The Mungindi railway line is a railway line in northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It branches from the Main North line at Werris Creek station and heads north-west through the towns of

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultur ...

and

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

before reaching Moree which for many years was the railhead before the extension to

Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...

was constructed. The line is currently truncated to

Weemelah Weemelah is a small village in Moree Plains Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is 3 km north off the Carnarvon Highway and 27 km east of Mungindi. At the , Weemelah had a population of 139. The main industry is agriculture. The Co ...

between Moree and Mungindi. Passenger trains still operate to Moree, and goods trains (mainly wheat) operate to Camurra. As of 1 September 2009, services have been suspended between Camurra and Weemelah. The line between Werris Creek and Moree is also known as the North-West line.''A History of the Mungindi Branch Line'' Milne, R.

Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions. The line opened from

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi, New South Wales, Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line, New South ...

in 1879,

in 1884 and Moree in 1897. Moree was for many years the railhead for the large sheep stations in the area, however the construction by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

of a railway close to the NSW border prompted the construction of a line from Moree to Mungindi, which is on the state border. The line opened in 1914, and effectively became considered an extension of the mainline from Werris Creek. The line traverses the black soil plains of the area, much of which are devoted to sheep grazing. In 1974, the line north of Weemelah was cut by flooding and the line was thus truncated at this location. On 1 September 2009, services were suspended between Camurra and Weemalah, however the decision was reversed in November 2009 when the line reopened in February 2010 after approximately 2,500 sleepers were replaced.

Branches

A branch line was opened from Moree to

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the No ...

in 1901, with proposals to extend it to Glen Innes, Grafton and Iluka at one time, but nothing came of this plan. This line closed in 1994. A branch line was opened between Camurra (11 km north of Moree) to

North Star, New South Wales North Star is a small village in the Gwydir Shire, located in northern New South Wales near the Queensland border. At the 2006 census, North Star had a population of 327 people in the surrounding area, with a population of around 50 in the act ...

and

Boggabilla Boggabilla is a small town in the far north of inland New South Wales, Australia in Moree Plains Shire. At the , the town had a population of 551, of which 63% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. The name Boggabilla c ...

in 1932. It is now closed beyond North Star. Another branch was opened from Narrabri to Burren in 1903 and it was extended to

Cryon Cryon is a parish and hamlet in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. It lies in the Walgett Shire and is situated from Sydney, west of Narrabri and east of Walgett on the Kamilaroi Highway. The settlement sits at an altitude of abou ...

in 1905 and

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

in 1908. This line is still open for freight only as far as Walgett wheat terminal. In 1906 a branch was opened from

Burren Junction Burren Junction is a New South Wales village 51 km west of Wee Waa, on the Kamilaroi Highway to Walgett. The name is from the local Aboriginal word for boomerang or 'big creek'. Burren Junction grew from a railway encampment which came from ...

to Pokataroo in 1906. The last of the line was closed past Merrywinebone in 1974, when it was damaged by floods. It is now only open for grain traffic.

Passenger service

Currently, a daily

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

Xplorer operates between Werris Creek (from

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 Moree. Until its cessation in November 1988, Moree was served by the overnight '' North West Mail''. In June 1959, an extension of the ''

Northern Tablelands Express The Northern Tablelands Express is a passenger train service in Australia operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941. History The ''Northern Tablelands Express'' has operated from Sydney via the Main ...

'' to Moree was introduced being operated by DEB set railcars."More Timetable Changes" ''Railway Digest'' November 1985 page 326 In June 1984, the service was taken over by XPTs and renamed the ''Northern Tablelands XPT'' with a DEB set connection between Werris Creek and Moree. In February 1990, the service was replaced by a road coach service. In 1993, the service was replaced with Xplorer DMU, initially operating to Tamworth on a day return but, upon delivery of sufficient rolling stock, direct services were provided to

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

and Moree, that once again divided at Werris Creek and this is how the train continues in service today."Xplorer Enters Service" ''Railway Digest'' November 1993 Between 1926 and 1974,

CPH railmotor The CPH (or 42 foot) rail motors were introduced by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1923 to provide feeder service on country branch lines. Introduction Often referred to as "Tin Hares", having evolved at the same time as the mechanica ...

s provided a passenger service between Moree and Mungindi connecting with the ''North West Mail'' usually three times per week.

The future

There are proposals to connect

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

's South-Western line from a point near

Goondiwindi Goondiwindi () is a rural town and locality in the Goondiwindi Region, Queensland, Australia. It is on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. In the , Goondiwindi had a population of 6,355 people. Geography Goondiwindi is on the MacInt ...

to North Star, either with a

bogie exchange Bogie exchange is a system for operating railway wagons on two or more gauges to overcome difference in the track gauge. To perform a bogie exchange, a car is converted from one gauge to another by removing the bogies or trucks (the chassis cont ...

dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...

to Moree or Narrabri. There are also proposals to extend the standard gauge to

Toowoomba railway station Toowoomba railway station is a heritage-listed railway station on the Western line at Russell Street, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It serves the city of Toowoomba, which is the junction for the Western, Main and Southe ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and/or

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. In 2008, CTC is being extended as far as

primarily for coal traffic.

References

{{Railway lines in New South Wales, state=collapsed Moree Plains Shire Railway lines opened in 1914 Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia

Branches

Passenger service

The future

See also

References