The Stockinbingal–Parkes railway line (also known as the 'Forbes line') is a railway line in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

which connects Stockinbingal on the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

with

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

on the Main West line. The line has come to be part of the main route for goods trains travelling between

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and the west of NSW and beyond, allowing trains to bypass the steep grades and passenger services on the Blue Mountains section of the Main West line. Western goods trains were rescheduled to operate over this line in lieu of the Blue Mountains from 1993 when the now-defunct ''National Rail'' company commenced interstate freight haulage. The line opened between Parkes and

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

in 1893, and Forbes and Stockinbingal in 1918. Passenger services were operated by CPH railmotors until their withdrawal between Stockinbingal and Forbes in October 1974. Services operated between Parkes and Forbes until 1983, consisting of a ''Mail'' train and a rail-motor service. No regular passenger services use the line, although Main West line passenger services occasionally divert over the line when trackwork closes the regular route. The line is owned by the

Transport Asset Holding Entity The Transport Asset Manager of New South Wales (TAM) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988''. It was previously a state-owned corporation known as the Transport Asset Holding Entity of ...

of New South Wales, however it is leased by the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation, spanning across five states and 39 worksites. ARTC continues to expand the networ ...

who are responsible for the maintenance and operation of the line.

References

Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard-gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1918 {{NewSouthWales-rail-transport-stub

See also

References