North East railway line, Victoria.html

North East railway line, Victoria

Line details
Commenced	1860
Completed	1883
Tracks	Two broad gauge tracks to Seymour (single tracks for each of Shepparton and Albury lines beyond); as well as a parallel standard gauge track for the entire length from Melbourne to Albury
Used by	V/Line passenger services and intrastate freight on the broad gauge, CountryLink XPT and interstate freight on the standard gauge
Connections	Seymour and Shepparton lines
Rail transport in Victoria
List of stations Closed railways

The North East railway is a railway serving the north-east of Victoria, Australia.¹ Running from the state capital Melbourne to the New South Wales railways at Albury and on to Sydney, it also serves the regional cities of Seymour, Benalla, Wangaratta and Wodonga.The route consists of two parallel but independent lines, the original broad gauge line now operated by V/Line, and the North East standard gauge line managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation.² The line also includes a broad gauge branch line from Seymour to Shepparton.

1 Services
2 History
- 2.1 Branch lines south of Seymour
- 2.2 Branch lines north of Seymour
3 Line guide
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links

Services

On the broad gauge line Connex Melbourne operates suburban passenger services along the inner section of the line as the Craigieburn Line, while V/Line services operate as the Interurban Seymour Line and the Intercity Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton Lines. Freight services also use the line, operated by Pacific National. The standard gauge line sees use by the CountryLink XPT, as well as being a major interstate freight link used by Pacific National, QRNational and Australian Railroad Group.

Both lines are owned by VicTrack, the broad gauge line managed by V/Line, and the standard gauge line by the Australian Rail Track Corporation.³

History

The steam hauled Spirit of Progress near Kilmore East in 1937.

B class diesel leading the Spirit of Progress in the 1950s.

The Spirit of Progress in the 1970s.

The Melbourne and Essendon Railway Company opened the first section of the Albury-Wodonga line from North Melbourne to Essendon in 1860.⁴ Following its take over by the Victorian Government in 1867, the line was extended by 1872⁵ to School House Lane (South side of Goulburn River, near Seymour), later that year to Seymour and then to Longwood. Benalla, Wangaratta, Springhurst and Wodonga were reached in 1873,⁴ connecting with the New South Wales Government Railways at Albury at a break-of-gauge in 1883.

Construction of a standard gauge track parallel with the broad gauge track from Albury to Melbourne was commenced in 1959, completing the Sydney-Melbourne railway.⁶ The first freight train operating on the line on 3 January 1962⁷, followed by the first passenger train on 16 April the same year.⁶

The line was once the home of a number of prestige passenger services between the state capitals of Melbourne to Sydney, including the Spirit of Progress, Southern Aurora, and Intercapital Daylight; but due to declining patronage were replaced by the CountryLink XPT from the 1990s.

Maintaining two parallel single track railways has drawn criticisms over the years, including inefficiencies in maintaining track, operating trains, and duplicated train control centres.² By 2001 the State Government announced the gauge conversion of the broad gauge line to standard,⁸ but seven years later works have yet to commence. Speed restrictions have been applied to the broad gauge line due to track deterioration.⁹

In May 2008 it was again announced that the line would be upgraded, with the conversion of 200 kilometres (120 mi) of broad gauge track to standard gauge between Seymour and Albury, construction of a 5 km (3.1 mi) bypass around Wodonga, and rail upgrades between Melbourne and Seymour carried out, including new passing loops.¹⁰ New passenger platforms will also be built on the standard gauge line, and V/Line locomotives and carriages will be gauge converted to operate on the line. Costing A$501.3 million, the Victorian Government is contributing A$171.3 million, the Australian Government is investing A$45 million in the Wodonga Rail Bypass, and the Australian Rail Track Corporation will contribute A$285 million and will take-on responsibility for the ongoing operation of the new north-east standard gauge rail line under a 45-year lease agreement with Victoria.¹¹

The project is due for completion by 2010, with passenger services disrupted for 12 months.¹² On 8 November 2008, broad gauge passenger rail services on the line ceased after the running of the evening V/Line service from Melbourne to Albury and a special train, operated by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre, forming the final passenger service to run from Albury to Melbourne.¹³¹⁴

Branch lines south of Seymour

A branch line was opened from Heathcote Junction (near Kilmore) to Kilmore in 1888 and extended to Tooborac in 1890, connecting to a line from Bendigo and Heathcote opened a little earlier. The Heathcote Junction – Heathcote line closed in 1968. A branch line was built from Kilmore to Lancefield in 1892, but it was closed in 1904.

The Mansfield line was opened from Tallarook to Yea in 1883, Molesworth in 1889 Cathkin and Merton in 1890 and Mansfield in 1891. This line is now closed. A branch line was built from Cathkin to Koriella in 1890 and Alexandra in 1909. This line closed in 1978.

Branch lines north of Seymour

The Shepparton line was opened from Mangalore to Toolamba and Shepparton in 1880.

A branch line was opened from Benalla to St James in 1883, Yarrawonga in 1886 and Oaklands in 1938, creating a break-of-gauge until the New South Wales Government Railways line was closed south of Boree Creek. Another short branch line was built from Benalla to Tatong in 1914, but closed in 1947.

The narrow-gauge Whitfield branch line was opened from Wangaratta to Whitfield in 1899, closing in 1953.

Two branch lines were opened from Bowser (north of Wangaratta) to Everton in 1875 and extended to Beechworth in 1876 and Yackandandah in 1891. This line closed in 1954. The Bowser – Everton line was extended to Myrtleford in 1883 and Bright in 1890. This line is now closed. A short branch line to Peechelba East also branched from Bowser

A short branch line was opened from Springhurst to Wahgunyah in 1879. Services were suspended in 1995.

A branch line was opened from Wodonga to Tallangatta between 1889 and 1891, Shelley in 1916, Beetomba in 1919 and Cudgewa in 1921¹⁵. A direct connection from Albury was added near Wodonga, creating a turning triangle to enable the Sydney Limited and its successor Spirit of Progress with their observation cars to be turned as a complete trainset. The line was closed beyond Bandiana in 1981,⁶ and the connection to Wodonga later removed, with only standard gauge traffic continuing to use the line via Albury.¹⁶