The Wodonga Rail Bypass, was a

Victorian state government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

project in regional

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia, to provide a new

double-track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

railway bypass around the northern city of

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

. The 5.5-kilometre bypass eliminated 11 level crossings in Wodonga's central business district (CBD).Rail freight superhighway comes closer
''Transport & Logistics News'' 30 September 2008 The project sought to address issues associated with increasing freight rail movements on the busy Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor and the frequent interruption of road traffic caused by train movements, while also allowing for

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. In 2008, it was estimated that in 20 years, that freight rail traffic would increase by 70%. The bypass was slated to shave 10 minutes off a train trip between Sydney and Melbourne. Since the opening of the new

Wodonga railway station Wodonga railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Wodonga, and it opened on 25 June 2011.

in 2011, passengers wishing to use the station need to complete their journey to and from the CBD by road transport.

Funding

In December 2000, the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

committed $20 million for the bypass project, In the 2006/07 budget, the Victorian government set aside $55 million to fund the bypass. In November 2006, the Government of Victoria came to an agreement with

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock, jointly owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Governm ...

to buy back the company's lease on the state's rail network, which enabled them to go ahead with the project.

Cost

By January 2007, the estimated cost of the project had risen to $125 million, and the start of work on the bypass was delayed. The project was part of a $501 million upgrade of the North East line.

Construction

Work finally began on the bypass in September 2008, with the

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

and Federal Infrastructure Minister

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

turning the first sod. There were delays in October 2008, when the

Dhudhuroa The Dhudhuroa people (or Duduroa) are an Indigenous Australian people of North-eastern Victoria, in the state of Victoria, Australia. About 2,000 descendants exist in Australia in the early 21st century. Name The endonym Dhudhuroa has been analys ...

peoples told Federal Minister for Environment

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

that the works would be likely to desecrate and deface six culturally significant sites, areas and objects. On 23 July 2010, the new rail bypass was opened, and the original line through

decommissioned. On 25 June 2011, the new

Wodonga railway station Wodonga railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Wodonga, and it opened on 25 June 2011.

opened.Communities welcome V/Line tracks back to the border
V/Line Voice issue 68 July 2011

References

{{reflist Railway lines in Victoria (state) Railroad cutoffs Standard-gauge railways in Australia Wodonga Bypasses in Australia