Eastern Goldfields Railway
| Eastern Goldfields Railway | |
|---|---|
 The Prospector at Kellerberrin with the Goldfields water pipeline in the foreground & the CBH grain receival point in the background | |
| Overview | |
| Owner | Public Transport Authority |
| Termini | |
| Service | |
| Operator(s) | Brookfield Rail |
| History | |
| opened Northam to Southern Cross | 1 July 1894 |
| opened Southern Cross to Boorabbin | 1 July 1896 |
| opened Boorabbin to Kalgoorlie | 1 January 1897 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 373 kilometres |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
The Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.[1]
History
The Eastern Railway opened in stages from Perth to Northam in the 1890s, and the Eastern Goldfields Railway extended this line through semi-desert to the Eastern Goldfields paralleling the Great Eastern Highway for much of its journey.[2][3]
It opened in stages between 1894 and 1897.[4]
- Northam to Southern Cross: 175 miles 14 chains (281.9 km) (opened 1 July 1894)
- Southern Cross to Boorabbin: 60 miles 55 chains (97.7 km) (opened 1 July 1896)
- Boorabbin to Kalgoorlie: 78 miles 14 chains (125.8 km) (opened 1 January 1897)
The railway line ran parallel with the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. The chief engineer for both the railway and the pipeline was Charles O'Connor.
In October 1917, the Commonwealth Railways' standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta was completed through to Kalgoorlie, making it a break-of-gauge station.
Branches
At Kalgoorle lines branch off north to Laverton and south to Esperance via the Esperance line.[5]
Gauge conversion
As part of the Federal Government's program to build a standard gauge line across Australia, and the passing of the Railways (Standard Gauge) Construction Act 1961 work commenced on gauge converting the line to standard gauge with a new alignment further north of the existing line built between Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie.
The new alignment as well as being shorter and more favourably graded, provided access to the iron ore deposits at Koolyanobbing which were being opened up at the time for shipment from Esperance. The new line opened on 3 August 1968.[4][6][7]
Upgrades
In November 2005, funding was announced to extend eight crossing loops to accommodate 1,800 metre long trains at Bodallin, Darrine, Wallaroo, Lake Julia, Grass Valley, Bungulla, Booraan and Seabrook, and replace the final 76 kilometres of timber sleepers with concrete sleepers.[8]
Services
Transwa's MerredinLink and Prospector services from Perth to Merredin and Kalgoorlie traverse the line[9] as does Great Southern Rail's Indian Pacific to Sydney. Other named trains to previously use the line were The Westland, The Kalgoorlie and the Trans-Australian.
Intrastate and interstate freight services are operated by Aurizon, Mineral Resources, Pacific National and SCT Logistics. CBH Group operate grain trains.
References
- ^ Souvenir brochure 60th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the railway to Coolgardie 23 March 1896, [Coolgardie], 1956, retrieved 5 March 2012
- ^ Searle, M. J (January 1983), "The Eastern and Eastern Goldfields Railways [Series of parts] Part 1: construction and opening", RIM: Western Australian Railways Institute Magazine, 80 (Jan 1983): 3–8, retrieved 5 March 2012
- ^ Searle, M. J (February 1983), "The Eastern and Eastern Goldfields Railways [Series of parts] Part 2. - Constructions of extensions-", RIM: Western Australian Railways Institute Magazine, 80 (Feb 1983): 2–3, 5–6, retrieved 5 March 2012
- ^ a b Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 63, 67. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
- ^ Brookfield Rail Network Map Brookfield Rail
- ^ Webb Report 1976 Australian Transport Research Forum
- ^ History of Rail in Australia Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development
- ^ Western Australia to Receive Additional Australian Government Rail Funding Federal Minister for Transport 24 November 2005
- ^ Timetables Transwa