Railway Digest Magazine September 2023 Vorige editie

The Murray Basin Project
The much-vaunted Murray Basin Project involved the conversion of a substantial portion of the Victorian freight rail network from broad gauge to standard gauge and the upgrading of track to enable higher axle loads for more efficient intrastate freight transfer and an increase in rail’s modal share. Construction commenced in 2016 and was expected to be completed by late 2018. However, troubles seemed to arise early on with the project, culminating in V/Line suspending the works in March 2018. Ken Bailey has made a detailed investigation of the troubled project, from its historical background to its current state.

A journey across the NSW TrainLInk Regional Network
The Sydney-based NSW TrainLink Regional Network covers a vast area; north to Brisbane, Queensland, north-west to Armidale and Moree, west to Dubbo and Broken Hill, and south-west to Canberra, Griffith and Melbourne, Victoria. Beginning his journey on Sunday 7 May this year, Anthony Evans spent seven and a half days exploring it all.

The Picnic Train visits the north coast
Over the first weekend in July (Friday 7 to Monday 11 July), during the NSW school holidays The Picnic Train visited the Coffs Harbour region on the NSW North Coast with steam locomotive 5917 and back-up diesel loco 42107. This visit was the first time in eight years that a steam locomotive had visited the region. Jarrod Mitton was there.