Editing Rail transport in Victoria (section)

===New deal===
[[File:City-loop-exit-spencer-street.jpg|thumb|Train exiting the [[City Loop|Melbourne underground loop]]]]
[[File:Vline n class train at lara victoria.jpg|thumb|[[V/Line N class|N class]] locomotive with [[N type carriage|N type]] country passenger carriages.]]
The 1980s saw [[Corporatization|corporatisation]] of the [[Victorian Railways]] carried out, with the railway commissioners replaced by [[Victorian Railways|VicRail]] and later government authorities. New liveries on trains were unveiled, as elderly "red rattlers" were replaced by new trains.

1981 saw the [[City Loop|Melbourne underground loop]] open in January, followed by the new air conditioned [[Comeng (train)|Comeng suburban trains]] and [[N type carriage|"N" type]] country passenger carriages in September the same year.<ref name="vrhist" /> Country services were also sped up under the ''[[New Deal for Country Passengers|New Deal]]'' by the closure of 35 of small wayside stations.<ref name="nrnd">{{cite magazine |date=October 2006 | title = 'New Deal' for County Passengers – 25 years on | author = Scott Martin and Chris Banger |magazine= Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) |page=319 }}</ref> Country passenger services saw the last of the non-air-conditioned wooden bodied passenger cars withdrawn from service in 1986, replaced by new [[H type carriage|"H" set]] carriages. Trials were also carried out for further upgrades, with locomotive [[V/Line A class (diesel)|A85]] re-geared for 160&nbsp;km/h operation in a series of test runs between [[Glenorchy, Victoria|Glenorchy]] and [[Lubeck, Victoria|Lubeck]] in the state's west in July 1986.<ref name="newsrails86">{{Victorian Rail-Newsrail|title=News|month=9|year=1986|pages=24–27}}</ref>	

It was also the end of an era, with freight trains having their [[Caboose|guards van]]s and guards abolished from 1985, and the carriage of livestock ended in 1986.<ref name="vrhist" /> The last run of the ''[[Spirit of Progress]]'' and ''[[Southern Aurora]]'' passenger trains were also made in 1986, on 3 August.<ref name="newsrails86sp">{{Victorian Rail-Newsrail|title=Aurora and Spirit of Progress depart|author=G. Carmichael|month=9|year=1986}}</ref> Working practices were also altered, with through working of [[Victorian Railways C class (diesel)|C class]] locomotives introduced between Melbourne and Adelaide in 1982.<ref name="arhs3" /> Previously Victorian locomotives were detached at the state borders, and replaced by locomotives from the next state. New locomotive were also introduced, with the [[V/Line G class|G]] and [[V/Line N class|N class]]es enabling the retirement of many of the 1st generation diesels.<ref name="railmac" >{{cite book
  | author = Railmac Publications
  | title = Australian Fleetbooks: V/Line locomotives
  | publisher = Kitchner Press
  | year = 1992
  | isbn = 0-949817-76-7}}</ref> 
 
Cuts continued to the rail network, with larger centralised silos in the north western area of the state, and replacement of traditional [[railway signalling|safeworking systems]] by systems that required no local staff caused further stations to be subsequently de-staffed.<ref name="awaugh" />