Avoca railway line

Avoca railway line, Victoria
	Avoca line map
Line details
Opened	1874
Completed	1890
Closed	2005
Fate	Freight only line
Length	87.769 km (54.537 mi)
Stations	4
Tracks	Single track
Rolling stock	Ballast, Grain
Type	Branch
Rail transport in Victoria
	Closed railways;

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The Maryborough–Avoca–Ararat railway is a railway line in western Victoria, Australia. It is one of the few railway lines in the state to have been closed and then reopened. Today it is a standard gauge branch line connecting the Western SG with Bung Bong (ballast) and Dunolly (grain), running through Maryborough station.

History

The first section of line was opened as a branch from Maryborough to Avoca in October 1874, 24 kilometres in length, then was extended 62.8 kilometres to Ararat in November 1890, forming a through route between two main lines. In July 1959 the line between Avoca and Ararat was closed.^[1] In October 1966 the line was reopened,^[1] and in 1996 it was converted to standard gauge, along with the main Melbourne–Adelaide railway.^[2]

The Avoca–Ararat section of the line has been unused for a number of years and Pacific National used it to store over 100 surplus grain wagons,^[3] until many of them were reactivated to carry the 2011–2012 harvest.

The line is to be re-opened in 2016 as standard gauge and upgraded to 21 tonne axle loads, with insertion of over 100,000 new concrete sleepers. The second re-opening of this cross country line is primarily to allow for the carriage of mineral sands from Manangatang to a processing plant at Hamilton. The re-opening project includes the provision of a direct standard gauge connection between the Avoca and Hamilton lines at Ararat to avoid the need for trains to have to reverse at Ararat.