Piangil railway line

Piangil railway line
The line near Pyramid
Overview
Type V/Line passenger service
System V/Line, Pacific National
Connecting lines Eaglehawk – Inglewood line
Stations 5
Operation
Rolling stock N class locomotive and N carriages (V/Line), locomotive and grain hoppers (PN)
Technical
Line length 350 km (217 mi)
Number of tracks 1

The Piangil railway line (often referred to as the Swan Hill railway line) is in Victoria, Australia. It branches off the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo and currently has five stations.

Passenger services on the line are operated by V/Line as extensions of services to Bendigo from Southern Cross station in Melbourne.

In 2019, V-Line V/Locity railcars will begin to travel to the Swan Hill line.

History

Swan Hill-Kooloonong rail ticket 1977

The line was progressively extended from its junction with the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo. It opened to Raywood in 1882, Mitiamo in 1883, Pyramid and Kerang in 1884, and Swan Hill in 1890.[1] The line from Swan Hill was later extended, to Piangil in 1915, Kooloonong in 1920, and Yungera in 1926. The section from Kooloonong to Yungera was closed in 1957, and from Piangil to Kooloonong in 1981.[1] Parts of the former route beyond Piangil, including all of it beyond Kooloonong are preserved in the Piangil Yungera Railway Bushland Reserve.[2][3]

Swan Hill-Koondrook rail ticket 1977
Silos and goods crane at Kerang

The Koondrook branch line, built and operated by the Shire of Kerang, was opened in 1886. It was acquired by the Victorian Railways in 1952 and closed in 1981. Under the 1922 Border Railways Act, a branch opened from Kerang to Murrabit in 1924, which in 1928 was extended across the New South Wales border at the Murray River to Stony Crossing. Passenger services on the section beyond Murrabit had ended by 1932, and all services were suspended in 1943. Passenger services to Murrabit had ceased by the end of 1941. The line to Murrabit closed in 1961.[4]

Silos and loop siding at Lake Boga

The last passenger service from Swan Hill to Woorinen, a service for school children that was paid for by the Victorian Education Department and run by a 102hp Walker railmotor, was withdrawn on 17 December 1976. The last passenger service from Swan Hill to Piangil ran on 24 December 1976, again using a 102 hp Walker. Both services were replaced by buses.[5]

Swan Hill V/Line Service
h:mm
0:00
0.0 km
 Southern Cross (SSS)
Zone 1
0:07
4.9 km
 Footscray (FSY)
Zone 1
0:24
24.3 km
 Watergardens (SDM)
Zone 2
0:55
66.2 km
 Gisborne (GIS)
Zone 3
1:07
80.1 km
 Woodend (WED)
Zone 4
1:16
93.6 km
 Kyneton (KNT)
Zone 6
1:24
104.2 km
 Malmsbury (MMY)
Zone 7
1:40
127.3 km
 Castlemaine (CME)
Zone 9
2:00
159.4 km
 Kangaroo Flat (KFT)
Zone 12
2:08
164.2 km
 Bendigo (BDG)
Zone 13
 continues as Echuca V/Line Service
2:25
172.1 km
 Eaglehawk (EAG)
Zone 13
2:54
213.3 km
 Dingee (DGE)
Zone 17
3:23
251.4 km
 Pyramid (PYD)
Zone 21
3:52
291.9 km
 Kerang (KER)
Zone 25
4:40
347.3 km
 Swan Hill (SWH)
Zone 31
Standard timetabled journey
from Southern Cross

Yungera railway line
0.00 km
 Southern Cross (SSS)
Zone 1
5.6 km
 Footscray (FSY)
Zone 1
Sydenham line
25.1 km
 Watergardens (SDM)
Zone 2
Sunbury line
39.4 km
 Sunbury (SBY)
Zone 2
Bendigo line
164.2 km
 Bendigo (BDG)
Zone 13
Deniliquin line
172.1 km
 Eaglehawk (EAG)*
Zone 13
Eaglehawk–Inglewood line
to Robinvale & Kulwin lines
 Myer's Flat (Closed)
 Woodvale (Closed)
 Sebastian (Closed)
195.0 km
 Raywood (Closed)
 Tandarra (Closed)
213.3 km
 Dingee (DGE)
Zone 17
221.2 km
 Prairie (Closed)
231.09 km
 Mitiamo (Closed)
 Mologa (Closed)
251.4 km
 Pyramid (PYD)
Zone 21
 Mincha (Closed)
267.8 km
 Macorna (Closed)
 Tragowel (Closed)
 South Kerang (Closed)
291.9 km
 Kerang (KER)
Zone 25
Stony Crossing line
and Kerang–Koondrook Tramway
 Fairley (Closed)
308.2 km
 Lake Charm (Closed)
318.6 km
 Mystic Park (Closed)
 Tresco (Closed)
332.1 km
 Lake Boga (Closed)
 Pental (Closed)
347.3 km
 Swan Hill (SWH)
Zone 31
359.3 km
 Woorinen (Closed)
368.5 km
 Pira (Closed)
376.1 km
 Nyah West (Closed)
385.0 km
 Miralie (Closed)
389.4 km
 Piangil (Closed)
 Coonimur (Closed)
 Natya (Closed)
 Kooloonong (Closed)
 Koorkab (Closed)
 Yungera (Closed)

Incidents

On 5 June 2007, a fatal crash occurred between a semi-trailer and a train at a level crossing near Kerang. Eleven people died, all of whom were passengers on the train.

Proposed upgrade and extension

Silos and goods shed at Pyramid

In April 2008 it was announced that the Swan Hill – Piangil section of the track, along with six other lines, would be upgraded under a $23.7 million package of improvements to the Victorian core grain network.[6]

In October 2010, the Victorian government released a report into public transport options for the north-west of Victoria, which analysed nine proposals for improving services to the city of Mildura. One alternative investigated was an extension of the railway from Swan Hill to connect to the Mildura railway line at Ouyen.[7][8]

References

  1. 1 2 Sid Brown (March 1990). "Tracks Across the State". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 71–76.
  2. ↑ "Piangil - Yungera Railway Bushland Reserve". Parks Victoria. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Macfarlane, Neil (18 June 2015). "Submission to VEAC State Wide Assessment of Public Land" (PDF). Mid-Murray Field Naturalists Inc. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Hennell, David. "Poonboon" (PDF). The Times online. Australian Timetable Association Inc. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  5. ↑ Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail passenger service withdrawals since 1960". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 77–82.
  6. ↑ "$43m to upgrade rail freight lines". business.theage.com.au. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  7. ↑ Victorian Government press release - "NORTH WEST PUBLIC TRANSPORT REVIEW REPORT RELEASED", 13 October 2010
  8. ↑ North West Public Transport Review
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