Wikipedia

Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia

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This article is about a railway line in South Australia. For the associated railway line in Victoria, see Pinnaroo railway line, Victoria.

The Pinnaroo railway line is a closed railway line in South Australia. It branches off the Adelaide-Wolseley line at Tailem Bend and runs 265.2 kilometres serving several farming communities in the area.

Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia
The Pinnaroo railway line at Peake, South Australia
Overview
StatusOpen, disused
OwnerAurizon
LocaleMurray Mallee
Coordinates35°23′S 140°8′E / 35.383°S 140.133°E / -35.383; 140.133
Termini
Service
SystemAurizon
History
Opened14 September 1906 (1906-09-14)
Closed31 July 2015 (2015-07-31)
Technical
Line length265.2 km (164.8 mi)
Track length144.1 km (89.5 mi)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Old gauge1600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map

Legend
South Australia
km
Adelaide-Wolseley line
to Adelaide
120.3
 Tailem Bend
Loxton line
Adelaide-Wolseley line to Wolseley
& Western SG line to Melbourne
158.5
 Peake
188.8
 Geranium
222.2
 Lameroo
236.7
 Parilla
259.7
 Pinnaroo
264.4
 Pinnaroo AWB
gauge change
265.2
South Australia
Victoria
state
border
Pinnaroo line
to Ouyen & Mildura line
broad gauge
standard gauge
This diagram:
The six railway lines of the Murraylands[1][2]
Order
built		 Line Year
opened		 Year
closed		 Length
(km)		 Length
(mi)
1 Tailem Bend–Pinnaroo 1906 2015[note a] 86.6 139.4
2 Tailem Bend–Barmera 1913 /
1928[note b]		 1996[note c] 159.5 256.6
3 Karoonda–Peebinga 1914 1990 66.0 106.2
4 Karoonda–Waikerie 1914 1994[note d] 73.8 118.7
5 Alawoona–Loxton 1914 2015[note e] 22.0 35.5
6 Wanbi–Yinkanie 1925 1971 31.5 50.6
Total 439.4 707.0
Notes
  1. Previously a broad-gauge through line into Victoria, the line was closed at the border in 1996 before being converted to standard gauge in 1998.
  2. Construction of the Barmera line was paused at Paringa in 1913 pending funding of a bridge over the River Murray. The line was completed to Barmera in 1928.
    A branch line was built to support construction of the proposed Chowilla Dam in 1966–67. Some 27.3 kilometres (17.0 miles) long, it branched from the Barmera line 8 kilometres (5 miles) south of Paringa and proceeded to Murtho on the south bank of the River Murray. Construction of the dam was deferred in 1967 and subsequently cancelled; later the line was removed without being used.
  3. Paringa–Barmera closed in 1984; Alawoona–Paringa closed in 1990; Tailem Bend–Alawoona closed in 1996.
  4. Galga–Waikerie closed in 1990.
  5. Converted to standard gauge in 1996.

History

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The line opened from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo on 14 September 1906, being extended to the state border on 29 July 1915.[3]

When the Adelaide to Wolseley line was closed east of Tailem Bend for gauge conversion, the Pinnaroo line became part of the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne for two weeks in April 1995. Journey times increased by 10 to 12 hours.[4][5]

In May 1995, it was announced that the line west of Pinnaroo would be gauge converted from broad gauge to standard gauge.[6][7] Work on the conversion of the line was delayed until 1996, due to a large grain crop and increased traffic by trains destined for Tocumwal and Yarrawonga in regional Victoria that were on the broad gauge network.[8]

A small part of the line converted in 1996, was converted back for the 1997 grain harvest. To continue the journey to Adelaide, the grain was transshipped at Tailem Bend.[9] The last broad gauge train operated on 2 July 1998[10] with the line reopening on 25 November 1998.[3][11] As the Victorian line remained broad gauge, trains could no longer operate over the entire length with Pinnaroo becoming a break of gauge point.

On 1 November 1997, Australian Southern Railroad acquired a 50-year lease on the rail corridor and total ownership of the rail infrastructure as part of Australian National's South Australian freight assets sale to ASR.

The line became disused in July 2015 after Viterra announced that no more grain would be carried by rail after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road.[12][13] As the South Australian line became disused, the Victorian government was upgrading part of its end of the line for regional freight.[14] The lease of the land and ownership of the rail infrastructure passed to Aurizon in 2022, following their purchase of One Rail Australia (the final successor of Australian Southern Railroad).

Aurizon lists the line as open, but it is not currently used by any trains.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John R. (2000). Australian railway routes 1854–2000. Redfern, New South Wales: Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0909650497.
  2. ^ Map showing lines of railways in South Australia and through mileages (Map). Adelaide: South Australian Railways. 1958 – via National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.
  3. ^ a b Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 53, 56. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
  4. ^ "National Rail's Melbourne - Adelaide Diversion Services" Railway Digest April 1995 page 31
  5. ^ "Pinnaroo Diversions a Success" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15
  6. ^ "SA Branches to be Standardised" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15
  7. ^ Non-Metropolitan Railways (Transfer) Act 1997 Government of South Australia
  8. ^ "SA Murray Lands Renaissance" Railway Digest October 1995 page 15
  9. ^ "South Australia" Railway Digest April 1997 page 37
  10. ^ "Australian Southern News" Railway Digest September 1998 page 36
  11. ^ "Australian Southern's Grain Gain" Railway Digest January 1999 page 12
  12. ^ Freight Study & Rail Operations Investigation Archived 16 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine Flywheel Advisory 17 November 2014
  13. ^ Strathearn, Peri (21 May 2015). "End of line for Murraylands, Mallee grain trains". The Murray Valley Standard. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  14. ^ Jones, Erin (18 November 2017). "Campaign to reinstate South Australia's regional rail network to help boost employment and create economic benefits for towns". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Access to South Australia Regional Rail Network". Aurizon. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
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