Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia

Pinnaroo railway line, South Australia
Overview
Status	no services
Locale	Murray Mallee
Coordinates
Operation
Opened	14 September 1906 (1906-09-14)
Technical
Line length
Track length
No. of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Route map Legend To Adelaide 120.3 km Tailem Bend Loop (Station closed) to Wolseley & Melbourne 158.5 km Peake Loop & silos 188.8 km Geranium Loop & silos 222.2 km Lameroo Loop (Station closed) 236.7 km Parilla Loop & silos 259.7 km Pinnaroo Loop (Station closed) 264.4 km Pinnaroo AWB Loop & silos End of Standard Gauge 265.2 km South Australia / Victoria Border Pinnaroo lineto Ouyen & Mildura line Blue is Standard Gauge, Red is Broad Gauge

The Pinnaroo railway line runs east from the Adelaide to Melbourne line at Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo near the South Australia / Victoria state border. The route continued into Victoria via the Victorian Railways line to Ouyen where it joined the Mildura line.

History

The line opened from Tailem Bend 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, the Pinnaroo line became part of the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne 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 to standard gauge. 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 and Yarrawonga 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 transhipped 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 Pinaroo becoming a break of gauge point.

The line is expected to close in July 2015. Viterra announced that no more grain would be carried by rail after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road.