Eastern Goldfields Railway | |
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Overview | |
Owner | Public Transport Authority |
Termini | |
Service | |
Operator(s) | Arc Infrastructure |
History | |
1 July 1894: opened Northam to Southern Cross | 1 July 1896: opened Southern Cross to Boorabbin 1 January 1897: opened Boorabbin to Kalgoorlie February 1966: Bellevue to Northam added gauge and changed route 1968: Northam to Kalgoorlie, replaced narrow gauge with standard gauge and changed route |
Technical | |
Line length | 373 kilometres |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) dual gauge |
Old gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
The Eastern Goldfields Railway, historically also referred to as the Fremantle-Kalgoorlie Railway, [1] was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. [2]
It is part of the interstate standard gauge railway between Perth and the rest of Australia.
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The Yilgarn Railway Act 1892, an act by the Parliament of Western Australia assented to on 18 March 1892, authorised the construction of the railway line from Northam to Southern Cross. [3] The Southern Cross-Coolgardie Railway Act 1894, assented to on 23 November 1894, authorised construction of a railway line from Southern Cross to Coolgardie. [4] A third act, the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie Railway Act 1895, assented to on 2 October 1895, authorised construction of a railway line from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie. [5]
The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Northam in the 1890s, and the Eastern Goldfields Railway extended this line through semi-desert to the Eastern Goldfields. [6] [7]
It opened in stages between 1894 and 1897. [8]
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme pipeline was later constructed along the railway line. The chief engineer for both the railway and the pipeline was C. Y. O'Connor.
In October 1917, the Commonwealth Railways' standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta was completed through to Kalgoorlie, making it a break-of-gauge station.
At Kalgoorlie, lines branch off north to Malcolm and Leonora; and south to Esperance via the Esperance line. The Malcolm-Laverton branch was last used in 1957 and closed in 1960. [11] [12] [13]
As part of the Federal Government's program to build a standard gauge line across Australia and the passing of the Railways (Standard Gauge) Construction Act 1961, work commenced on gauge converting the line to dual gauge with a new alignment further north of the existing line built between Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie.[ when? ] From Northam to Southern Cross, the railway was also realigned to reduce the number of road crossings, increase the minimum radius of curvature and lower the ruling gradient to 1:150.
The new alignment, as well as being generally straighter and more favourably graded, provided access to the iron ore deposits at Koolyanobbing, which were shipped by rail to Kwinana, near Perth, to supply Australian Iron and Steel's blast furnace. [8] [14] [15] [16]
The first official standard gauge iron ore train from Koolyanobbing arrived at Kwinana on 10 July 1967. On 3 August 1968, the Koolyanobbing-Kalgoorlie section opened for freight trains and on 4 November 1968, the first through freight train from Port Pirie arrived in Perth. [17] [18]
In November 2005, funding was announced to extend eight crossing loops to accommodate 1,800-metre-long (5,900 ft) trains at Bodallin, Darrine, Wallaroo, Lake Julia, Grass Valley, Bungulla, Booraan and Seabrook, and replace the final 76 kilometres (47 mi) of timber sleepers with concrete sleepers. [19]
Transwa's MerredinLink and Prospector services from Perth to Merredin and Kalgoorlie traverse the line [20] as does Journey Beyond's Indian Pacific to Sydney. Other named trains to previously use the line were The Westland , The Kalgoorlie and the Trans-Australian .
Intrastate and interstate freight services are operated by Aurizon, Mineral Resources, Pacific National and SCT Logistics. CBH Group operate grain trains.
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of state capital Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded in 1888 after gold prospectors Richard Greaves and Ted Paine during their October 1887 expedition successfully found gold, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn. At the 2016 census, Southern Cross had a population of 680.
Great Eastern Highway is a 590-kilometre-long (370 mi) road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link between Perth and the eastern states of Australia. The highway forms the majority of National Highway 94, although the alignment through the Perth suburbs of Guildford and Midland, and the eastern section between Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie are not included. Various segments form parts of other road routes, including National Route 1, Alternative National Route 94, and State Route 51.
Merredin is a town in Western Australia, located in the central Wheatbelt roughly midway between Perth and Kalgoorlie, on Route 94, Great Eastern Highway. It is located on the route of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, and as a result is also on the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail.
The Eastern Railway is the main railway route between Fremantle and Northam in Western Australia. It opened in stages between 1881 and 1893. The line continues east to Kalgoorlie as the Eastern Goldfields Railway.
Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, 558 kilometres (347 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people.
The Prospector is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same time in opposite directions, one travelling between East Perth and Kalgoorlie, and the other between Kalgoorlie and East Perth. The original vehicles ordered in 1968 for trains providing this service were replaced in 2004 with vehicles capable of reducing journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.
Koolyanobbing is located 54 km (34 mi) north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. Iron ore has been mined here since 1948 by a series of companies, with a break between 1983 and 1993. The ore is currently railed to the port at Esperance for export. The current owner and operator of the lease is Mineral Resources Limited.
Booraan is a railway siding at the 297 km (185 mi) peg of the standard gauge Eastern Goldfields Railway between Northam and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Journey Beyond operates the Indian Pacific.
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commissioned in 1896 and completed in 1903.
The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth.
Merredin railway station is located on the Eastern Goldfields Railway in Western Australia. It is in the town of Merredin.
Kalgoorlie railway station is the easternmost attended station in Western Australia, located at the eastern terminus of the Eastern Goldfields Railway. It serves the city of Kalgoorlie. Beyond Kalgoorlie, the line continues east as the Trans-Australian Railway.
The K class are a class of diesel locomotives built by English Electric, Rocklea for the Western Australian Government Railways between 1966 and 1969.
The Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from Kalgoorlie to the port of Esperance in Western Australia.
Railway dams and reservoirs were used to supply water to an extensive railway system that ventured into low rainfall, and poor water quality areas of the inner regions of Western Australia in the 1890s.
Western Australian Government Railways railway system during its peak operational time in the 1930s to 1950s was a large system of over 6,400 kilometres (4,000 mi) of railway line.
The WAGR WCA class railcars and WCE class trailers were built by Comeng, Granville for the Western Australian Government Railways in 1971 to operate the new Prospector service between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. At the time of their construction the WCA class units were the longest and fastest diesel railcars in the world.
Northam railway station is located in Northam on the Eastern Railway route in Western Australia. It is the second and more recent railway station in Northam.
The Kalgoorlie was a railway passenger service operated by the Western Australian Government Railways between November 1962 and November 1971.