| Tailem Bend South Australia |
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Railway Tce, the main street of Tailem Bend |
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Tailem Bend
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| Population: | 1,457[1] |
| Established: | 1887 |
| Postcode: | 5260 |
| Location: |
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| LGA: | Coorong District Council |
| State District: | Hammond |
| Federal Division: | Barker |
Tailem Bend is a town on the Murray River in South Australia. The town was proclaimed in 1887, the year after the main railway came through. At the 2006 census, Tailem Bend had a population of 1,457.[1]
The name is a corruption of the aboriginal name tailem which was used for the area. The word means bend and is associated with the sharp bend that the Murray River makes in this location.
It is located about 100 km south-east of Adelaide. It is located on the cliffs above the east (left) bank of the Murray River close to where the river empties into Lake Alexandrina. The Tailem Bend Ferry, a cable ferry, operates across the river to Jervois. Major industries in the area include pig farming, dairying, and grain growing.
Tailem Bend is also the head office of the Coorong District Council. The other two minor offices are at Meningie and Tintinara.
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Tailem Bend has junctions on both the railway and highways linking Adelaide to Melbourne.
There are large grain storage silos and bunkers, where branch lines into the Murray Mallee join the main line. The two remaining branches are to Pinnaroo and Loxton via Karoonda (which used to be the junction for more branches). These two lines have been converted to standard gauge to be compatible with the main line (which was also converted from broad gauge), however they remain as light rail and ballast with very low speed limits. They are only used for collection of bulk grain, as the speed limits are too low to be practical for transport of time-sensitive freight. The Pinnaroo line continues (but presently remains broad gauge) into Victoria to Ouyen where it joins the Mildura to Melbourne line.
Tailem Bend is at the end of the South Eastern Freeway from Adelaide. From Tailem Bend, there is a choice of the Dukes Highway as the direct route to Melbourne, the Princes Highway along the Coorong and coast towards Melbourne, or the Mallee Highway east towards Sydney. Tailem Bend is a common stopping point for truck drivers into and out of Adelaide, as there is no further fuel or food outlets with truck facilities on the freeway.