Bombala railway line

The Bombala railway line is a partially closed branch railway line in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It branches off the Main South line at Joppa Junction, south of Goulburn, and was opened in stages to Tarago (January 1884), Bungendore (March 1885), Queanbeyan (September 1887), Michelago (December 1887), Cooma (May 1889), Nimmitabel (April 1912) and Bombala (November 1921).

The line is used by NSW TrainLink Xplorer services running between Sydney Central and Canberra station.

Michelago
Michelago station opened on Wednesday, 7 December 1887. On the previous day, The Sydney Morning Herald published a detailed description of the engineering works done between Queanbeyan and Michelago.

Closure of the southern end of the line
On 26 March 1986, the line south of Cooma was closed.

Passenger services south of Queanbeyan ceased in September 1988. A bridge carrying the line over the Numeralla River at Chakola was declared unsafe so freight services south of Queanbeyan ceased in May 1989. However a special steam train service did operate through to Cooma a few weeks later, albeit without passengers over the bridge in question.

The line between Joppa Junction Goulburn and Queanbeyan remains open, and is served by three daily NSW TrainLink Xplorer services in each direction operating between Sydney and Canberra. The majority of freight traffic on the line are refuse trains for the Woodlawn Bioreactor at Tarago. Fuel trains ran to Canberra until January 2009. From 6 March 2015, a joint venture between Espee Railroad Services (owned by the ACT division of the Australian Railway Historical Society) and local company Access Recycling began operating weekly freight trains loaded with scrap metal from Canberra to Port Botany via the Canberra branch and Bombala line.

The 49 kilometre section between Queanbeyan and Michelago was also re-opened in April 1993 for heritage tourist operation by the ACT Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society. The line available for traffic was truncated to Royalla as it deteriorated, until finally being suspended at the beginning of 2007 as a result of storm damage.

To reopen the line, substantial sleeper replacement will be required, approximately 16,000 pieces. In addition, one major timber bridge, at Jerrabomberra Creek, will need to be replaced, and some other minor bridgework and other works undertaken. The ARHS was investigating a large pile of steel sleepers that would probably have been sufficient that were lying unused along the northern line. However recovery work plan was never completed by the ARHS. The ARHS formally relinquished its lease on the Queanbeyan to Michelago section of track in 2011, and has subsequently concentrated its activities to boutique novelty trips for Canberra's population on the Canberra to Bungendore section of the line.

In October 1999 Freight Australia commenced operating log trains a couple of kilometres south of Queanbeyan to Hume. This freight though has now ceased also, with a stop block being placed at Queanbeyan, at 321.72 km, clear of Frame F crossover, signifying the current operational end of the Bombala line.

At the Cooma end of the line, there is another heritage railway, the Cooma Monaro Railway, that was formed in 1992, when a group of local Cooma people decided to restore Cooma Railway Station. After the group had restored the station, efforts were then made by the group to acquire some rolling stock and re-open a section of track. This came to fruition starting in 1998, with over 17 kilometres of railway track now reopened and restored CPH railmotors operating between Cooma and Chakola. Train movements though are currently suspended on this section of track, while the CMR tends to various new requirements of the Office of National Rail Safety Regulator.

At the Bombala terminus, a railway museum has been created, with a view to increasing local tourism. It is highly unlikely that a tourist train service will be instituted though, with vast tracts of rail missing between Bombala and the preceding station at Bukalong siding.

The future
The section of track between Michelago and Chakola remains an obstacle for the reopening of the full line between Queanbeyan and the township of Cooma. Realignment of the Monaro Highway has in a few cases encroached on the rail line reservation and there is also the rail bridge over the Numeralla River which requires demolition and reconstruction to modern standards. Hope has been raised a number of times for the full reopening of the section of rail between Queanbeyan and Cooma. In recent times, mining operations have commenced near Cooma.

There have also been calls for the line to be used for local services from Canberra through Queanbeyan to Bungendore.

The future of the far section of line from Cooma to Bombala seems less certain. Originally designed for the area's farmers to move their cattle, sheep and produce, this section seems to have fallen victim to the modern age. Early last century, the builders of the Cooma to Bombala line hoped that some continuity would eventually follow, with future rail construction and services from Bombala continuing down south across the Victorian border. This is evidenced by the main line and perway at Bombala continuing some distance past the station. This joining up with the Victorian Railways network never eventuated, despite Victoria having a rail line 100 km away at Orbost until 1987.

In August 2018 the NSW government announced a $1m feasibility study to examine re-opening the Canberra to Bombala rail line, as well as the extension of the line to the Port of Eden.

Wynscreen
The disused line south of Cooma is extensively featured within a 30-minute piece of digital art entitled "En Route" by Sue Healey. The disused station at Jincumbilly is the most clearly identifiable section used. This is currently viewable on Wynscreen, a 23m long video screen constructed as part of the Wynyard Walk project.

Further research

 * New South Wales Government Railways Country Timetables 1885–1972
 * Public Transport Commission Country Timetables 1972–1980
 * State Rail Authority Country Timetables 1980–1989
 * CountryLink Timetables 1989–2013

Further photos

 * http://www.njcull.net/photos/cooma-chakola/index.htm
 * http://railgallery.wongm.com/nsw-stations/bombala/