Summary
Ballarat North Workshops is a railway engineering facility owned by Alstom in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It occupies 5.5 hectares of land beside the junction of the Mildura and Serviceton railway lines.
| Ballarat North Workshops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Built | April 1917 |
| Location | Creswick Road, Ballarat, Australia |
| Products | Trains |
| Area | 5.5 hectares |
| Owner(s) | Alstom |
History edit
The workshops were opened in April 1917 by the Victorian Railways. It opened in response to political pressures from provincial groups for decentralisation, with the Victorian Railways preferring the cheaper option of expanding the existing Newport Workshops in suburban Melbourne.[1] The main work carried out was repairs and maintenance of existing wagons and locomotives, but from 1919-22 thirteen new steam locomotives were also built - eight DD class (1038 - 1042, 1050 - 1052) and five A2 class (1073 - 1077) steam locomotives were also built.[2] By the 1960s goods wagons were also being built, and by the 1980s work was also being carried out on Melbourne suburban electric multiple units.[3]
The 1980s were also a time of restructuring, with run down facilities replaced and modernised, but a large number of the 540 employees were made redundant.[4] With the breakup of the Victorian Railways the workshops passed to the State Transport Authority and then the Public Transport Corporation. With privatisation the workshops were sold to Alstom in 1999.[3][5][6]
In 2005, Alstom sold its Australian and New Zealand operations to United Group (and its subsidiary UGL Rail) which included a lease on the workshops.[7] After UGL’s lease concluded in 2012, Alstom re-occupied the site.[8][9]
Operations edit
The workshops provide maintenance services to a number of Victorian Railway operators and employ 150 staff. Work includes manufacturing, reconditioning and component overhaul work for Melbourne's train and tram networks, V/Line, Pacific National and Rail First Asset Management.[10]
Some of work undertaken that the workshops had included refurbishment of Comeng and Hitachi trains for Connex Melbourne.[11][12] It had also fitted Train Protection & Warning System equipment to the V/Line fleet,[13] and constructed 61 new 100-tonne bulk grain hoppers for Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia.[14] The fitout of X'Trapolis 100 imported from France were also undertaken at Ballarat, as well as the manufacturing of the successor X'Trapolis 2.0 trains from 2024.[15][16]
Alstom has a separate site in Ballarat East inherited from Bombardier Transportation, which will be one of Alstom's sites to maintain the V/Line's VLocity and classic train fleets for ten years.[17]
References edit
- ^ Lee, Robert (2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004. Melbourne University Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2.
- ^ Victorian Railways: Country Workshops Museum Victoria
- ^ a b Alstom at Ballarat Wins $150 Million Train Fit-Out Contract Transit Australia December 2003 pages 327-331
- ^ Electrical Trade Union ETU News April 2005 page 24
- ^ Alstom acquires two companies specialised in railway maintenance in Australia Alstom 21 November 1999
- ^ Ballarat workshops enter second century of train-making Track & Signal issue 21/4 November 2017 pages 50/51
- ^ "Alstom signs agreement with United Group for sale of Australia & New Zealand transport business". Alstom. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- ^ "UGL'S Ballarat Operations - a New Beginning with the use of Asset Management Principles". UGL. November 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Alstom in Australia and New Zealand". Alstom. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Future of 150 jobs remains in limbo The Courier 11 July 2004
- ^ New and refurbished trains and trams Department of Infrastructure
- ^ Ballarat North Workshops Newsrail September 2000 page 264
- ^ Ballarat wins major train safety contract Department of Premier & Cabinet 28 July 2005
- ^ Know the boss Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union
- ^ Alstom at Ballarat Wins $150 Million Train Fit-Out Contract Newsrail October 2001 page 300
- ^ Alstom to provide smarter and more efficient X'trapolis trains for Melbourne Alstom 29 September 2021
- ^ "Alstom wins a contract worth around 900 million euro to maintain VLocity and Classic fleet for the next decade in Victoria, Australia". Alstom. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
37°32′46″S 143°51′07″E / 37.5461°S 143.8520°E