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Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) | ||
The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.
Contents
Description of route
The Main Southern Railway commences as an electrified pair of tracks in the Sydney metropolitan area. Originally the line branched from the Main Suburban railway line at Granville, passing through Fairfield and Cabramatta to Liverpool. However this section was later bypassed with a more direct route from Lidcombe via Regents Park to Cabramatta. The former route through Fairfield became known as the Old Main South. From Liverpool, the line heads into Campbelltown and Macarthur, the current limit of electrification and suburban passenger services. The electrification previously extended to Glenlee colliery, but this was removed following the cessation of electric haulage of freight trains in the 1990s.
The line continues as a double non-electrified track south through the Southern Highlands towns of Mittagong and Goulburn to Junee on the Southern Plains. Here the line becomes single track for the remainder of its journey south to the state border with Victoria at Albury. The North East railway line then continues through northern Victoria to Melbourne.
The line north of Macarthur is maintained by RailCorp. South of Macarthur the line is leased to the Australian Rail Track Corporation until 2064.
Development of the line
On 26 September 1855 the first railway in New South Wales, the Sydney–Granville railway opened. Exactly a year later, a branch was opened from what was known as Parramatta Junction (the present day Granville) to Liverpool. This line was extended to Campbelltown in 1858, Picton in 1863, Mittagong in 1867, Marulan in 1868, Goulburn in 1869, Yass Junction in 1876, Galong, Harden-Murrumburrah and Cootamundra in 1877 and Junee and Bomen (on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee River) in 1878. The Murrumbidgee River Railway Bridge was completed in 1881 and the line was extended to Wagga Wagga, Uranquinty, The Rock, Henty and Albury in 1881. Victorian Railways' North East 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge line was extended from Wodonga to Albury station in 1883. To accommodate the break of gauge, a very long railway platform was built, the covered platform being one of the longest in Australia.
The original alignment was built under the supervision of John Whitton, Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Railways from 1856 to 1898.
The original single track was duplicated from Granville to Liverpool in 1857, to Campbelltown in 1891, to Picton in 1892. Between 1913 and 1922 the 343 km (213 mi) section from Picton to Cootamundra was duplicated. At the same time, the section between Picton and Mittagong was deviated by a less direct route in 1919 to ease the steep grades of the original alignment, and the old line became known as the Picton – Mittagong loop railway line which is now largely closed. (The Main Southern Railway Deviation, was estimated in the 1914 Act of Parliament to have construction costs of £630,353). Other sections of the original Whitton alignment between Goulburn and Wagga Wagga were also replaced by more curvy sections with lower grades. The section from Cootamundra to Junee, including a rail spiral at Bethungra, was duplicated between 1941 and 1945.
Construction of a standard gauge track parallel with the broad gauge track from Albury to Melbourne commenced in 1959, completing the Sydney–Melbourne railway. The first freight train operated on the line on 3 January 1962, followed by the first passenger train on 16 April 1962.
The original wrought iron Murrumbidgee River Railway Bridge at Wagga Wagga was replaced in 2007 by a new concrete and steel bridge.
The main line south of Junee was substantially upgraded in 2007 and 2008, including the construction of passing loops up to 7 kilometres (4.3 mi).
Redbank Tunnel near Tahmoor closed on 30 November 2012 when replaced by a deviation funded by Xstrata to allow expansion of its Tahmoor Colliery under the tunnel which was sealed.
In January 2013 the Australian Rail Track Corporation opened the Southern Sydney Freight Line between Sefton and Macarthur as a dedicated line for freight services.
Branches
Several lines branched from the Main South, some of which are closed either fully or in part:
Commuter services
Electric commuter passenger trains operate between Sydney and Macarthur as part of the T2. Diesel railcars operate south from Campbelltown to Goulburn on an irregular frequency as part of the Southern Highlands Line.
Country services
Prior to 1962 travelling south of Albury into Victoria required a change of trains (due to gauge differences between NSW and Victoria) and often an overnight stay. From March 1956 a daylight connection was introduced between Sydney and Melbourne whereby a train from Sydney connected at Albury with a train to Melbourne and vice versa. In 1962 the railway south of Albury was converted to standard gauge, allowing through operation of trains between Sydney and Melbourne. Between April 1962 and August 1991, the Main South was served by the Intercapital Daylight, a locomotive hauled limited stop passenger train. It was operated jointly by the New South Wales Government Railways and the Victorian Railways with the former's air-conditioned rolling stock. Two overnight services also ran, the limited stops Southern Aurora and the Spirit of Progress. Until 1982 locomotives were exchanged at Albury for a locomotive of the respective state that the train was entering.
The South Mail operated overnight between Sydney and Albury until it ceased in June 1985. In August 1986 the Southern Aurora and the Spirit of Progress were merged into the Sydney/Melbourne Express. In August 1991, airline deregulation and falling patronage saw the Intercapital Daylight replaced by a coach service between Melbourne and Albury, connecting with the Riverina XPT at Albury. In November 1993 the delivery of additional XPT rollingstock saw the introduction of a through overnight XPT service between Sydney and Melbourne, replacing the Sydney/Melbourne Express, and the Riverina XPT extended to Melbourne from December 1994.
As at December 2014, NSW TrainLink services operated on the Main South line were: