Oaklands railway line, Victoria

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The Oaklands railway line is a freight only railway line in north eastern Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the main North East railway at Benalla station until it connects with the New South Wales railway network at Oaklands, New South Wales.

Contents

[edit] History

The line opened in 1883 as a 32 kilometre branch line to St James in 1883, being extended another 32 kilometres to Yarrawonga on the south shore of the Murray River in 1886,[1] which formed the colonial and later state boundary between Victoria and New South Wales. In 1938, the line was extended another 61 kilometres to Oaklands, New South Wales where it formed a break of gauge station with the existing New South Wales Railways branch line.[1] This break of gauge station included warehouse and other facilities of a military nature which are best located at breaks of gauge. The last regular passenger service on the line was between Benalla and Yarrawonga on October 13 1979, operated by DERM 55RM.[2]

With the opening of the North East standard gauge line in 1961,[3] the line had standard gauge track at both ends, in addition to the broad gauge via Benalla. Gauge conversion of the line has proposed at various times, most recently by the Victorian State Government in 2001 with a proposed completion data of late 2003.[4] The last broad gauge train to run on the line was a Pacific National grain service in May 2007.[5]

In 2008, agreement was reached to convert the North East railway line from broad gauge to standard gauge, which would leave the Oaklands branch as an isolated useless spur.[6] Since the line carries wheat traffic (at least when there are no droughts) restoration of rail service needs to be tackled. There are several technical methods that might be adopted.

[edit] Coal

With the potential opening of coal mines in the Oaklands area, a new source of traffic may see the line reopened/upgraded.

[edit] Stations

(border) Murray River bridge replaced 1989 [8]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Sid Brown (March 1990). "Tracks Across the State". Newsrail: pages 71-76. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). 
  2. ^ Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail: pages 77 - 82. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). 
  3. ^ VR History. www.victorianrailways.net. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  4. ^ BRACKS GOVT ENDS 120 YEARS OF DIFFERENT RAIL GAUGES. Media Release from the Minister for Transport. www.budget.vic.gov.au (May 15, 2001). Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  5. ^ North East Line to Standard Gauge. Railpage Australia Forums. www.railpage.com.au. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  6. ^ Premier of Victoria, Australia - FEDERAL-STATE CO-OPERATION DELIVERS MAJOR RAIL PROJECT. www.premier.vic.gov.au. Retrieved on 2008-06-03.
  7. ^ Street-Directory.com.au
  8. ^ http://www.yarrawongamulwala.com.au/bridges.html


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