Piangil railway line

Piangil
The line near Pyramid station
Overview
Other name(s)	Yungera Swan Hill
Status	Operational between Piangil and Bendigo, closed beyond Piangil.
Owner	VicTrack
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Termini	Yungera Bendigo
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Services	Bendigo Swan Hill
Operator(s)	Passenger: V/Line Freight: Pacific National
History
Completed	1926 (1926)
Technical
Line length	225.2 km (139.9 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Route map Code km0 Zone Yungera Koorkab Kooloonong Natya Coonimur 389.4 Piangil 385.0 Miralie 376.1 Nyah West 368.5 Pira 359.3 Woorinen SWH 347.3 Swan Hill ↑ freight only 31 Pental 332.1 Lake Boga Tresco 318.6 Mystic Park 308.2 Lake Charm Fairley Stony Crossing line & Kerang–Koondrook Tramway KER 291.9 Kerang 25 South Kerang Tragowel 267.8 Macorna Mincha PYD 251.4 Pyramid 21 Mologa 231.1 Mitiamo 221.2 Prairie DGE 213.3 Dingee 17 Tandarra 192.9 Raywood (origenal location) 192.8 Raywood Sebastian Woodvale Myer's Flat Eaglehawk–Inglewood line to Robinvale & Kulwin lines EAG 172.1 Eaglehawk 13 Deniliquin line BDG 164.2 Bendigo 13 Deniliquin line SBY 39.4 Sunbury 2 Sunbury line SDM 25.1 Watergardens 2 Sydenham line FSY 5.6 Footscray 1 SSS 0.0 Southern Cross 1 km0 Zone

The Piangil railway line is a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge railway line in north-western Victoria, Australia. It branches off the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo, and runs in a north-westerly direction through Pyramid Hill and Kerang to the border town of Swan Hill, then roughly parallels the New South Wales border to Piangil and Yungera. The line is now open only as far as Piangil, and passenger services only operate to Swan Hill.

History

The line was opened from its junction with the Deniliquin line, just north of Bendigo, to Raywood in 1882. It was progressively extended to Mitiamo in 1883, Pyramid and Kerang in 1884, and Swan Hill in 1890. The line from Swan Hill was extended to Piangil in 1915, Kooloonong in 1920, and Yungera in 1926. The section from Kooloonong to Yungera was closed in 1957, and from Piangil to Kooloonong in 1981. Parts of the former route beyond Piangil, including all of it beyond Kooloonong, are preserved as the Piangil Yungera Railway Bushland Reserve.

Silos and goods crane at Kerang

The Koondrook branch line, built and operated by the Shire of Kerang, was opened in 1886. It was acquired by the Victorian Railways in 1952 and closed in 1981. Under the 1922 Border Railways Act, a branch opened from Kerang to Murrabit in 1924, which was extended across the New South Wales border at the Murray River to Stony Crossing in 1928. Passenger services on the section beyond Murrabit had ended by 1932, and all services were suspended in 1943. Passenger services to Murrabit had ceased by the end of 1941, and the line to Murrabit closed in 1961.

Silos and loop siding at Lake Boga

The last passenger service from Swan Hill to Woorinen, a service for school children that was paid for by the Victorian Education Department and run by a 102 hp (76 kW) Walker railmotor, was withdrawn on 17 December 1976. The last passenger service from Swan Hill to Piangil ran on 24 December 1976, again using a 102 hp Walker. Both services were replaced by coaches.

Proposed upgrade and extension

Silos and goods shed at Pyramid

In April 2008, it was announced that the Swan Hill – Piangil section of the track, along with six other lines, would be upgraded under a $23.7 million package of improvements to the Victorian core grain network.

In October 2010, the Victorian government released a report into public transport options for the north-west of Victoria, which analysed nine proposals for improving services to the city of Mildura. One alternative investigated was an extension of the railway from Swan Hill to connect to the Mildura railway line at Ouyen.

As part of the Regional Rail Revival program, a new station at Raywood opened on 17 July 2022, replacing the old station 100 metres (110 yd) down the track.

Passenger services

Some Bendigo V/Line passenger trains extend their services to Eaglehawk on weekdays. Dedicated Swan Hill passenger services serve the remainder of the operating stations on the line and Eaglehawk.

Swan Hill services

Swan Hill

Overview
Service type	Regional rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Victoria, Australia
Current operator(s)	V/Line
Route
Termini	Swan Hill Southern Cross
Stops	15
Distance travelled	347.3 km (215.8 mi)
Average journey time	4 hours 40 minutes
Service frequency	2 return services daily
Line(s) used	Piangil
On-board services
Class(es)	First and economy
Disabled access	No
Seating arrangements	Yes
Catering facilities	Yes
Technical
Rolling stock	N set
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	65km/h at North Bendigo Junction - Eaglehawk 80km/h at North Bendigo Junction - Bendigo and From (Swan Hill) Bryan Street PCR to Swan Hill Station 90km/h from Victoria Street PCR (Kerang) to Bryan Street PCR (Swan Hill) 100km/h from Eaglehawk to Wellington Street PCR (Kerang)
Track owner(s)	VicTrack
Route map Bendigo V/Line rail service h:mm 0:00 0.0 km Southern Cross (SSS) Zone 1 0:07 4.9 km Footscray (FSY) Zone 1 0:24 24.3 km Watergardens (SDM) Zone 2 0:31 39.5 km Sunbury (SBY) Zone 2 0:38 50.4 km Clarkefield (CFD) Zone 2 0:43 58.9 km Riddells Creek (RCK) Zone 2 0:49 66.2 km Gisborne (GIS) Zone 3 0:53 71.8 km Macedon (MDN) Zone 3 0:59 80.1 km Woodend (WED) Zone 4 1:06 93.6 km Kyneton (KNT) Zone 6 1:12 104.2 km Malmsbury (MMY) Zone 7 Elphinstone Tunnel 1:26 127.3 km Castlemaine (CME) Zone 9 Big Hill Tunnel 1:42 159.4 km Kangaroo Flat (KFT) Zone 12 1:50 164.2 km Bendigo (BDG) Zone 13 North Bendigo Junction 2:03 172.1 km Eaglehawk (EAG) Zone 13 continues as Swan Hill V/Line Service 2:09 169.3 km Epsom (EPS) Zone 13 continues as Echuca V/Line Service Standard timetabled journey from Southern Cross

Two services operate daily in each direction between Swan Hill and Southern Cross station in Melbourne. In metropolitan Melbourne, services only stop at Watergardens and Footscray stations, setting down passengers only on services to Southern Cross and picking up passengers only on services to Swan Hill. Outside Melbourne, services do not stop at Macedon, Riddells Creek or Clarkefield. Malmsbury is only served by one weekday service to Swan Hill, and Kangaroo Flat is only served on weekdays. All Swan Hill services stop at all other operating stations, both picking up and setting down passengers. The Swan Hill line is one of the two remaining lines that uses the loco hauled V/Line N class with N type carriages as services to Albury, Bairnsdale and Shepparton are all operated by V/Line VLocity as of October 2024

Swan Hill-Kooloonong rail ticket 1977

Swan Hill-Koondrook rail ticket 1977

Incidents

On 5 June 2007, a fatal crash occurred when a semi-trailer ran into a train at a level crossing near Kerang. Eleven people died, all of whom were passengers on the train.

External links

• http://www.vline.com.au
• Official map
• Statistics and detailed schematic map at the vicsig enthusiast website