South Gippsland railway line

South Gippsland railway line, Victoria
Line details
Commenced 1888
Completed 1892
Closed 14 December 1994
Fate Suburban Cranbourne line, South Gippsland Tourist Railway, Great Southern Rail Trail
Length 126.7 km
Stations 18
Tracks Single
Used by South Gippsland Tourist Railway (Nyora - Leongatha), Suburban Cranbourne line (Dandenong - Cranbourne)
Connections Gippsland line
Former connections Wonthaggi line, Barry Beach line, Woodside line, Outtrim line, Strzelecki Line
Rail transport in Victoria

The South Gippsland railway line opened in 1892, branching from the Gippsland line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it (the section up to Leongatha) remained in use until July 1993 (the track as far as Leongatha is still intact), however only a small portion is in use today, as the suburban Cranbourne line.

In addition to the Cranbourne line, the section from Nyora to Leongatha is used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway, and Leongatha to Foster has been converted to the Great Southern Rail Trail.

Contents

History

The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station to Punt Road (Richmond) and South Yarra in 1859 and extended to Dandenong in 1879. The South Gippsland railway line (also known as the Great Southern Railway) was opened from Dandenong to Cranbourne in 1888 and extended to Koo Wee Rup, Nyora and Loch in 1890, Korumburra and Leongatha in 1891 and Welshpool, Alberton and Port Albert in 1892. The section from Alberton to Port Albert was closed in the 1940s. A branch line was built from Alberton to Yarram and Woodside in 1921.

The line was well known for its sharp curves and spectacular scenery, and was also one of the last lines to offer a 'Mixed Passenger and Goods' service in Victoria. The section from Yarram to Woodside was closed in the early 1970s, with the section from Barry Beach Junction and Welshpool to Yarram closed in 1987 when the mixed goods service closed. From this point until about 1992, 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 1992 and with it all usage of the train line beyond Leongatha. This section of track was then dismantled in 1994, requiring the strengthening of the large Tarwin bridge near Meeniyan, next to the South Gippsland Highway, to allow the track machine onto the track to do the dismantling. On Saturday 24 July 1993 the last V/Line passenger train ran to Leongatha. P class diesel locomotive P18 hauled the passenger train from Melbourne to Leongatha and back with a FSH 4 carriage set. The section from Nyora to Leongatha was transferred to the South Gippsland Railway in 1994 and trains have not operated beyond Cranbourne since January 1998.[1]

Branch lines

South Gippsland Line
Legend

A 5 km-long narrow-gauge horse-drawn tramway was built from Welshpool to Welshpool Jetty in 1905. It was closed in 1941.

The mountainous Strzelecki branch line was built from Koo Wee Rup to Strzelecki which opened in 1922. This line was closed in stages throughout the 1930s, '40s and '50s.

The Wonthaggi branch line was built from Nyora to Wonthaggi opening in 1910 to serve the State Coal Mine, a small extension to the line was opened in 1917. The Wonthaggi line was closed in 1978.

The Outtrim branch line was built from Korumburra to the coal mine at Outtrim in two stages, the initial stage to Jumbunna was opening in 1894 with the final stage to Outtrim opening in 1896, The line was closed in two stages the first from Jumbunna to Outtrim on 4 September 1951 and then from Jumbunna to Korumburra on 1 October 1953.

Services

Passenger services operated on the line since opening. Services from Melbourne to Leongatha and Yarram were withdrawn on 6 June 1981, with replacement buses starting three days later.[2] The Yarram train was a loco hauled mixed train, while the Leongatha train was a DRC railcar hauling MTH carriages. To fill the gap local trains were introduced on a three month trial from Dandenong to Lang Lang, being withdrawn on 3 October 1981 due to insufficient patronage. Services to Leongatha were restored on 9 December 1984 but were again withdrawn on 24 July 1993.[2]

The line became unused beyond Cranbourne with the withdrawal of freight services from Koala siding in January 1998. The exception was a tourist operation which would 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, as part of a $27 million Federal Government funded project.[3]

The Barry Beach freight service ceased in 1992 and with it all usage of the train line beyond Leongatha. V/Line passenger services ceased to Leongatha on 24 July 1993 with last train to Melbourne. By the mid 1990s only T, Y and P class diesel locomotives were used on the line from this time due to their low axle loads, with a 15 km/h speed limit applying to parts of the track.[1] This continued until the January 16, 1998, when the Koala Siding (near Nyora) to Spotswood sand train ceased operation.[1] It took a normal train 2 hours and 20 minutes to travel from Spencer Street Station to Leongatha, with the current bus service completing the journey in a similar time.

The South Gippsland Tourist Railway at Korrumburra loaned out K 190 during the summer of 1995-1996, repainted the engine and tender a more noticeable green. She was once again returned for service with the S.G.T.R during the summer of 1996-1997.

Steamrail, railfan enthusiasts trains

A number of special railway enthusiast services were operated along the line in the mid 1980s to late 1990s, because the line was near closure. The last railfan steam special to run beyond Leongatha was on 13 November 1988, when steam locomotives D3.639 and K153 ran to Foster. The train ran to Foster due to there being a turntable for usable condition. The line between Foster and Barry Beach had minimal usage and the line beyond Welshpool to Yarram was closed and not in usable condition and Toora was the only other main settlement beyond Foster that a steamer could have run to. There were a few diesel hauled heritage tours and special trains that ran beyond Leongatha around the late 1980s to early 1990s.

K153 ran the last steam train to Yarram on 26 October 1987. It also hauled a trip a month earlier to Welshpool on 6 September 1987. There were numerous steam hauled tours to Leongatha in the early 1990s. In 1993 there were two notable trips to Leongatha that were steam hauled. The first one was on 5 March, which was to be a K triple header to Korumburra and Leongatha. One of the locomotives scheduled to haul this train, K190, broke down that morning, so locomotives K153 and K183 made hard work of hauling the long consist of wooden carriages. On 25 July 1993, the apparent last steam train to South Gippsland, ran with K190 and K183 hauling a long consist of wooden carriages. The train ran shuttles between Korumburra and Leongatha.

After the withdrawal of passenger services to Leongatha, a few more steam hauled trips were organised before the remainder of the line became booked out between Cranbourne and Nyora. In April 1994, K190 & K183 again ran a tour to Leongatha, but with a much smaller consist this time. J515 ran to Leongatha on 14 October 1995, which was organised by the Seymour Heritage Railway & ARHS. It was the first time for seven year that a J ran on South Gippsland line. D3.639 and K183 ran to Korumburra and Leongatha on 25 September 1997, which was the last Steamrail train to ever traverse the line. During this time D3.639 was on loan to SGTR

The last steam train on the mainline before closure of the line was steam locomotive K190 operated by Steamrail Victoria. It returned in April 1998 after it was leased to the South Gippsland Tourist Railway (SGTR) in December 1996. SGTR had loaned the loco during the summer of 1995-1996. The locomotive again returned for the summer of 1996-1997. K190 returned on December 7, 1996, when Steamrail ran a tour to Korumburra and Leongatha. Diesel loco T345 was sent down to SGR as well. K183 double headed with K190 to Nyora with T345 dead attached. K190 & T345 were detached at Nyora and then K183 ran solo to Korumburra and Leongatha. K190 followed with the SGR air conditioned cars before running a shuttle to Leongatha. T342, T345 and DERM 55 ran a rare Saturday tourist rail service K183 the Steamrail train back to Melbourne while K190 stayed down at SGTR for the summer.

Current status

The track beyond Leongatha to Yarram and the Barry Beach branch line was dismantled in 1994, but removal of other infrastructure along the line such as level crossing signals took place around mid to late 1992, soon after the last train ran to Barry Beach. The section between Leongatha - Foster was turned into the Great Southern Rail Trail in 1998. The section between Foster and Yarram is planned to be a future extension of the trail.

The branch line from Nyora to Wonthaggi was closed in 1978 and later dismantled, now forming the Bass Coast Rail Trail. A significant section of the former Wonthaggi Line has been leased or sold to farmers, while other sections have been cut away to widen highways and main roads in the coastal South Gippsland region.

The section from Dandenong to Cranbourne was electrified in 1995 and is now part of the suburban rail network as the Cranbourne Line. The first level crossing on the closed section of the line, the South Gippsland Highway crossing in Cranbourne has since been paved over. The Victorian Transport Plan of 2009 has stated that the Cranbourne line will be extended 2 kilometres to a new station at Cranbourne East by 2015. The new Cranbourne East station will be built near Renyard Street and the Casey Complex.[4]

The line from Nyora to Leongatha is now used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway. However some bridges have been repaired between Leongatha and Korumburra which has allowed the South Gippsland Tourist Railway to restore its services on this section of the track after it was prevented from using it due to the declining condition of the bridges.

The remaining section of track from Cranbourne to Nyora is disused but mostly still intact. Two metres of track was pulled up at Koo Wee Rup to put toilets at the bus and coach stop. The Wonthaggi desalination plant pipeline has also made it necessary to remove three more sections of the line. The first section is about 100 metres on the down side of Monomeith Road where about 50 metres of track have been removed. The second is about 5% m on the up side of Caldermeade Road where about thirty metres of track have been removed and the third, is about halfway between Caldermeade and Lang Lang stations. At this time the track from Cranbourne East to Nyora has not yet been lifted to be converted into the proposed rail trail.

Much of the operational and safeworking infrastructure remains in place in this section, including signalling equipment, level crossings, and easements not having been otherwise leased or sold. Station platforms are also in place, but mostly without station buildings, such as Lang Lang, Koo-Wee-Rup, and Tooradin. Parts of the track have warped due to erosion or movement of the supporting groundwork and displacement of sleepers, these are especially evident near Lang Lang, Tooradin and north of Koo-Wee-Rup. Other potential problems include questions on safety of certain bridges and culverts along the route.

Prior to the 1999 Victorian election, the state Labor Party made a promise to return passenger services to Leongatha. In 2008 a report commissioned by the Victorian Department of Transport found the cost of returning passenger services to Leongatha to be unjustifiably high, at an estimated $72 million, and that only 20 per cent of respondents surveyed about their transport needs considered restoring train services to be the main priority. Instead $14.7 million will be spent on road coach service upgrades.[5][6]

The former Minister for Public Transport Lynne Kosky has stated that the State Government is providing funding for development of a rail trail between Cranbourne East and Nyora to support tourism in South Gippsland. Such a move may result in the track being lifted, thus ending any hope that the line may reopen in the future. However it still could be possible for the line to reopen in the future even the new rail trail does go ahead between Cranbourne East and Nyora due to reports of a proposed new route for the South Gippsland line if it ever reopens. A proposal is to relocate the tracks of the South Gippsland line prior to Koo-Wee-Rup. The proposed new location of the line would branch off from Pakenham instead of sharing the line between Dandenong and Cranbourne, locate around Pakenham-Koo-Wee- Rup Road then join the existing tracks at Koo-Wee-Rup. This would mean the track could be dismantled between Cranbourne East and Koo-Wee-Rup via Clyde, Tooradin and Dalmore for a new rail trail but not from Koo-Wee-Rup to Nyora unless it locates alongside the actual rail tracks. Another proposal is to have the line branched off from Drouin and diverting through Poowong and joining the existing tracks at Nyora. This would mean that the tracks could be dismantled between Koo-Wee-Rup and Nyora to allow a rail trail to be constructed all the way from Cranbourne East.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Farewell — The Sand Train". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): pages 71–76. February 1998. 
  2. ^ a b Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): pages 77–82. 
  3. ^ Fiddian, Mark (1997). Trains, Tracks, Travellers. A history of the Victorian Railways. South Eastern Independent Newspapers. p. 154. ISBN 1 875475 12 5. 
  4. ^ The Victorian Transport Plan
  5. ^ "Gippsland Public Transport Links Boosted in Budget". Media release from the Minister for Public Transport. www.doi.vic.gov.au. 2 May 2008. http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/493DA3882B071AD3CA25743D000CD078/$FILE/MediaRelease-SouthGippsland-020508.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-04.  Communication from Minister Lynne Kosky, 03 June 2008.
  6. ^ TransNet Logistics (May 1, 2007). "Leongatha Rail Line: Reintroduction of Passenger Train Services (Review Summary & Transport Options Assessment Report)". www.doi.vic.gov.au. http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/754A14B7BD86361FCA25743D0005919B/$FILE/Leongatha_Rail_Line_Review.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 

External links

 
Main lines