| Oaklands railway | |
|---|---|
| Service | |
| Type | Branch |
| History | |
| Commenced | 1883/1886 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 64 km (39.8 mi) in Victoria and 61 km (37.9 mi) in NSW |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Old gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) |
The Oaklands railway line is a freight-only railway line in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the main North East railway at Benalla station and runs across the Victoria-New South Wales border to the town of Oaklands, New South Wales.
The first section of line opened in 1883 as a 32-kilometre (20 mi) branch line to St James, at the same time as the extension of the main line to Albury in New South Wales. In 1886, the line was extended another 32 kilometres (20 mi) to Yarrawonga, on the southern bank of the Murray River, [1] which formed the colonial and, later, the state boundary between Victoria and New South Wales.
Under the 1922 Border Railways Act, the line was extended another 61 kilometres to Oaklands, New South Wales, where it met the existing New South Wales branch line, and Oaklands thereby became a break-of-gauge location. [1] Although the construction of the extension was completed in 1932, trains on it were operated by the Railway Construction Branch, mostly using a rail tractor as motive power, until the line was formally handed over to the Victorian Railways in August 1938. There was no turntable at the terminus, so steam locomotives had to operate tender-first when running to Oaklands. [2]
During World War II, additional sidings of both Victorian broad gauge and NSW standard gauge were provided, to serve Australian defence installations which were located at Oaklands. There was no passenger service to Oaklands at first but, in December 1946, a twice-weekly service began, operated by a rail motor. [2] That service had been discontinued by the early 1950s. [3]
The last regular passenger service on the line was between Benalla and Yarrawonga on Saturday 9 December 1978, operated by DERM 56RM. [4]
With the opening of the North East standard gauge line in 1961, [5] the Oaklands line had standard gauge track at both ends, in addition to the existing broad gauge line via Benalla. Gauge conversion of the Oaklands line was proposed at various times, including by the Victorian State Government in 2001, which proposed a completion date of late 2003. [6] The last broad gauge train to run on the line was a Pacific National grain service in May 2007. [7]
In 2008, agreement was reached to convert the North East railway line from broad gauge to standard gauge, which would have left the Oaklands branch as an isolated and unusable branch. [8] The local MP reported that the cost of converting the 125 km (77.7 mi) branch to standard gauge was just over $13m. [9] In October 2008, the Victorian Government announced that gauge conversion of the whole line would take place. [10] The conversion was completed in December 2009, at a cost of $16.5 million, with nearly 50,000 sleepers replaced. The first revenue service on the converted line was an El Zorro grain train on 10 March 2010. [11]
Since then, the line has seen numerous grain trains run by both Pacific National and Southern Shorthaul Railroad, as well as very occasional services by QUBE. The track has been allowed to deteriorate, requiring numerous emergency repairs during 2021, and there is now a 30km/h speed limit from Benalla to Yarrawonga, and a 20km/h limit from Yarrawonga to Oaklands, although with a 10km/h limit on the final 9 km of track into Oaklands. On 28 November 2021, trains were banned from using the line between the hours of 1200 and 2000 if the temperature at Yarrawonga was forecast to be 32 °C or higher. [12]
The line carries seasonal grain traffic. There is no passenger service. In the 2000s, a potential new source of traffic on the line was noted, with the opening of coal mines in the area. At the time, the Coalworks company, since taken over by Whitehaven Coal, [13] estimated that it had thermal coal reserves of 640,000,000 tonnes (629,900,000 long tons; 705,500,000 short tons) at Oaklands. [14]
(border) Murray River bridge, replaced 1989 [16]
Rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 2,357 km of Victorian broad gauge lines, and 1,912 km of standard gauge freight and interstate lines; the latter increasing with gauge conversion of the former. Historically, a few experimental 762 mm gauge lines were built, along with various private logging, mining and industrial railways. The rail network radiates from the state capital, Melbourne, with main interstate links to Sydney and to Adelaide, as well as major lines running to regional centres, upgraded as part of the Regional Fast Rail project.
Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira local government area in the Australian state of Victoria. In the 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation.
Benalla railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Benalla, and it opened on 18 August 1873.
Wangaratta railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of the same name, and opened on 28 October 1873.
The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne central business district to Albury railway station in the border settlement of Albury-Wodonga, serving the cities of Wangaratta and Seymour, and smaller towns in northeastern Victoria.
Oaklands is a town in the Riverina district of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town is located 615 kilometres south west of the state capital, Sydney and 105 kilometres north west of Albury. Oaklands is in the Federation Council local government area and at the 2021 census, had a population of 304.
The Oaklands railway line is a partly-closed railway line in New South Wales, Australia. It is a branch of the Main South line at The Rock, and heads in a south-westerly direction through the towns of Boree Creek and Urana, terminating at Oaklands.
The N Class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering in Somerton for V/Line between 1985 and 1987.
Devenish is a town in northern Victoria, Australia within the Rural City of Benalla local government area, 230 kilometres (143 mi) north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2011 census, Devenish and the surrounding area had a population of 360, declining to 197 by 2016.
El Zorro was an Australian railway operator hauling freight and infrastructure trains in Victoria and New South Wales.
The Diesel Electric Rail Motor (DERM) was a type of railmotor operated by the Victorian Railways in Australia.
The rail network of Melbourne, Australia, has a significant number of railway lines and yards serving freight traffic. Rail transport in Victoria is heavily focused on Melbourne, and, as a consequence, much of the state's rail freight passes through the metropolitan network.
The Western standard gauge railway line is a standard-gauge railway line in western Victoria, Australia. Completed in 1995, it forms part of the Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor and serves as the principal interstate rail link between Victoria and the western states. The line replaced a number of former broad gauge routes which were gauge converted, and today sees both intrastate and interstate freight traffic, as well as the twice weekly The Overland passenger service. Major towns on the route include Geelong, Ararat, Horsham and Dimboola.
The G Class are a class of diesel locomotive built by Clyde Engineering, Rosewater and Somerton for V/Line between 1984 and 1989.
The Albury line is a regional passenger rail service operated by V/Line in Victoria, Australia. It serves passengers between the state capital of Melbourne and the regional cities of Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga, and the NSW border city of Albury.
Sloane, New South Wales is a small locality whose main reason for being is its railway station and wheat silo. The area was named after Alexander Sloane, one of the pioneers of the Riverina, who owned the grazing properties Savernake Station and Mulwala Station.
The Victorian Railways' (VR) Royal Trains operated to transport members of the royal family on their numerous tours of Australia on the Victorian rail network. The same carriages were also used for a number of vice-regal trains for the governor-general of Australia and the governor of Victoria. The last Royal Train ran in 1988.
The Portland railway line is a railway line in south-western Victoria, Australia. It runs from the main Western standard gauge line at Maroona through Hamilton to the port town of Portland.
The Pinnaroo railway line ran east from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo near the South Australia / Victoria state border. The route continues into Victoria via the Victorian Railways line to Ouyen where it joined the Mildura line.
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