Re: Hope for passenger rail services in Western NSW

[Chris Brownbill <cbrnbill@enternet.com.au>]

James Shugg wrote:
> 
> >===== Original Message From "tony bailey" <mercuryworldtvl@one.net.au> =====
> >Bourke? Is it still open? Or capable of being reopened?
> >
> 
> I think the tracks are still there (as with most disused NSW lines), but
> they
> haven't been used for about a decade. I recall that the army blew up a
> section
> of embankment not far out of Nyngen during a period of extensive flooding,
> disconnecting Bourke from the rest of the rail system.
> 
> Actually, my recollection is that the Bourke railway was considered a
> mainline, not a branch. I'm sure others know more.
> 
> James
> 

Until 1970 when the SA narrow gauge section was Standardised, the line to Bourke was officially known as the "Main West Line" - Broken Hill then took that title when it became part of a serious interstate route.