The Stockinbingal–Parkes railway line (also known as the 'Forbes line') is a railway line in New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

which connects

Stockinbingal Stockinbingal is a town in the South West Slopes and Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council local government area and on the Burley Griffin Way. At the , Stockinbingal had a pop ...

on the Main South line with Parkes on the Main West line. The line has come to be part of the main route for goods trains travelling between

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and the west of NSW and beyond, allowing trains to bypass the steep grades and passenger services on the Blue Mountains section of the Main West line. Western goods trains were rescheduled to operate over this line in lieu of the Blue Mountains from 1993 when the now-defunct ''National Rail'' company commenced interstate freight haulage. The line opened between Parkes and Forbes in 1893, and Forbes and Stockinbingal in 1918. Passenger services were operated by CPH railmotors until their withdrawal between Stockinbingal and Forbes in October 1974. Services operated between Parkes and Forbes until 1983, consisting of a ''Mail'' train and a rail-motor service. No regular passenger services use the line, although Main West line passenger services occasionally divert over the line when trackwork closes the regular route. The line is owned by the Transport Asset Holding Entity of New South Wales, however it is leased by the Australian Rail Track Corporation who are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the line.

References

Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1918 {{NewSouthWales-rail-transport-stub

See also

References