 | 2039 VL357 | 2336 VL351 | |||||||||
Mon 3rd | 2121 VL353 | 2356 VL351 | |||||||||||||
Sun 2nd | 0302 VL357 | ||||||||||||||
February 2025 | |||||||||||||||
Sat 1st | No trains recorded | ||||||||||||||
Fri 28th | 1023 G532 | 1934 G532 | 1331 VL357 | 1408 VL353 | 2009 VL356 | ||||||||||
Thu 27th | 1330 VL357 | 1942 VL356 | 2008 VL351 | ||||||||||||
Wed 26th | 1349 VL353 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
Tue 25th | 1039 G532 | 1330 VL351 | 2001 VL356 | ||||||||||||
Mon 24th | 1311 VL351 | ||||||||||||||
Sun 23rd | No trains recorded | ||||||||||||||
Sat 22nd | No trains recorded | ||||||||||||||
Fri 21st | 0028 G532 | 0353 VL356 | 1047 G532 | 1349 VL360 | |||||||||||
Thu 20th | 0552 VL356 | 1139 VL351 | 2002 VL356 | 2258 VL351 | |||||||||||
Wed 19th | 0550 VL357 | 1922 VL356 | 2226 VL351 | ||||||||||||
Tue 18th | 0600 VL357 | 1200 VL356 | 1959 VL357 | 2321 VL356 | |||||||||||
Mon 17th | 0553 VL357 | 1326 VL351 | 2001 VL357 | 2224 VL351 | |||||||||||
Sun 16th | 0252 VL357 | 2235 VL351 | Date | 9550 | 9348 | 9552 | 9571 | 9343 | 9553 | 9557 | 9476 | 9572 | 9559 | 9556 | 9475 | 9558 | 9555 | 7088 |
Sat 15th | 0542 VL357 | 1122 VL351 | 1933 VL357 | 2215 VL351 |
November 28th, 2019 - 08:27
Great Work Steven. Would it be possible to include the HCMT transfers as well?
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
November 28th, 2019 - 08:49
Ok Thanks. Would be great to know when they are coming through!!
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!
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
April 2nd, 2020 - 23:30
Ah ha… of course. No point having incorrect information!
April 2nd, 2020 - 19:08
Hello Steven
Thank you for adding the HCMT transfer data into the table!!
Royden
November 28th, 2019 - 09:13
Hello Steven,
Can i ask how you receive this data for these trains?
Thanks
Royden
December 2nd, 2019 - 14:13
A mixture of sightings from Facebook and other locations.
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
August 13th, 2020 - 17:11
chicane,
Very happy to help!