The
Main Southern Railway is a major railway in
New South
Wales
, Australia.
It runs
through the Southern Highlands
, Southern
Tablelands, South
West Slopes and the Riverina
regions.
Description of route
The Main
Southern Railway commences as an electrified pair of tracks in the
Sydney
metropolitan area. Originally the line
branched from the Main Suburban railway line at Granville
, passing through the suburbs of Fairfield
and Cabramatta
to Liverpool
. However this section was later bypassed
with a more direct route from Lidcombe via Regents Park to
Cabramatta and then on to Liverpool. The former route through
Fairfield became known as the
Old Main South.
From Liverpool, the
line heads in a southerly direction to Campbelltown
and Macarthur, the current limit of
electrification and electrified passenger services.
The line
continues as a double non-electrified track south through the
Southern Highlands towns of Mittagong
and Goulburn
to Junee
on the Southern Plains. The line is
controlled from Junee by the
Australian Rail Track
Corporation.
Here the line becomes single track for the
remainder of its journey south to the state border with Victoria at
Albury
. The line then continues through northern
Victoria to Melbourne
.
Development of the line
In 26 September 1855 the first railway in New South Wales, the
Sydney–Granville
railway opened.
Exactly a year later, a branch was opened
from what was known as Parramatta Junction (the present day
Granville
) to Liverpool
. This line was extended to Campbelltown
in 1858, Picton
in 1863, Mittagong
in 1867, Marulan
in 1868, Goulburn
in 1869, Yass
Junction in 1876, Galong
, Harden-Murrumburrah
and Cootamundra
in 1877 and Junee and Bomen
(on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee
River
) in 1878. The Murrumbidgee River Rail
Bridge
was completed in 1881 and the line was extended to
Wagga
Wagga
, Uranquinty
, The Rock
, Henty
and Albury in 1881. Victorian
Railways' North
East broad gauge line was
extended from Wodonga
to Albury station in 1883. To accommodate
the break of gauge, a very long railway platform was needed; the
covered platform is one of the longest in Australia (photograph to
the right).
The section between Picton and Mittagong was replaced by a less
direct route in 1919 to ease the steep grades of the original
alignment, and the old line became known as the
Picton- Mittagong loop
railway line which is now largely closed.
Other sections of the
original Great South Line between Goulburn and Wagga Wagga were
also replaced by more curvy sections with lower grades in the early
20th century, including a rail spiral at Bethungra
.
Construction of a standard gauge track
parallel with the broad gauge track from Albury to Melbourne was commenced in 1959, completing the Sydney-Melbourne railway.
The first freight train operating on the line on January 3, 1962,
followed by the first passenger train on
April
16 the same year.
Branches
Several lines branched from the Main South, some of which are
in-part or fully closed.
- The
Bombala
Line was opened from Goulburn to Bungendore
in 1885, Queanbeyan
in 1887, Cooma
in 1889, Nimmitabel
in 1912 and Bombala
in 1921. This line south of Queanbeyan
served largely pastoral country and therefore it did not have any
major freight traffic and it was closed in 1986.
- The
Canberra Branch
, an 8 km branch line from Queanbeyan to
Canberra
, was opened in 1914. A 34 km branch line
from Bungendore to Captains Flat
was opened in 1940 and closed in 1969, a few years
after the closure of the local mines.
- The
Crookwell
Line opened from Goulburn to Crookwell
in 1902; it closed in 1985. A branch line was
opened off it from a junction at Roslyn to Taralga
in 1926; it closed in 1957.
- The
Yass Branch, a 5km-long line between Yass Junction
and Yass, opened in 1892 and it closed about
1958.
- The
Grenfell
branch was built from Koorawatha Junction (31 km south
of Cowra) to Grenfell
in 1901. This line is now closed beyond
Greenthorpe. A branch was built from Cowra to Canowindra
in 1910 and Eugowra in 1922, but is now
closed.
- The
Tumut
line was completed from Cootamundra to Gundagai
in 1886 and extended to Tumut
in 1903, and a branch from it was built to Batlow
and Kunama
in 1923. The line past Batlow was closed 1957 and the rest
were closed after flood damage in 1984.
- The Yanco-
Griffith connection was completed between Yanco and
Griffith on the line between Cootamundra, Hillston and Roto in
1922. This line is still used by passenger trains once a week.
- The Kywong branch
opened from Uranquinty to Kywong in 1929 and closed in 1975.
Passenger services
Commuter services
Electric commuter passenger trains operate from Sydney between
Lidcombe and Macarthur as part of the
CityRail network.
Self propelled diesel railmotors operate
south from Campbelltown to Goulburn on an irregular frequency as part of the Southern
Highlands line service of CityRail.
Country services
Prior to 1962, travelling south of Albury into Victoria required a
change of trains (due to gauge differences between NSW and
Victoria) and often an overnight stay. From 1956, a daylight
connection was introduced between Sydney and Melbourne whereby a
train from Sydney connected at Albury with a train to Melbourne and
vice versa. In 1962, the railway south of Albury became
standardised, and this allowed through operation of trains between
Sydney and Melbourne. Between 1962 and 1991, the Main South was
served by the
Intercapital
Daylight, a locomotive hauled limited stop passenger
train. Operated jointly by the
New South Wales Government
Railways and the
Victorian
Railways, the
Intercapital was the pride of the
railways in its heyday. The
Spirit of Progress was the
corresponding overnight service between Sydney and Melbourne, and
in 1962 this was joined by a new limited stops service, the
Southern Aurora. The
Southern Aurora became the premier fast service, and the
Spirit of Progess began to serve more intermediate
stops.
Until 1982, locomotives were exchanged at Albury for a locomotive
of the respective state that the train was entering. The
South
Mail operated between Sydney and Albury until its replacement
in 1984 by the
South XPT. In 1985, the
Southern
Aurora and the
Spirit of Progress were merged into
the
Sydney Express
(or Melbourne depending on the direction). In 1992, airline
deregulation and falling patronage saw the
Intercapital
Daylight replaced by a coach service between Melbourne and
Albury, connecting with the
South XPT at Albury. In 1993,
the delivery of additional
XPT
rollingstock saw the introduction of a through overnight XPT
service between Sydney and Melbourne, replacing the
Express, and a through daylight service from 1994 . In
2007, passenger service remains a twice daily XPT between Sydney
and Melbourne, a daytime and an overnight service.
See also
References
- Banger, C. The Intercapital Daylight, 1956-1991
Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, Vol 52 No. 764.
June 2001
was a 610mm gauge line was built in about
1907 from Goondah (between Bowning
and Binalong
) to Burrinjuck for the construction of the Burrinjuck
Dam
and closed in 1929, following the completion of
construction.
in 1915 and closed in 1987.
in 1885, and extended to Cowra
in 1886 and Blayney
on the Main Western Line in 1888.
and Temora
in 1893, Barmedan and Wyalong
in 1903, and West
Wyalong
, Ungarie
and Lake Cargelligo
in 1917.
in 1918, which is now part of the main route for
freight trains between Sydney
.
in 1908, Griffith
in 1916, Hillston
in 1923 and the Broken Hill line
at Roto in 1931. The line between Hillston and Roto was
closed in 1986.
in 1923.
, Yanco
and Wilbriggie
in 1881 and Hay
in 1882. The line west of Wilbriggie was
closed in 1985.
in 1884 and Finley
and Tocumwal
in 1898. The Victorian Railways were extended to
Tocumwal in 1908, creating a break-of-gauge. The branch from
Narrandera to Tocumwal is now closed, although proposed for
reopening as part of a standard gauge inland route between Managalore, Victoria; Parkes, New
South Wales
; Toowoomba, Queensland
and Brisbane
.
in 1917 and Tumbarumba
in 1921. It climbed the foothills of the Australian
Alps
, but was expensive to maintain and did not have the
grain traffic that supported the westerly branches. This was
closed in 1974.
in 1901 and Oaklands
in 1912. The Victorian Railways 1600mm gauge line was
extended to Oaklands in 1938, creating a break-of-gauge. The line has been
closed beyond Boree Creek
.
in 1920.
to Corowa
in 1892 and closed in the 1990s.
in 1902 and closed in the 1980s.
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