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This website contains plans for 16 new or extensions of existing Railway lines for Regional and Rural New South Wales. Construction should occur over the next thirty years with three lines under construction at the same time.
The first railway line that operated in New South Wales ran from Sydney to Parramatta on 26 September 1855. Services reached Albury on 3 February 1881. Other lines extended to Broken Hill on 15 July 1919 and Murwillumbah on 24 December 1894. The first electric train to operate in New South Wales ran from Sydney to Oatley on 1 March 1926.
Who was responsible for this development? Mr. John Whitton arrived in Sydney in December 1856. He was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of the New South Wales Railways and at the time there was only 37 Km of completed railway. Upon retirement in 1890 there was 3,538 Km of completed railway. He is acknowledged as the ‘Father of the NSW Railways’.
Whitton found in New South Wales 23 miles (37 km) of 4 ft 8½ ins (144 cm) gauge railway, 4 locomotives, 12 passenger carriages and 40 trucks. He reorganized accounting and costing and took charge of the rolling stock, line maintenance and workshop departments. He resisted Governor Denison’s proposal to construct 4,000 miles (6,437 km) of light, narrow-gauge tramways to be worked by horses and in the 1860’s was constantly hampered by the government’s uncritical acceptance of the lowest tenders for railway construction.
John Whitton had to resolve a number of issues in order to construct the railways. The Governor Sir William Denison supported horse drawn tramways and Whitton argued that only a railway could work the volume of freight envisaged. Whitton was a strong supporter of a uniform rail gauge, coal fired locomotives and bridges and rails made of iron. Governments were loathe in spending more than the minimum required and over time Whitton won the day to expand the railways and needless to say he went onto win the arguments.
John Whitton was born in 1819 and died on 20 February 1898.
As with the Bradfield line which is named after Dr. J.J. Bradfield the Whitton Line is named after John Whitton and will include the restoration of Whitton as a commissioned railway station. Whitton Station was formerly on the Hay branch line and opened as Hulong in 1881 and renamed Whitton. The station was decommissioned some years ago. Whitton Station would contain two full length platforms.
Australia and New South Wales has a history of drought, bushfires and floods. New regional and rural railway lines can and should have irrigation pipelines placed alongside the lines. In the 1920’s Dr. J. J. Bradfield proposed a series of inland pipelines to irrigate Queensland. The Queensland Government ignored his plans and consequently he came to New South Wales.
Severe flooding occurred in 1955 in Maitland and Nyngan, New South Wales in 1990 as did Bourke and the North Coast of New South Wales in 2009, Charleville, Queensland in 1990 and Ingham, Queensland in 2009. Bushfires occurred in New South Wales in 1939, 1977, 1994 and 2006. Victoria faced these disasters in 1939, 1983, 1985, 2006 and in 2009. South Australia was ravaged by bushfire in 1983 as was Tasmania 1967, Queensland in 1967, 2005 and Canberra 2003. There is a school of thought that back burning should not occur in National Parks. Perhaps New South Wales has too many National Parks.
New Railway lines can be built alongside highways such as the Pacific and Princes that are totally inadequate and long overdue for upgrading. New railway lines provide for life-saving fire breaks wherever they are laid. The planned railway lines that are contained in this website are designed to operate in a straight line and on a high viaduct where required. All railway lines in New South Wales will be electrified and completely dual track with full length platforms.
All the planned regional and rural lines are interconnecting and will traverse New South Wales from west to east and north to south and all points in between. Dubbo Parkes, Orange, Yass Junction and Canberra would be upgraded to include additional full length platforms and a station roof to protect passengers from the elements similar to Calais or St. Pancras Railway Stations.
If Dr. J.J Bradfield and John Whitton could see the benefits of railway over horse drawn tramways and metro rail why can’t we ‘see the wood for the trees’ in a modern twenty-first century?
Whitton Line Railway Stations
Albury Interchange Station with additional Platform
Narranderra Interchange Station with additional Platform
Leeton Surface station with additional Platform
Whitton Surface station with additional Platform
Griffith Interchange Station with additional Platform
West Wyalong Interchange Station with additional Platform
Grenfell Interchange Station with additional Platform
Forbes Surface station with additional Platform
Parkes Interchange Station with additional Platform
Peak Hill Interchange Station with additional Platform
Dubbo Interchange Station with additional Platform
Gilgandra Surface Station with additional Platform
Coonabarabran Interchange Station with additional Platform
Narrabri Interchange Station with additional Platform
Barraba Surface Station with additional Platform
Armidale Interchange Station with additional Platform
Wauchope Existing Station with additional Platform
Port Macquarie Interchange Station with additional Platform
Railway Station Entrances
Railway Station entrances are to be functionary and not grandiose so as to maintain a uniform appearance and ensure that Taxpayers Dollars are used judiciously thus allowing for additional Railway Lines to be built.
Railway Electrification
All Regional Railway Lines will be electrified to:
- Improve Services,
- Lower Operating Costs,
- Requires Greater Generating Capacity that Improves Local Electricity Supplies
Railway Funding
Funding for the Whitton Line involves the following sources:
- Railways Lottery
- Restaurant/Lounge Carriages
- Railway Bonds
Railway Infrastructure
Existing unused Railway Corridors and Station Platforms will be brought into use to reduce costs of construction.
Railway Technology
The Whitton Line involves the use of Heavy Rail Technology to allow for maximum connectivity with the existing Heavy Rail Network.
After all these are YOUR RAILWAYS: OUR FUTURE
 Central John Whitton sign |
 Central John Whitton statue |
 Dubbo Station |
 Narrabri Station |
 Whitton Station building |
 John Whitton |
 Henry Lawson |
 Forbes Signals |
 Forbes Station |
 Sir Henry Parkes |
 Grenfell |
 Grenfell Railway Hotel |
 Grenfell Plaque |
 Dubbo Station |
 Sir Henry Parkes |
 Grenfell Station |