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The Coonamble railway line is a railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line branches from the Main West Line at Dubbo It opened in 1903[1], and carried passenger traffic until the 1970s. 900/950 class railmotors were first introduced on the service between Dubbo and Coonamble[2]. It continues to carry goods traffic, predominately grain. The disused historic Coonamble railway station is currently at risk of demolition due to vandalism and high maintenance costs[3]. The line is owned by the Rail Infrastructure Corporation of New South Wales, however operations over the line are managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) under a 60 year agreement.[4]
To properly handle heavy wheat traffic, the track needs to be upgraded from Class 5 (30 kg/m rail) to Class 3 (40 kg/m rail).[5]