Robinvale railway line – Wikipedia

Robinvale
Status	Open for freight to Manangatang, closed beyond Manangatang.
Connecting lines	Eaglehawk-Inglewood railway line, Kulwin railway line, Mildura line
Former connections	Wedderburn Line
Stations	12 (some demolished)
Type	VicRail passenger service (former) and freight line
System	Pacific National
Services	Grain to Boort, Quambatook and Manangatang, containers from Ultima
Rolling stock	various
Opened	1924
Completed	1926
Closed	18 January 2008 (Manangatang to Robinvale)[1]
Line length	301.346 km (187.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Route map 209.099 Mildura line at Dunolly 229.875 Llanelly 236.000 Arnold Block Point 248.741 Inglewood 255.252 Kurting Wedderburn 280.863 Korong Vale Crossing Loop 281.420 Korong Vale 289.313 Borung 291.000 Mysia Block Point 308.112 Boort G.E.B Siding 309.971 Boort 323.157 Barraport 329.154 Gredgwin 336.341 Oakvale 344.000 Quambatook Block Point 345.341 Quambatook 357.894 Cannie 369.138 Lalbert 380.565 Meatian 394.003 Ultima 396.000 Ultima Block Point 403.046 Gowanford 413.723 Waitchie 426.472 Chillingollah 439.533 Chinkapook 448.787 Cocamba 456.200 Manangatang 457.280 Manangatang Block Point 465.464 Bolton 472.333 Koimbo 479.143 Annuello 472.333 Koimbo 488.225 Margooya approx. 490 Stopping Place No.25 497.148 Bannerton 510.445 Robinvale approx. 513 Euston (never opened) approx. 521 Benanee (never opened) approx.531 Koorakee (never opened) unknown Lette (never opened)

The Robinvale railway line is a freight only country railway line in north-western Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the Mildura line at Dunolly, and at Inglewood the Eaglehawk – Inglewood line connects with the Piangil line outside Bendigo. The parallel Kulwin line junctions from the Robinvale line at Korong Vale then continues northward.^[2]

History[edit]

The line was opened from Inglewood to Korong Vale in 1882, and first extended towards Charlton as part of what is now the Kulwin line. The line from Korong Vale to Boort opened in 1883, and to Quambatook in 1894. It was extended to Ultima in 1900, to Chillingollah in 1909, to Manangatang in 1914, to Annuello in 1921, and Robinvale in 1924. In 1930, it was extended to Koorakee, New South Wales, as part of the proposed Lette railway line, although that section was never officially opened for traffic. The extension into New South Wales involved the construction of a lift-span bridge over the Murray River.^[3] The section in New South Wales closed in 1943.^[4]

Access to Melbourne was originally from the Bendigo line via Bridgewater, until the opening of the Dunolly to Inglewood route to the Mildura line in 1888.

The last regular passenger service on the line, operated by a DERM, ran from Bendigo to Robinvale on 3 June 1978.^[5] From 5 June 1978, the service was replaced by Bendigo – Ultima and Swan Hill – Robinvale buses.^[5]

Lette railway line[edit]

The Lette railway line was a proposed extension running from Robinvale in Victoria to Lette in New South Wales, Australia. The line from Anneullo to Robinvale in Victoria was opened on 5 June 1924, and a 60-kilometre (37 mi) extension to Lette was planned, being provided for under the Border Railways Act 1922. The extension, part of a scheme to foster closer settlement of the Riverina district of New South Wales,^[7] was to serve the locations of Euston, Benanee, Koorakee, Werimble, Mylatchie and Lette.^[8]

Construction[edit]

Work started on the railway in 1926, and the rail-road bridge across the Murray River at Robinvale, built as part of the project, was opened on 14 March 1928.^[7] Construction was halted for a time, but recommenced in April 1929, and in April 1930, a special train ran as far as Koorakee. Construction work continued towards Lette, but was never completed, and the section to Koorakee was never officially opened for traffic.

Closure[edit]

Trains on the line were operated by the Railways Construction Branch until construction was officially abandoned on 12 February 1943. The rail-road bridge was replaced in 2006 by a new road bridge. The lifting span of the former bridge has been placed in a nearby park, as a permanent historical display.^[9] The remains of the only other bridge on the line still exist today. The line to Robinvale is still open for freight trains, even though the section between Manangatang to Robinvale was closed in 2008.^[10]

Operation[edit]

Today the line operates using the Train Order Working system of safeworking, with just a single crossing loop at Korong Vale.^[11] Speed limits are set between 65 and 40 km/h (40 and 25 mph) to Manangatang, with all Victorian mainline locomotives permitted to run.

In 2008 the line was booked out for upgrades to the track and level crossings from Ultima to Robinvale.^[12] In April 2008, it was announced that the Korong Vale – Quambatook section of the line would be upgraded as part of the Victorian core grain network, in a $23.7 million package with six other lines. The Dunolly – Korong Vale section had already been upgraded.^[13]

In 2008, the line was cut back to Manangatang, and containers formerly loaded at Boort are now loaded at Donald (Mildura line). The Eaglehawk (Bendigo) – Inglewood link has had traffic suspended, and has been disconnected at the northern end. All trains run via Dunolly on the Mildura line. The line speed was cut to 25 km/h from Korong Vale to Lalbert, due to poor sleeper condition, then 40km/h beyond. While the Mildura line was being converted to standard gauge, the containers normally loaded at Merbein were loaded at Manangatang.

The line was scheduled to be converted to standard gauge after the conversion of the Mildura and Murrayville lines had been completed. That work was cancelled in 2019, due to the Murray Basin Rail Project, under which the conversion was to be done, running out of money.^[14]

Current operations are grain services as required, which are operated by Pacific National and Southern Shorthaul Railroad, as well as a container train service from Ultima to Victoria Dock, which is operated by QUBE Logistics.^[15]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Dodd, Ian; Dodd, Sophia (2018). Lette, the Railway that Never Opened. Little Catherine Books. ISBN 9780648245254.
• McNicol, Steve; Woodland, Tony (2010). Bridging the Murray: A Study of the Rail Crossings. Railmac Publications. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-86477-076-6.

External links[edit]