Ballarat North Workshops

Ballarat North Workshops is a railway engineering facility in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It occupies 5.5 hectares of land beside the junction of the Mildura and Serviceton railway lines.

Ballarat North Workshops
BuiltApril 1917
LocationCreswick Road, Ballarat, Australia
ProductsTrains
Area5.5 hectares
Owner(s)Alstom

History
Exterior of the workshops
The turning and fitting shop, circa 1922
Locomotive under construction in the erecting shop, circa 1922

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, but leased the workshops at Ballarat to United Group.[7]

Operations

Today 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.[8]

More recent work has included refurbishment of Comeng and Hitachi trains for Connex Melbourne, as well as the fitout of X'Trapolis 100 and X'Trapolis 2.0 trains imported from France.[9][10][11][12] It has 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]

References
  1. Lee, Robert (2007). The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004. Melbourne University Publishing. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-522-85134-2.
  2. Victorian Railways: Country Workshops Museum Victoria
  3. Alstom at Ballarat Wins $150 Million Train Fit-Out Contract Transit Australia December 2003 pages 327-331
  4. Electrical Trade Union ETU News April 2005 page 24
  5. Alstom acquires two companies specialised in railway maintenance in Australia Alstom 21 November 1999
  6. Ballarat workshops enter second century of train-making Track & Signal issue 21/4 November 2017 pages 50/51
  7. "Alstom signs agreement with United Group for sale of Australia & New Zealand transport business". Alstom. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  8. Future of 150 jobs remains in limbo The Courier 11 July 2004
  9. New and refurbished trains and trams Department of Infrastructure
  10. Ballarat North Workshops Newsrail September 2000 page 264
  11. Alstom at Ballarat Wins $150 Million Train Fit-Out Contract Newsrail October 2001 page 300
  12. Alstom to provide smarter and more efficent X'trapolis trains for Melbourne Alstom 29 September 2021
  13. Ballarat wins major train safety contract Department of Premier & Cabinet 28 July 2005
  14. Know the boss Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union

37.5461°S 143.8520°E / -37.5461; 143.8520

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