| Maldon – Dombarton railway line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service | |||
| Type | Railway | ||
| History | |||
| Commenced | 1983 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 34.9 km (21.7 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
| Highest elevation | 140 m (460 ft) | ||
| |||
The Maldon – Dombarton railway line is a partially constructed railway line in New South Wales, Australia. Construction commenced in December 1983 with the project being cancelled in June 1988. A number of feasibility studies have since been conducted, but none have found the project to be viable.
The proposed 34.9-kilometre line diverged from the Main South line at Maldon via a triangular junction and headed in a south-easterly direction over the Nepean River before crossing beneath the Hume Highway and Picton Road. It would then proceed to Wilton, over the Cordeaux River and through a four kilometre long tunnel which was to be the longest rail tunnel in Australia before joining the Moss Vale - Unanderra line at Dombarton. The line was to be single track throughout with passing loops at Wilton, Cordeaux and Avon. [1]
The origins of the line can be traced back to a late 1970s proposal to construct a line from the Lithgow and Picton area coalfields to a new export coal loader at Port Kembla. Plans advanced to the stage of the Public Transport Commission calling for expressions of interest in constructing the new line's major engineering feature, the 12 kilometre Cordeaux tunnel in December 1977 before the plan lapsed. [1]
Following completion of the coal loader at Port Kembla in 1982, the idea of a rail link was revived and in September 1983, the Wran State Government announced the Maldon to Dombarton line would be constructed with completion expected in 1986. The line was to be electrified, but with 25 kV AC rather than the 1.5 kV DC system used on other New South Wales lines. The electrification would extend up the Main South line from Maldon to Glenlee Junction where the existing electrified network from Sydney ended and at Coniston Junction it would join the Illawarra line from Sydney that was in the process of being electrified. Construction commenced in December 1983. [1]
In June 1988, the incoming Greiner State Government cancelled the project, despite having committed to completing the line in the March 1988 election. It cited a massive cost blowout and that the 1990 southern and western coal exports were now being forecast at one-third of that forecast in 1982, although chose to ignore the increased tonnages that would result from the impending closure of the Balmain coal loader and Glebe Island grain terminal. [2]
In 2009, the Port Kembla Port Corporation released a pre-feasibility study into constructing the line. [3] In 2011, the Federal Government published a feasibility study into constructing the line. [4] This resulted in the Federal Government announcing that pre-construction activities would commence with contracts awarded in December 2012. [5] [6] Prior to winning the 2013 election, then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, indicated that there was unlikely to be any further Federal Government funding for the freight line. [7]
In July 2014, Transport for NSW completed the planning and pre-construction design work, making the project ready to go ahead pending market interest and planning approval.[ citation needed ]
On 24 September 2014, the State Government announced it would undertake a Registration of Interest process to test if there is private sector interest in designing, constructing, operating and maintaining the Maldon to Dombarton Railway on a commercially sustainable basis, without government funding. Submissions closed on 10 April 2015. [8] [9]
Transport for NSW ran an extensive evaluation process for the Registration of Interest that included seeking advice from independent experts. No respondent was found to be capable of constructing, operating and maintaining the proposed railway line on a commercially sustainable basis, without NSW Government funding. The NSW Government will use information obtained from the Registration of Interest to inform the future procurement process and the funding options available for implementing the Maldon to Dombarton Railway project. [10]
When the project was suspended, some parts had already been completed. [11] The following aspects were completed prior to suspension of works in 1988:
Duplication of the existing Moss Vale - Unanderra line from Dombarton to Coniston Junction as well as a bridge built to take the line over the old Princes Highway at Unanderra eliminating a level crossing had been brought into use. Electrification masts had also been erected and those between Unanderra and Coniston Junction were used when the Ilawarra line was electrified to Dapto in January 1993.
The Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line is a commuter railway line on the Sydney Trains network in the eastern and southern suburbs of Sydney. The line was constructed in the 1880s to Wollongong to take advantage of agricultural and mining potentials in the Illawarra area. In March 1926, it became the first railway in New South Wales to run electric train services.
Mount Kembla is a suburb and a mountain in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.
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The Eastern Suburbs Railway (ESR) is a commuter railway line in Sydney constructed in the 1970s. It is operated by Sydney Trains and has stations at Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. In addition, it has dedicated platforms at Town Hall, Central and Redfern stations. All of these stations are underground. The Eastern Suburbs railway connects with the Illawarra line at Erskineville, forming the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line. The line features turnbacks at Central, Martin Place and Bondi Junction. There was also previously a rarely used cross-over at Edgecliff. It operates a service every 3 to 5 minutes during weekday peak hours and 8 to 10 minutes at all other times.
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Unanderra is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 6 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla foothills, the north by Figtree, the east by Berkeley and Flagstaff Hill, site of the Nan Tien Temple, and the south by Kembla Grange.
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Coniston railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located in Coniston, New South Wales, Australia, on the South Coast railway line. The station serves NSW TrainLink trains travelling south to Port Kembla or Kiama and north to Wollongong and Sydney.
Wollongong is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Paul Scully of the Labor Party. Since a redistribution in 2013, it has covered an area of 79.25 square kilometres and includes the localities of Berkeley, Coachwood Park, Coniston, Cordeaux Heights, Corrimal, Cringila, Fairy Meadow, Farmborough Chase, Farmborough Heights, Figtree, Gwynneville, Kembla Grange, Kembla Heights, Kemblawarra, Lake Heights, Lindsay Heights, Mangerton, Mount Kembla, Mount Saint Thomas, North Wollongong, Port Kembla, Primbee, Spring Hill, Towradgi, Unanderra, Warrawong, West Wollongong, Windang, Wollongong.
The Sydney Freight Network is a network of dedicated railway lines for freight in Sydney, Australia, linking the state's rural and interstate rail network with the city's main yard at Enfield and Port Botany. Its primary components are the Southern Sydney Freight Line (SSFL) and a line from Sefton to Enfield and Port Botany. The Network has been managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) since 2012. Prior to the completion of the SSFL, it was managed by RailCorp as the Metropolitan Freight Network.
Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and goods railways. The passenger system includes an extensive suburban railway network, operated by Sydney Trains, a metro system and a light rail network. A dedicated goods network also exists.
The Unanderra–Moss Vale railway line is a cross country railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line branches from the Illawarra line at Unanderra and winds west up the Illawarra escarpment to join the Main South line at Moss Vale. The line is one of the most scenic in New South Wales, and for the first 20 km (12 mi) after leaving Unanderra has an almost continuous grade 1 in 30 providing extensive views over the Illawarra coastline.
The 70 class were a class of diesel-hydraulic locomotives built by Commonwealth Engineering, Granville for the New South Wales Department of Railways in 1960–61. They were ordered to replace steam locomotives at Port Kembla.
Maldon is a locality in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire. In the 2016 census it had a population of 15.
Port Kembla is a man-made cargo port or artificial harbour, with an outer harbour protected by breakwaters and an inner harbour constructed by dredging, located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Activities within the port are managed by the Port Authority of New South Wales.
The Western Sydney Freight Line (WSFL) is a proposed freight railway line between the Main Western railway line at St Marys and the Southern Sydney Freight Line (SSFL) at Villawood, via a new intermodal terminal near Eastern Creek. The NSW Government committed to establishing a corridor for the future WSFL as part of its Freight & Ports Strategy in 2013. Corridor preservation for the WSFL is also considered a priority under the State Infrastructure Strategy. Constraints analysis and consultation took place between 2015 and 2017, with the line in operation "before 2030". The project is expected to cost in the order of $1 billion.
