The Northern Railway has had a number of meanings in

Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

railway history.

Northampton Line

Opening in 1879 the Northern Line originated as a service between

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

port and mines at Northampton. It later extended to

Ajana Ajana is a townsite within the Shire of Northampton in Western Australia. It is located at the junction of Ajana-Kalbarri Road and Ajana Back Road, by road north of Northampton, by road southwest of Kalbarri, and west-northwest of Perth in t ...

. It was the first government built railway in Western Australia; other lines had been built prior to this date, but they were privately built. The Northampton line was serviced by two Fairlie double ended steam engines (which were some of the few to run in Australia) and two Kitson engines. The Northampton line was closed in 1957.

Midland Railway

In 1886 the government of Western Australia contracted West Australian Midland Land and Railway Syndicate to build the

Midland Railway of Western Australia The Midland Railway of Western Australia (MRWA) was a railway company that built and operated the Midland line in Western Australia. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Although having its headquarters in London, it had no associatio ...

line between Guildford and Walkaway. The contract was authorised under the Guildford–Greenough Flats (Walkaway) Railway Act of 1886, and included a grant of Crown land in return for construction. From Walkaway to

there was no Crown land available to grant and the government employed Edward V. H. Keane to construct this section for them completing the link from Perth to Northampton line, which opened 1 July 1887.

Northern Railway

Built by the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...

during the 1890–1900 the Northern Railway provided for passenger and freight services from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

into the Murchison Goldfields. There was a branch line from Cue to the mining town of Big Bell. After the completion of the line to Cue work commenced on the line to Nannine, it was not until 1909 that the line was extended from Nannine to Meekatharra and for a while to Wiluna. During the 1970s passenger services were terminated at Mullewa with services to places further along the line being replaced by road coach, while the overnight passenger service "

The Mullewa ''The Mullewa'' was an overnight passenger train operated by the Western Australian Government Railways between Perth and Mullewa in the Mid West Region via the Eastern and Northern lines. History ''The Mullewa'' commenced operating on 30 ...

" ceased altogether 1974.

Joondalup Line

During the pre-construction stages the

Joondalup line The Joondalup line is a commuter rail service in Western Australia, linking the Perth central business district (CBD) with the metropolitan area's north-western suburbs. The service is operated on the Northern Suburbs Railway by Transperth Tra ...

was referred to as the Northern line or Northern suburbs line.Gallop government delivers northern rail extension on time and budget
Public Transport Authority 4 October 2004

Northern Railway in annual reports

The Annual Report for the

in 1948 shows the subdivisions of the Northern Railway as: * Geraldton – Northampton * Northampton – Ajana * Wokarina – Naraling * Naraling – Yuna * Geraldton – Walkaway * Narngulu – Mullewa * Mullewa – Cue * Mt Magnet – Sandstone * Cue – Big Bell * Cue – Nannine * Nannine – Meekatharra * Meekatharra – Paroo * Paroo – Wiluna

References

External links

http://heritage.wa.gov.au/register/PDF_Files/R%20-%20A-D/13253%20RwCottBluffPt(P-AD).PDF