 The Port Fairy line was started when the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company opened the Geelong line to Newport in 1857, being extended to Spencer Street Station in 1859. The line was taken over by Victorian Railways in 1860 and a line was opened from Geelong to Ballarat in 1862, and later extended south-east from 1876, reaching Warrnambool and Port Fairy in 1890. Branch lines also existed to Queenscliff, Beech Forest, and a number of other towns.
