Marree railway line

The Marree railway line is located in the Australian state of South Australia.

History
As a result of the opening up of the Leigh Creek Coalfield in the late 1940s and capacity restrictions on the existing narrow gauge Central Australia Railway via the Flinders Ranges, Marree and Quorn, a new standard gauge line was built, opening on 17 May 1956 from Stirling North on the outskirts of Port Augusta to Telford Cut and on 27 July 1957 to Marree. The line was extended to Marree because of the volume of cattle traffic coming off the Birdsville Track.

As well as freight trains, the new line was served by CB railcar services and The Ghan. Following the opening of a new line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980, the line was curtailed to its present terminus at Telford Cut on 10 June 1987. At Stirling North the line continues to the Northern Power Station via a balloon loop. With the impending closure of the power station, the last train ran on the line on 27 April 2016.

As of 31 July 2017, control of the Leigh Creek Railway Line has been transferred from Flinders Power to the state government's Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. In March 2018, Bowmans Rail established a new intermodal rail terminal adjacent to the construction site for the Bungala Solar Power Project about 12km north of Port Augusta. As well as construction materials for the power station, the terminal is expected to handle about 2000 containers per year.

Stations
Stations included the following: (from south to north): • Northern Power Station

• Wikatana

• Neuroodla

• Brachina

• Parachilna

• Beltana

• Puttapa

• Copley

• Leigh Creek Coalfield