Outcomes
By 1953 the new mainline diesels were running 3,000 miles (4,800 km) a week, four times as far as the best steam locomotives. An hour had been cut from long-distance passenger trains to Adelaide, Bairnsdale, Warrnambool, Mildura, and others were also sped up with the delivery of further locomotives. Electrification of the Gippsland line was completed to Warragul in 1954 and to Traralgon in 1956 at a total cost of £6.3 million pounds, but electrification did not spread to the other country railways as originally intended by Operation Phoenix, as the new diesel locomotives were more cost effective than the electrics. Dieselisation of the Victorian Railways continued, with the T class branchline locomotives delivered from 1955. Operation Phoenix was also the peak of capital spending on the Victorian railways, the expenditure during 1950-51 was not exceeded until 1984-85.
Read more about this topic: Operation Phoenix (railway)