South Western railway line, Queensland

South Western railway line

413km Dirranbandi 393km Noondoo 383km Hawkston 376km Noondale 371km Dunwinne 350km Thallon 338km Daymar 315km Gradule 289km Talwood 267km Bungunya 247km Toobeah 230km Gooray 208km Hunter 202km Goondiwindi 188km Carrington 174km Kurumbul 154km Yelarbon 134km Whetstone 118km Junction of Texas branch 117km Inglewood 103km Cobba-Da-Mana 71km Gore 58km Karara 40km Thane 19km Wheatvale 0km From Warwick on the Southern Line

The South Western line is a railway line in the southern part of the state of Queensland, Australia. It junctions from the Southern line immediately south of Warwick station and proceeded westwards for a distance of 413 km to the town of Dirranbandi. A western extension to Boomie, approved by the Queensland Parliament in 1914, was never constructed. The Thallon-Dirranbandi section was closed on 2 September 2010.

It services the small towns of Inglewood (junction of the now closed Texas branch) and Goondiwindi as well as the villages of Yelarbon and Thallon among others.

The South Western line opened as far as Thane on 1 July 1904 and was completed to Dirranbandi on 21 May 1913. A further extension of the line west of Dirranbandi was approved by Parliament in 1914 but never constructed.

The South Western Mail was introduced as a twice weekly service in 1910. Upon the opening of the line to Dirranbandi, the train departed Brisbane at 20:45, arrived at Warwick 04:00, Goondiwindi 10:00 and Dirranbandi 16:30. The return service departed 11.30, arrived Goondiwindi 17.35, Warwick 23.35 and Brisbane 07.10 the following morning.

The South Western line was the last railway in Australia to be serviced by mail trains. The last Dirranbandi Mail ran on 11 February 1993.

Passenger services no longer service the South Western line though it is still used for freight as far as Thallon. The line beyond there was extensively damaged in the 2011 flood and was closed on 2 September 2010. Long-distance bus operators Crisps Coaches and Greyhound Australia now serve towns along the route.

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Wikipedia