Maldon – Dombarton railway line
| Maldon – Dombarton railway line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Type | heavy rail | ||
| Commenced | 1983 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 34.9 km (21.7 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
| Highest elevation | 140 m (460 ft) | ||
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The Maldon – Dombarton railway line is a partially constructed railway line in New South Wales, Australia. Construction commenced in December 1983 with the project being cancelled in June 1988. Following a feasibility study, contracts for pre-construction works were awarded in December 2012. The Government of New South Wales is currently running a Registration of Interest process, seeking market interest to construct, operate and maintain the proposed line.
The proposed 34.9 kilometre line diverged from the Main South line at Maldon via a triangular junction and headed in a south-easterly direction over the Nepean River before crossing beneath the Hume Highway and Picton Road. It would then proceed to Wilton, over the Cordeaux River and through the four kilometre long Avon tunnel which was to be the longest rail tunnel in Australia before joining the Moss Vale - Unanderra line at Dombarton. The line was to be single track throughout with passing loops at Wilton, Cordeaux and Avon.
The origins of the line can be traced back to a late 1970s proposal to construct a line from the Lithgow and Picton area coalfields to a new export coal loader at Port Kembla. Plans advanced to the stage of the Public Transport Commission calling for expressions of interest in constructing the new line's major engineering feature, the 12 kilometre Cordeaux tunnel in December 1977 before the plan lapsed.
Following completion of the coal loader at Port Kembla in 1982 the idea of a rail link was revived and in September 1983 the Wran State Government announced the Maldon to Dombarton line would be constructed with completion expected in 1986. The line was to be electrified, but with 25 kV AC rather than the 1.5 kV DC system used on other New South Wales lines. The electrification would extend up the Main South line from Maldon to Glenlee Junction where the existing electrified network from Sydney ended and at Coniston Junction it would join the Illawarra line from Sydney that was in the process of being electrified. Construction commenced in December 1983.
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