Wahgunyah railway line

The Wahgunyah railway is a closed railway line in the north-east of Victoria, Australia. Branching off the main North East railway at Springhurst, it ran north to Wahgunyah. The terminus was near the New South Wales Culcairn - Corowa railway, but no bridge was ever provided over the Murray River. As the two lines were of differing gauges and the stations 2.5 kilometres (1.25 miles) apart there was probably no particular benefit for the expense of building a bridge to connect the two differing systems.

Wahgunyah
Melbourne-Wahgunyah rail ticket from 1980
Overview
TypeVic
Stations3
Operation
Opened29 January 1879
Completed29 January 1879
Closed1 July 1995

History

The line was opened as a whole from Springhurst to Wahgunyah in 1879.[1] The passenger service was withdrawn on 13 April 1962, being the last mixed train service to operate in Victoria.[2]

Services were suspended in 1995,[1] and the line effectively closed. However the 'Green TRail Associates Group' operated a trolley service over the line between Wahgunyah and Rutherglen for a number of years, known as the 'Stringybark Express - Lil Red Postal Motor'.[3] In 2002 the line was handed back to the Victorian Government by lease holder Freight Australia,[1] and in 2006 it was announced that the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail would be built along the closed line, with 9 kilometres of trail.[4] This was completed in 2009.

Stations
  • Wahgunyah Railway Station, 29 January 1879 – 1 July 1995
  • Lilliput Railway Station
  • Rutherglen Railway Station, 29 January 1879 – 1 July 1995
  • Springhurst Railway Station, 21 November 1873 – present

Today

In its present form, the railway line is partially ripped up due to the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail along this line. Although being closed for over twenty years now, remnants of the once active rail line such as signs, track and sleepers are visible.

References
  1. "VICSIG - Infrastructure - Line Data Wahgunyah line". vicsig.net. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  2. Chris Banger (March 1997). "Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division). pp. 77–82.
  3. "Rutherglen Train, Stringybark Express". albury.net.au. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  4. "Murray to Mountains Rail Trail (North East Victoria) to be Extended". Rail Trails News. railtrails.org.au. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
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