The Port Fairy - Warrnambool Rail Trail is a 37 kilometre rail trail in southwestern

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 ...

, Australia. The official opening of the trail took place on 31 May 2012 at the

Koroit Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green past ...

Railway station building. The trail begins in

Port Fairy Port Fairy (historically known as Belfast) is a coastal town in south-western Victoria, Australia. It lies on the Princes Highway in the Shire of Moyne, west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne, at the point where the Moyne River enters the ...

, running north then east through Koroit where it turns back southeast to

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

. About two thirds is within Moyne Shire and one third within Warrnambool City. The overall construction cost of the project was approximately $2.2 million. The trail from Port Fairy to Illowa follows the path of a former branch line which ran from Port Fairy to Warrnambool and connected with the Melbourne-Ararat line, via Hamilton. This branch line was commissioned in 1884, completed in 1890. It served primarily to connect the ports of Warrnambool and Port Fairy with destinations inland. With declining port usage, the line closed in 1977. The trail from Illowa to Warrnambool is not on the former rail track alignment, as that section of the rail reservation has been utilized for a realignment of the Princes Highway. Instead, from Lane's Lane to Millers Lane, the trail follows the old alignment of the Princess Highway (now called Illowa Road) for several kilometres on a dedicated bicycle lane beside the roadway. The bicycle lane has been fenced off to provide greater safety. From the end of Millers Lane, the trail continues south off-road across Kelly's Swamp, then east parallel to the coast to Levy's Point. From there, the trail largely follows the cutting of the Merri River virtually all the way to the end of the trail at the Warrnambool Breakwater.http://www.portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com/documents/RailTrailMap_000.pdf File:Port Fairy Station Stevage.jpg, Old station building at Port Fairy. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 1 Stevage.jpg, Leaving Port Fairy. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 2 Stevage.jpg, Information board, leaving Port Fairy. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 4 Stevage.jpg File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 7 Stevage.jpg, Remnant bushland, between Port Fairy and Koroit. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 9 Stevage.jpg, Kirkstall station site. File:Koroit Station Stevage.jpg, Koroit Station File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 11 Stevage.jpg, Ilowa Road. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 12 Stevage.jpg, Kelly Swamp section. File:Port Fairy Warrnambool Rail Trail 13 Stevage.jpg, Outskirts of Warrnambool.

External links

Port Fairy to Warrnambool Rail Trail
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References

*http://www.bv.com.au/change-the-world/11084/ *http://www.railtrails.org.au/states/trails.php3?action=trail&trail=39 *http://www.portfairytowarrnamboolrailtrail.com/ Rail trails in Victoria (Australia) Warrnambool {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub