Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia

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

Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia
The Pinnaroo railway line at Peake, South Australia
Overview
Status	Open, disused
Owner	Aurizon
Locale	Murray Mallee
Coordinates	35°23′S140°8′E / 35.383°S 140.133°E / -35.383; 140.133
Termini	Tailem Bend Pinnaroo
Service
System	Aurizon
History
Opened	14 September 1906 (1906-09-14)
Closed	31 July 2015 (2015-07-31)
Technical
Line length	265.2 km (164.8 mi)
Track length	144.1 km (89.5 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Old gauge	1600 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: view talk edit

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.

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 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. 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. Paringa–Barmera closed in 1984; Alawoona–Paringa closed in 1990; Tailem Bend–Alawoona closed in 1996. Galga–Waikerie closed in 1990. Converted to standard gauge in 1996.

History

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

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. 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.