South Gippsland railway line, Victoria

VictorianRailwayLineInfobox
type = vic
name = South Gippsland
yearcommenced = 1888
yearopened =
yearcompleted = 1892
yearclosed = 1993
fate = Suburban Cranbourne line, South Gippsland Tourist Railway, Great Southern Rail Trail
lengthkm =
stations =
tracks =
users =
servicepattern =
RollingStock =
connections =
formerconnections =

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The South Gippsland railway line opened in 1892, branching from the Gippsland line at Dandenong, and extending to Port Albert. Much of it (the section up to Leongatha) remained in use until 1993 (the track up to Leongatha is still intact), however only a small portion is in use today, as the suburban Cranbourne line.

In addition to the Cranbourne line, the section from Nyora to Leongatha is used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway, and Leongatha to Foster has been converted to the Great Southern Rail Trail.

History

The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station to Punt Road (Richmond) and South Yarra in 1859 and extended to Dandenong in 1879. The South Gippsland railway line (also known as the Great Southern Railway) was opened from Dandenong to Cranbourne in 1888 and extended to Koo Wee Rup, Nyora and Loch in 1890, Korumburra and Leongatha in 1891 and Welshpool, Alberton and Port Albert in 1892. The section from Alberton to Port Albert was closed in the 1940s. A branch line was built from Alberton to Yarram and Woodside in 1921.

The line was well known for its sharp curves and spectacular scenery, and was also one of the last lines to offer a 'Mixed Passenger and Goods' service in Victoria. The section from Yarram to Woodside was closed in the early 1970s, with the section from Barry Beach Junction to Yarram closed in the 1980s when the mixed goods service closed. From this point until about 1992, the track beyond Agnes received minimal usage, although a short branch leading from Agnes to Barry Beach was used extensively for goods traffic to serve the oil platforms in Bass Strait.

The Barry Beach service ceased in 1992 and with it all usage of the train line beyond Leongatha. This section of track was then dismantled in 1994, requiring the strengthening of a bridge to allow the track machine onto the track to do the dismantling. The section from Nyora to Leongatha was transferred to the South Gippsland Railway in 1994 and trains have not operated beyond Cranbourne since 1998.cite journal
year = 1998
month = February
title = Farewell — The Sand Train
journal = Newsrail
publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)
pages = pages 71–76]

Branch lines

A 5km-long narrow-gauge horse-drawn tramway was built from Welshpool to Welshpool Jetty in 1905. It was closed in 1941.

The mountainous Strzelecki branch line was built from Koo Wee Rup to Strzelecki which opened in 1922. This line was closed in stages throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

The Wonthaggi branch line was built from Nyora to Wonthaggi opening in 1910 to serve the State Coal Mine, a small extension to the line was opened in 1917. The Wonthaggi line was closed in 1978.

The Outtrim branch line was built from Korumburra to the coal mine at Outtrim in two stages, the initial stage to Jumbunna was opening in 1894 with the final stage to Outtrim opening in 1896, The line was closed in two stages the first from Jumbunna to Outtrim on 4 September 1951 and then from Jumbunna to Korumburra on 1 October 1953.

ervices

Passenger services operated on the line since opening. Services from Melbourne to Leongatha and Yarram were withdrawn on June 6, 1981 with replacement buses starting 3 days later.cite journal
year = 1997
month = March
title = Rail Passenger Service Withdrawals Since 1960
author = Chris Banger
journal = Newsrail
publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)
pages = pages 77–82] The Yarram train was a loco hauled mixed train, while the Leongatha train was a DRC railcar hauling MTH carriages. To fill the gap local trains were introduced on a three month trial from Dandenong to Lang Lang, being withdrawn on October 3, 1981 due to insufficient patronage. Services to Leongatha were restored on December 9, 1984 but were again withdrawn on July 21, 1993.

The line became unused beyond Cranbourne which still retained a short shuttle service, except for a tourist operation to become known as South Gippsland Railway which commenced operation between Nyora and Leongatha. In 1995 the section between Dandenong and Cranbourne was electrified and a station added at Merinda Park, as part of a $27 million Federal Government funded project.cite book
last = Fiddian
first = Mark
title = Trains, Tracks, Travellers. A history of the Victorian Railways
publisher = South Eastern Independent Newspapers
year = 1997
page = page 154
isbn = 1 875475 12 5]

The Barry Beach freight service ceased in 1992 and with it all usage of the train line beyond Leongatha. By the mid 1990s only T, Y and P class diesel locomotives were used on the line from this time due to their low axle loads, with a 15 km/h speed limit applying to parts of the track. This continued until January 15, 1998 when the Koala Siding (near Nyora) to Spotswood sand train ceased operation.

Current status

The track beyond Leongatha to Yarram and the Barry Beach branch line was dismantled in 1994 (Although dismantling of other facilities along the line such as level crossing signals took place around mid to late 1992, not long after the last train ran to Barry Beach).

The section from Dandenong to Cranbourne was electrified in 1995 and is now part of the suburban rail network as the Cranbourne; while the line from Nyora to Leongatha is now used by the South Gippsland Tourist Railway. The remaining section of track from Cranbourne to Lang Lang is disused but still intact. The branch line from Nyora to Wonthaggi was closed in 1978 and later dismantled.

Prior to the 1999 Victorian election, the state Labor Party made a promise to return passenger services to Leongatha, which has not yet been met. However some bridges have been repaired between Leogatha and Korumburra which has allowed the South Gippsland Tourist railway to restore its services on this section of the track after it was prevented from using it due to the declining condition of the bridges. The first level crossing on the closed section of the line, the South Gippsland Highway crossing in Cranbourne has since been paved over.

In 2008 a report commissioned by the Victorian Department of Transport found the cost of returning passenger services to Leongatha to be unjustifiably high, at an estimated $72 million, and that only 20 per cent of respondents surveyed about their transport needs considered restoring train services to be the main priority. Instead $14.7 million will be spent on bus and coach service upgrades.Further, Minister Lynne Kosky (Minister for Public Transport) has stated that the State Government is providing funding for development of a Rail Trail between Cranbourne and Nyora to support tourism in South Gippsland. Such a move may cause the rail track to be lifted, thus ending any hope that the line may reopen in the future [cite web
url=http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/493DA3882B071AD3CA25743D000CD078/$FILE/MediaRelease-SouthGippsland-020508.pdf
title=GIPPSLAND PUBLIC TRANSPORT LINKS BOOSTED IN BUDGET
date=Date|2008-05-02
work=Media release from the Minister for Public Transport
publisher=www.doi.vic.gov.au
accessdate=2008-05-04 Communication from Minister Lynne Kosky, 03 June 2008.]

References

*cite web
url=http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/754A14B7BD86361FCA25743D0005919B/$FILE/Leongatha_Rail_Line_Review.pdf
title=Leongatha Rail Line: Reintroduction of Passenger Train Services (Review Summary & Transport Options Assessment Report)
date=May 1, 2007
author=TransNet Logistics
publisher=www.doi.vic.gov.au
accessdate=2008-05-04

External links

* [http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=infrastructure&section=lineguide&line=Leongatha Statistics and detailed schematic map] at the [http://www.vicsig.net/ vicsig] enthusiast website
*Photos: [http://photosbymerlin.fotopic.net/c921878.html Between Cranbourne and Clyde stations]