The Pinnaroo Line serviced the agricultural districts of the Mallee in the Australian states of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
for the freight of grain, although there were periods of passenger travel on the line in previous years (the last passenger service between Ouyen in Victoria and Pinnaroo in South Australia being in 1968).
The railway line was the means to open up the agricultural lands with the supply of goods and services from rural centres sustaining the remote area. It was completed from
Ouyen
Ouyen is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the Rural City of Mildura at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway, south of Mildura, and northwest of Melbourne. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,045.
His ...
to
Murrayville in 1912 and extended to
Pinnaroo in 1915. In 1996 The line stopped at
Panitya due to gauge conversion at the state border when the South Australian end was converted to standard gauge.
It was booked out of service on 4 October 2007.
As part of the
Murray Basin Rail Project
The Murray Basin Rail Project is a major railway project in the north-west of Victoria, Australia. The project includes the conversion of a substantial portion of the Victorian freight rail network from the historical broad gauge to the standard ...
, the line from Ouyen to
Murrayville was upgraded to 19 tonnes axle loading and converted to standard gauge in 2018.
References
{{reflist
Railway lines in Victoria (Australia)
Standard gauge railways in Australia