User:Dan027/Great Southern railway
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The Great Southern railway line, in Victoria, Australia. Branched from the current Pakenham line(Gippsland line) at Dandenong, extending out into the the South Gippsland region as far as Port Albert, with many lines branching off along the way.
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[edit] History
The Great Southern Railway was well known for its sharp curves and spectacular scenary, it was also one of the last lines to offer a 'Mixed Passenger and Goods' service in Victoria. This service continued to Yarram until the early 1980s. Today little of this line remains in use with only the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne currently in use for revenue service.
The first section of this line to close was the outermost section between Yarram and Woodside which occurred in the early 1970's. The section to Yarram continued to be used until the end of the mixed goods service in the early 1980s. From this point until about 1991, the track beyond Agnes received minimal usage, although a short branch leading from Agnes to Barry Beach was used extensively for goods traffic to serve the oil platforms in Bass Strait. The Barry Beach service ceased in 1991 and with it all usage of the train line beyond Leongatha. This section of track was then dismantled in 1992, amazingly requiring the strengthening of a bridge to allow the track machine onto the track to do the dismantling.
At the start of the 21st Century the election of a new Labor Government has once again seen a commitment to a return of passenger services to Leongatha. This service was due to return in 2004 but no work has so far been undertaken except for the repair of some bridges between Leongatha and Korumburra which allowed the tourist operator to restore services in this section after a break of a couple of years due to the poor condition of the bridges.
[edit] Services
A passenger service operated to Leongatha for many years, but this was cut in the early 1980s, however this service was later reinstated by the Cain Labor Government but was later cut again by the Kennett Liberal Government in 1993. The line then became unused beyond Cranbourne which still retained a short V/Line service, except for a tourist operation to become known as South Gippsland Railway which commenced operation between Nyora and Leongatha. In 1995 the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne was electrified and a station added at Merinda Park.
There is also a tourist railway(South Gippsland Railway) operating from Nyora to Leongatha.
[edit] Current status
The track beyond Leongatha to Yarrum and the Barry Beach branch line was dismantled in 1992. The remaining sections of track are still intact, the section to Cranbourne was electrified in 1995 and is now part of the suburban rail network, the section after Cranbourne to Lang Lang is still intact but is dissused, however the reamaining track from Nyora to Leongatha is now used as the South Gippsland Tourist Railway. The brach line from Nyora to Wonthaggi was closed in the 1970s and later dismantled.
[edit] List of stations
Bold stations are terminuses, italic stations are staffed.
Branches from Pakenham line at Dandenong station.
| Zone 3
Dandenong (DNG) > |
Pakenham line branches | ||||
| Merinda Park (MPK) | |||||
| Cranbourne (CBE) | |||||
| Closed Section | |||||
| Clyde | |||||
| Tooradin | |||||
| Dalmore | |||||
| Koo Wee Rup > | Strzelecki Line | ||||
| Monomeath | Beaconsfield | ||||
| Lang Lang | Bayles | ||||
| S.G. Tourist railway | Catani | ||||
| Wonthaggi Line < | Nyora | Yannathan | |||
| Woodleigh | Loch | END OF LINE | |||
| Coal Creek < | Outtrim Line < | < < Branch < < < | Korumburra | ||
| Jumbunna | Kernot | ||||
| Outrim North | Almurta | Leongatha | |||
| Outtrim | Glen Forbes | Great Sth. Rail Trail | |||
| END OF LINE | Woolamai | Koonwarra | |||
| Anderson | Tarwin | ||||
| Mitchell's Sdg | Meeniyan | ||||
| Kilcunda | Stony Creek | ||||
| Dalyston | Buffalo | ||||
| Branch | Wonthaggi | Boys | |||
| State Mine | END OF LINE | Fish Creek | |||
| Eastern Area | < branch > | Kirrak | Hoddle | ||
| Foster | |||||
| Bennison | |||||
| Toora | |||||
| Barry Beach < | Agnes | ||||
| Welshpool Jetty < | Welshpool | ||||
| Hedley | |||||
| Gelliondale | |||||
| Alberton > | Woodside line | ||||
| Port Albert | Yarram | ||||
| END OF LINE | Devon | ||||
| Calrossie | |||||
| Won Wron | |||||
| Napier | |||||
| Woodside | |||||
| END OF LINE |
