The Pinnaroo railway line is a closed, but intact, railway line in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It branches off the Adelaide-Wolseley line at

Tailem Bend Tailem Bend (locally, "Tailem") is a rural town in South Australia, south-east of the state capital of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the River Murray, near where the river flows into Lake Alexandrina (South Australia), Lake Al ...

and extends to the Victorian state border, beyond Pinnaroo.

History

The line opened from

to Pinnaroo on 14 September 1906, being extended to the state border on 29 July 1915. When the Adelaide to Wolseley line was closed east of Tailem Bend for

gauge conversion Track gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another. In general, requirements depend on whether the conversion is from a wider gauge to a narrower gauge or vice versa, on how the ...

, the Pinnaroo line became part of the main line between

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

for two weeks in April 1995. Journey times increased by 10 to 12 hours. In May 1995, it was announced that the line west of Pinnaroo would be gauge converted from

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

. Work on the conversion of the line was delayed until 1996, due to a large grain crop and increased traffic by trains destined for

Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. The town, north of the city of Melbourne, lies on the northern bank of the Murray ...

and

Yarrawonga Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira Local government in Australia, local government area in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. In the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, Yarrawonga had a population of 8,661 people. ...

in regional Victoria that were on the broad gauge network. A small part of the line converted in 1996, was converted back for the 1997 grain harvest. To continue the journey to Adelaide, the grain was transshipped at Tailem Bend. The last broad gauge train operated on 2 July 1998 with the line reopening on 25 November 1998. As the Victorian line remained broad gauge, trains could no longer operate over the entire length with Pinnaroo becoming a

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and railroad car, rolling stock g ...

point. On 1 November 1997, Australian Southern Railroad acquired a 50-year lease on the rail corridor and total ownership of the rail infrastructure as part of Australian National's South Australian freight assets sale to ASR. The line became disused in July 2015 after

Viterra Viterra Limited is a Canadian grain handling business, that began as the nation's largest grain handler, with its historic formative roots in prairie grain-handling cooperatives, among them the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. Viterra Inc grew into a g ...

announced that no more grain would be carried by rail after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road. As the South Australian line became disused, the Victorian government was upgrading part of its end of the line for regional freight. The lease of the land and ownership of the rail infrastructure passed to Aurizon in 2022, following their purchase of One Rail Australia (the final successor of Australian Southern Railroad). Aurizon lists the line as open, but it is not currently used by any trains.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Closed railway lines in South Australia Railway lines closed in 2015 Standard-gauge railways in Australia