Piangil railway line

The Piangil railway line is a broad-gauge heavy rail line in northwestern Victoria, Australia. It branches off the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo in a northwesterly 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 today is only open to Piangil, although passenger services only operate up 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 later 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 in the Piangil Yungera Railway Bushland Reserve.

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 in 1928 was extended across the New South Wales border at the Murray River to Stony Crossing. 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. The line to Murrabit closed in 1961.

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for school children that was paid for by the Victorian Education Department and run by a 102hp Walker railmotor, was withdrawn on 17 December 1976.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 buses.

Proposed upgrade and extension
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.

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 (as well as Eaglehawk).

Swan Hill services
Two services operate daily in each direction between Swan Hill and Southern Cross. 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, all services do not stop at Macedon, Riddells Creek and Clarkefield. Malmsbury is only served by one weekday service to Swan Hill, and Kangaroo Flat is not served on weekdays. All services stop at all other operating stations, both picking up and setting down passengers.



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