Mount Gambier-Heywood railway line
Mt Gambier-Heywood rail ticket 1979
Overview
StatusClosed, Dormant
LocaleLimestone Coast, South Australia
Barwon South West, Victoria
Termini
Continues fromMount Gambier–Wolseley line
Continues asPortland line
Service
SystemSouth Australian Railways
Victorian Railways
Operator(s)Victorian Railways
History
OpenedHeywood–Dartmoor: 22 June 1916
Dartmoor–state border: 28 November 1917
State border–Mount Gambier: 28 November 1917
Closed11 April 1995
Technical
Line length90.8 km (56.4 mi)
Track gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map

 Continued as Mount Gambier railway line
 Mount Gambier
 Murrawa
 Glenburnie
 Kromelite
 Rennick
 Malanganee
 Puralka
 Marp
 Dartmoor
 Winnap
 Greenwald
 Lyons
 Drumborg
 Heywood
 to Portland
[1][2][3]

Mount Gambier–Heywood railway line is a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) line located in Australia which operated from 27 November 1917 to 11 April 1995 between Mount Gambier in the state of South Australia and Heywood in the state of Victoria. It is one of two railway lines built by both state governments following an agreement in 1912 to connect to each other's railway networks. There has been calls for standardisation over the past two decades from Heywood to Wolseley since the Melbourne to Adelaide line was converted in 1995.

Naming

The line is gazetted as the "Mount Gambier–Heywood Railway" by both the South Australian and Victorian governments.[1][4] This name was also used in a report jointly published by the two state governments in 2009.[5]

Newspaper reports published in both states about the railway line before its opening used the title "Portland–Mount Gambier Railway."[6][7][8] Some sources published in Victoria refer to the line as the "Mount Gambier line."[3]

History

The South Australian and Victorian governments agreed on 28 November 1912 to connect their respective railway networks at two places by constructing lines between Heywood and Mount Gambier and between Murrayville in Victoria and Pinnaroo in South Australia with legislation subsequently passed by both parliaments being enacted on 14 December 1912 and 23 December 1912 respectively.[9][10]

The agreement between the two state governments gave the responsibility for the construction of the line between Heywood and Mount Gambier to the Government of Victoria and the responsibility for the line between Murrayville and Pinnaroo to the Government of South Australia.[9] The section of line between Heywood and Dartmoor was completed on 22 June 1916 with the remainder of the line being complete on 28 November 1917.[3]

The railway line opened for business on 28 November 1917 without any "special ceremony" and with passenger services scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.[8]

The rail service between Mount Gambier and Heywood was suspended on 11 April 1995 due to the standardization of the gauges of the Melbourne–Adelaide and the Maroona-Portland lines.[5][3] The South Australian section of the line between Mount Gambier and Rennick was used by the tourist service, the Limestone Coast Railway, until 20 March 1999.

In 2009, the South Australian and Victorian governments published an action plan for freight services within the Green Triangle Region which advised that projected volumes of woodchip intended for export from the Port of Portland in the years 2012–2015 would make a restored Mount Gambier–Heywood rail line a "potentially … commercially viable" operation.[5] In 2020 the Limestone Coast Regional Development Board conducted a feasibility study with the CSIRO to build a Freight Department at the Glenburnie Saleyards to reopen the line to Heywood and connect with the Melbourne to Adelaide network but is still being pursued for government standardisation.

Due to the construction of a public space park where Mount Gambier railway station once stood in 2015, the line is no longer connected to the Millicent and Wolseley lines only with a two track easement left in its space for right of way.

Stations

Stations included the following: (from west to east):[11][2]

  • Mount Gambier
  • Murrawa, Glenburnie and Kromelite which are all located in the locality of Glenburnie
  • Rennick (and the following are all located in Victoria)
  • Malanganee
  • Puralka
  • Marp
  • Dartmoor
  • Winnap
  • Greenwald
  • Lyons
  • Drumborg
  • Heywood

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Search result for "Mount Gambier-Heywood Railway (Railway)" (Record no SA0046899) with the following layers being selected - "Suburbs and Localities" and "Place names (gazetteer)"". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Railway Map of Victoria 1920" (PDF). Victorian Railway Maps 1860 – 2000. Victorian Railways Resources. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mount Gambier Line". Vicsig. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Search result for "Mount Gambier-Heywood Railway" (Place name ID 18208)". VIC NAMES – The Register of Geographic Names. Government of Victoria. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 South Australia. Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (2009), Green triangle region freight action plan, A Joint Initiative of the Victorian and South Australian Governments (PDF), Dept for Transport, Energy & Infrastructure : [Dept of Infrastructure], pp. 51–53, retrieved 4 May 2017
  6. ↑ "PORTLAND MOUNT GAMBIER RAILWAY". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXVII, no. 20, 521. South Australia. 19 August 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 5 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "PORTLAND-MOUNT GAMBIER RAILWAY". Hamilton Spectator. No. 8154. Victoria, Australia. 28 September 1911. p. 6. Retrieved 5 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. 1 2 "Mt. Gambier to Portland, opening of the railway". Portland Guardian. Vol. LXXV, no. 7209. Victoria, Australia. 28 November 1917. p. 3 (EVENING). Retrieved 4 May 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 "The South Australian and Victorian Border Railways Act (No 1097 of 1912)" (PDF). Government of South Australia. pp. 1, 8 & 9. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "The South Australian and Victorian Border Railways Act 1912" (PDF). Government of Victoria. pp. 455 & 464. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Search result for "Feature type: RAILWAY STATION" in "Municipality: GLENELG SHIRE" for "Place Name Status: REGISTERED" with box "Geographic Names Register Only" selected". VIC NAMES – The Register of Geographic Names. Government of Victoria. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
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