Portland railway line
The Portland railway line is a railway line in south-western Victoria, Australia. It runs from the main Western standard gauge line at Maroona through Hamilton to the port town of Portland.
History
The line was built from Ararat to Maroona, Hamilton, Heywood and Portland in 1877.[1] It was converted to standard gauge in 1995.[2]
Freight operator Pacific National indefinitely suspended all rail services to the town of Portland in 2004, impacting local companies including Portland Aluminium, transport company Kalari, and freight broker Anchor Logistics. Portland container traffic was conveyed between Maroona and Portland on grain services twice a week, but Pacific National said that due to the drought there were no trains to attach the loading to. On the route the price differential between rail and road is $12.97 per tonne in rail's favour.[3] Pacific National closed their Portland operations in March 2008, with GrainCorp leasing a limited number of locomotives and rolling stock from them, but favour transporting grain to the Port of Geelong instead.[4]
In July 2008 the Victorian Government announced a $15 million upgrade to the line, raising maximum speeds to 80 kilometres an hour as they were previously. Australian Rail Track Corporation signed a 50 year lease to manage the line and will start the upgrade within months.[5] In September 2008 it was announced that freight traffic would restart using the line, with operator El Zorro signing a multi-million deal with miner Iluka Resources to carry containerised mineral sands from Portland in the south-west to Melbourne, with Iluka saying rail transport was cheaper than road.[6]
Branch lines
A short lived brach line was opened from Dunkfeld to Penhurst in 1890 but closed only eight years later.[1]
A branch line was opened from Hamilton north to Cavendish between 1910 and 1920. This was connected to the Horsham - Balmoral railway in the 1920s, whicj itself connected back to the main Serviceton line. This line was closed south of Noradjuha, (just south of East Natimuk) in the 1970s.
A branch line from Hamilton north-west to Coleraine in 1882, but was closed in 1977.[1]
A branch line was opened between Hamilton and Koroit in the 1890, where it connected to the South West line via Warrnambool, but was closed in 1977.[1]
A branch line was opened from Branxholme north-west to Casterton in 1884. This line was closed in 1977.[1]
A branch line was opened from Heywood west to Mount Gambier in 1917.[1] Service was suspended in 1995 due to the standardisation of the Maroona - Portland line. There are regular calls for the Heywood - Mount Gambier line to be standardised.[7][8][9]
Services
The only regular service on the line is the thrice weekly El Zorro containerised mineral sands train from Portland.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Sid Brown (1990). "Tracks Across the State". Newsrail. Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division): pages 71-76.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "VICSIG - Infrastructure - Line Data Portland line". www.vicsig.net. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ Bill Meldrum (December 17, 2004). "Freight off the rails Pacific National suspends rail services to Portland". Portland Observer. web.archive.org. Retrieved 2008-07-02. (via Internet Archive)
- ^ Bill Meldrum (June 30, 2008). "State loses focus on Portland line". Portland Observer. www.spec.com.au. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ "Rail track upgrade announced for Portland". ABC News. www.abc.net.au. July 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ a b "Rail freight back on Portland-Maroona line". ABC News. www.abc.net.au. September 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ "New push for Mount Gambier railway". The Border Watch. www.borderwatch.com.au. July 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ "Penola rail pledge confirmed". The Border Watch. www.borderwatch.com.au. July 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
- ^ BILL MELDRUM (13 February 2008). "Portland railyards given the shunt". Portland Observer. www.spec.com.au. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
External links
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