1922 Border Railways Act

1922 Border Railways Act

The 1922 Border Railways Act authorised the construction of cross border railways in the Riverina region of Australia. Despite being located in New South Wales, the region was closer to Victoria and their railway network, operated by the Victorian Railways. A further complication was that Victorian railways used 5' 3" gauge, while the New South Wales Government Railways used 4' 8½" gauge.

Background

The first Victorian 5' 3" line to be built into New South Wales was the Deniliquin - Moama line. Permission was granted to the private Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company by the New South Wales Government in 1874 to construct a line convert|45|mi|km long line from Moama on the Murray River north to Deniliquin, connecting with the Victorian railway system at the Murray Bridge, near Echuca. [cite web
url=http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/dc057c1016e548b4ca256c470025ff88/73d48ba2d3c1bb9bca2569de0028b417!OpenDocument
title=Private Railways
work=Year Book Australia, 1921
author=Australian Bureau of Statistics
publisher=www.abs.gov.au
accessdate=2008-07-20
] Opened in 1876, it was later purchased by the Victorian Railways.

This was followed in 1904 when the Victorian parliament authorised an extension of the Goulburn Valley line line convert|13.2|km|mi north from Strathmerton station, to the south bank of the Murray River across from Tocumwal, New South Wales. The line was opened in February 1905,cite journal | year = 1990 | month = March | title = Tracks Across the State | author = Sid Brown | journal = Newsrail | publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division) | pages = pages 71-76 ] and in April 1906 the two state Premiers (Thomas Bent and Joseph Carruthers) signed an agreement for a final convert|3.3|km|mi extension, into the town itself. The existing road bridge was strengthened and became the responsibility of Victoria, with both states sharing construction costs for the line. Opened in 1908, the profit (or loss) of operating the line would be Victoria's.cite book |author=Lee, Robert |title=The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing Ltd |date=2007 |isbn= 9780522851342 |page=p.133] In the station became a break-of-gauge in 1929 with extension of the NSWGR Tocumwal line. [cite web
url=http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:tocumwal
title=Tocumwal Branch
work=NSWrail.net
publisher=www.nswrail.net
accessdate=2008-07-20
]

The Act itself

The final stage was in 1917 when the Border Railways Commission (made up be representatives of both states) recommended favourably on the construction of four additional Victorian lines into New South Wales, the most important being a line from Swan Hill to Balranald. The culmination was the 1922 Border Railways Acts of both states, with the first action being the Victorian Railways taking over the Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company in 1923 at a cost of £165,000. The actual construction differened from that initially proposed.

* The Balranald line was to have left the Victorian network at Swan Hill, but instead branched from the Deniliquin line at Barnes. Opened in 1926, it is still open today as far as Moulamein for rice traffic. Services beyond there was suspended in 1986.

* The Murrabit - Stony Crossing line was next to open in 1928. It left the Swan Hill line at Kerang station but was no great success as it ran though marginal land, being closed in 1943.cite book |author=Lee, Robert |title=The Railways of Victoria 1854-2004 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing Ltd |date=2007 |isbn= 9780522851342 |page=p.134]

* The Yarrawonga - Oaklands line opened in 1938 and met the NSWGR Oaklands line at a break-of-gauge. It remains open today for grain traffic, but has an uncertain future due to the gauge conversion of the North East railway. [cite web
url=http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/newsroom/federal-state-co-operation-delivers-major-rail-project.html
title=Premier of Victoria, Australia - FEDERAL-STATE CO-OPERATION DELIVERS MAJOR RAIL PROJECT
publisher=www.premier.vic.gov.au
accessdate=2008-06-03
]

* The line from Robinvale to Lette never officially opened, but the Railway Construction Branch ran an annual train on it from 1932 until dismantling in 1943.

ee also

* Rail transport in Victoria
* Rail transport in New South Wales
* Rail gauge in Australia
* Riverina

References

External links

* New South Wales: [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/bra1922177/sch1.html Border Railways Act 1922]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Victorian Railways — The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take… …   Wikipedia

  • Victorian Railways — Train des Victorian Railways restauré aux couleurs des années 1960 Victorian Railways (les chemins de fer du Victoria) était une entreprise de transport ferroviaire, qui fonctionna dans l État australien du Victoria entre 1859 et 1983. Les… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Riverina — Note Eardley in turn relies on Hope, J. (1995) Aboriginal Burial Conservation in the Murray Darling Basin. Historic Environment . Vol. 11(2 3), p. 57 60. for section 5.4 Settlement and Land Use (page 22) which covers Aboriginal settlement. ] The… …   Wikipedia

  • Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company — The Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company s locomotive No.1, with Mixed Train, at Deniliquin on the Opening Day, 4 July 1876 The Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company was a railway company formed by a syndicate of Victorian capitalists to construct …   Wikipedia

  • Oaklands railway line, Victoria — Not to be confused with Oaklands railway line, New South Wales. Oaklands railway railway line, Victoria Line details Commenced 1883/1886 Length 64 km (39.8 mi) in Victoria and 61 km (37.9 mi) in NSW Rail transport in Victoria …   Wikipedia

  • Echuca railway line — Echuca railway line, Victoria Line details Length 251.99 km Stations 3 Tracks 1 …   Wikipedia

  • April 1922 in the United Kingdom — See also: March 1922 in the United Kingdom, May 1922 in the United Kingdom, and the Timeline of British history. Attitude of the UnionsAt the beginning of April the outlook in the engineering and shipbuilding disputes was very dark. On the 4th… …   Wikipedia

  • Swan Hill railway line, Victoria — VictorianRailwayLineInfobox type = vic name = Swan Hill yearcommenced = yearopened = yearcompleted = yearclosed = fate = lengthkm = stations = tracks = 1 users = servicepattern = RollingStock = connections = formerconnections = The Swan Hill line …   Wikipedia

  • Rail transport in New South Wales — Map of rail lines in NSW The Australian state of New South Wales has an extensive network of railways, which were integral to the growth and development of the state. The vast majority of railway lines were government built and operated, but… …   Wikipedia

  • Riverina — 35° S 146° E / 35, 146 La Riverina est une région agricole localisée au centre de la partie méridionale de la Nouv …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”