Geelong infrastructure

Main entrance to Geelong Hospital

The major public hospital is Geelong Hospital on Ryrie Street which services the entire region and the largest private hospital is the nearby St John of God Health Care centre on Myers Street. Prominent healthcare services include Geelong Health (Geelong West) and Barwon Health.




Utilities

Water storage and supply in Geelong is managed by Barwon Water, a Victorian Government owned urban water corporation. Geelong is supplied with water from three river systems: the Barwon River, the East Moorabool River and the West Moorabool River. The catchment areas are the Brisbane Ranges to Geelong's north-west, and the Otway Ranges to the south-west. The first water supplies to Geelong were from the Stony Creek reservoirs near Steiglitz, but today the West Barwon Reservoir system supplies approximately 70 per cent of the water for Geelong. Sewage from Geelong and district is treated at the Black Rock Treatment Plant at Breamlea and then discharged into Bass Strait.
Geelong was first supplied with electricity in 1902 when the Geelong power station opened on the corner of Yarra and Brougham Streets. Later known as 'Geelong A', the power station was rebuilt in 1920 to increase the capacity, with the station continued operating until 1961. In 1936 Geelong was connected to the state electrical grid. The 'Geelong B' power station at North Geelong opened in 1954, and was closed in 1970 due to the much higher efficiency of the power stations in the Latrobe Valley. The supply of piped coal gas in Geelong started in 1860 by the Geelong Gas Company. The gasworks were located in North Geelong next to the North Geelong railway station. Geelong was converted to natural gas in 1971, with the Geelong Gas Company  taken over by the Gas and Fuel Corporation of Victoria on 30 June 1971.






Transportation

Geelong Ring Road, looking south towards
 suburban Waurn Ponds.

The main form of transportation in Geelong is the automobile. Geelong is well-connected by roads to all of south-west Victoria, to Melbourne by the Princes Freeway (M1), to Warrnambool by the Princes Highway (A1), the Bellarine Peninsula by the Bellarine Highway (B110), Ballarat by the Midland Highway (A300), and to Hamilton by the Hamilton Highway (B140). The $380 million Geelong Ring Road bypasses the greater Geelong urban area exiting the Princes Highway near Corio to rejoin the highway at Waurn Ponds. The "Lewis Bandt Bridge", named in honour of the Ford Australia engineer who is credited as the inventor of the ute (1934), in Geelong is a feature of the new road.

V/Line passenger trains at Geelong Railway Station

Geelong is a major hub for Rail transport in Victoria being at the junction of the Geelong line, Warrnambool V/Line rail service, Western standard gauge line and the Geelong-Ballarat railway line. There are seven passenger railway stations in the urban area, all along the Geelong line and all operated by V/Line None of these lines are electrified and trains servicing Geelong are currently Diesel engine powered. The Geelong line offers hourly VLocity fast passenger services to Melbourne which are popular with commuters. According to V/Line the Geelong line carries more passengers than any other regional rail line in Australia. Passenger services run to Warrnambool three times connecting Geelong with Colac, Terang and Camperdown. Great Southern Railway's The Overland service between Melbourne and Adelaide also stops at North Shore three times per week. Freight trains also operate from Melbourne to Geelong serving local industries, as well as to Warrnambool and other western Victorian towns. The main Melbourne-Adelaide standard gauge line sees heavy use carrying interstate freight.
The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay, and is the sixth largest seaport in Australia by tonnage. Major commodities include crude oil and petroleum products, export grain and woodchips, alumina imports, and fertiliser. The Bellarine Peninsula has been linked to the Mornington Peninsula since 1987 by the Searoad ferry, which runs every hour using two roll-on/roll-off ferries.

Jetstar Airways aircraft at Avalon Airport

Avalon Airport is located approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) to the north-east of the city of Geelong. It was established in 1953 to cater for the production of military aircraft. It was also used for the repair of commercial aircraft, and for pilot training. Avalon Airport has also been home to low cost airline Jetstar Airways since 2004. Flights to Brisbane and Sydney use the airport. Avalon Airport is the venue for 'Thunder Down Under' Australian International Airshow every other year.




McHarry's Geelong Transport System bus at the Railway Terrace main bus terminal
A bus network covering the city centre and most surrounding suburbs providing public transport. They are operated under the umbrella of the Geelong Transit System, and are contracted to Benders Busways and McHarry's Buslines. Another government transport initiative, Bellarine Transit, is contracted to McHarry's Buslines and provides interurban services between Geelong and the towns of Torquay, Barwon Heads, Ocean Grove and the Bellarine Peninsula. V/Line services link Geelong with Ballarat, Daylesford, Bendigo, Apollo Bay, the Great Ocean Road, the Twelve Apostles and Warrnambool.

Off-Duty Geelong Taxi Network vehicle in Norlane

Taxi services in Geelong are provided by Geelong Taxi Network, a newly formed depot following the effective merger of Bay City Cabs and Geelong Radio Cabs in July 2007. The majority of the network covers the city and suburban areas of the city, with "urban" classification for the vehicles in use. The Bellarine Peninsula, and Torquay areas, although part of Geelong Taxi Network, are both covered by separate "country" classification taxis. There are often disputes in regards to different taxis from one licence area, picking up work from either of the other two licence areas, which is illegal in most circumstances under current taxi regulations in Victoria. Call centre and radio dispatch services for the new combined network are provided by Silver Top Taxis in Melbourne. The fleet is consisted of primarily Ford Falcon vehicles, with Toyota Avalon, Holden Commodore, Mitsubishi Magna, and Mitsubishi 380 vehicles making up the rest of the primary fleet.
Geelong also has many kilometres of bicycle trails covering the shores of Corio Bay and the Barwon River parklands, in addition to the Bellarine Rail Trail.






Sports

Geelong is home to the Geelong Football Club Australian Football League team, the second oldest AFL club and one of the oldest in the world. For many years it was the only VFL/AFL club to exist outside of the greater Melbourne metropolitan area. It continues to participate in the national competition, based at Kardinia Park stadium and Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, and also fields a reserves side in the Victorian Football League. The club won the 2007 grand final against Port Adelaide by 119 points, the biggest grand final winning margin in history and the first Geelong premiership victory for 44 years. The club also won the 2009 and 2011 AFL grand finals held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There are also three independent football leagues running in the area, the Geelong Football League, the Geelong & District Football League, and the Bellarine Football League.
Geelong has a horse racing club, the Geelong Racing Club, which schedules around 22 race meetings a year including the Geelong Cup meeting in October. The Geelong Cup was first run in 1872, and is considered one of the most reliable guides to the result of the Melbourne Cup. It also has a picnic horse racing club, Geelong St Patricks Racing Club, which holds its one race meeting a year in February.
Geelong Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack at Corio, and the Geelong Greyhound Racing Club holds regular meetings.
The Geelong Baseball Centre in Waurn Ponds is home of the Geelong Baycats. The Baycats are the only provincial team in Baseball Victoria's Division One competition and were the 2005/2006 State Champions. The Geelong Baseball Centre has hosted a number of National Championship, the 2002 Women's World Championships and was home to the Chiba Lotte Marines for spring training in 2005 and 2006.
The Arena stadium in North Geelong is the home of the Geelong Supercats basketball team, and was also used during the 2006 Commonwealth Games for basketball matches.

2007 Bay Classic Series at Eastern Beach.

The Eastern Beach foreshore and nearby Eastern Gardens regularly host internationally televised triathlons, and annual sports car and racing car events such as the Geelong Speed Trials.
Corio Bay is also host to many sailing and yachting events. Geelong also has many golf courses, sporting and recreation ovals and playing fields, as well as facilities for water skiing, rowing, fishing, hiking, and greyhound and harness racing. Geelong Athletics holds athletic competitions during both the summer and winter months including high profile events such as Victorian and sometimes national and international track and field meets.