The Pinnaroo railway line is a closed, but intact, railway line in South Australia. It branches off the Adelaide-Wolseley line at Tailem Bend and extends to the Victorian state border, beyond Pinnaroo.
Orderbuilt Line Yearopened YearclosedLength(mi) Length(km) 1Tailem Bend–Pinnaroo19062015[note a]86.6 139.42Tailem Bend–Barmera1913 /1928[note b] 1996[note c] 159.5 256.63Karoonda–Peebinga1914 1990 66.0106.24Karoonda–Waikerie1914 1994[note d] 73.8118.75Alawoona–Loxton1914 2015[note e] 22.035.56Wanbi–Yinkanie1925 1971 31.550.6Total439.4707.0Notes
History The line opened from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo on 14 September 1906, being extended to the state border on 29 July 1915.
When the Adelaide to Wolseley line was closed east of Tailem Bend for gauge conversion, the Pinnaroo line became part of the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne for two weeks in April 1995. Journey times increased by 10 to 12 hours."National Rail's Melbourne - Adelaide Diversion Services" Railway Digest April 1995 page 31"Pinnaroo Diversions a Success" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15
In May 1995, it was announced that the line west of Pinnaroo would be gauge converted from broad gauge to standard gauge."SA Branches to be Standardised" Railway Digest June 1995 page 15Non-Metropolitan Railways (Transfer) Act 1997 Government of South Australia Work on the conversion of the line was delayed until 1996, due to a large grain crop and increased traffic by trains destined for Tocumwal and Yarrawonga in regional Victoria that were on the broad gauge network."SA Murray Lands Renaissance" Railway Digest October 1995 page 15
A small part of the line converted in 1996, was converted back for the 1997 grain harvest. To continue the journey to Adelaide, the grain was transshipped at Tailem Bend."South Australia" Railway Digest April 1997 page 37 The last broad gauge train operated on 2 July 1998"Australian Southern News" Railway Digest September 1998 page 36 with the line reopening on 25 November 1998."Australian Southern's Grain Gain" Railway Digest January 1999 page 12 As the Victorian line remained broad gauge, trains could no longer operate over the entire length with Pinnaroo becoming a break of gauge point.
On 1 November 1997, Australian Southern Railroad acquired a 50-year lease on the rail corridor and total ownership of the rail infrastructure as part of Australian National's South Australian freight assets sale to ASR.
The line became disused in July 2015 after Viterra announced that no more grain would be carried by rail after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road.Freight Study & Rail Operations Investigation Flywheel Advisory 17 November 2014 As the South Australian line became disused, the Victorian government was upgrading part of its end of the line for regional freight. The lease of the land and ownership of the rail infrastructure passed to Aurizon in 2022, following their purchase of One Rail Australia (the final successor of Australian Southern Railroad).
Aurizon lists the line as open, but it is not currently used by any trains.
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