In late January 2010 the new Tasmanian Railways company implemented a revised timetable for freight services between Hobart, Burnie and Bell Bay. At this stage it appears all trains to/from Bell Bay will cease, and the overnight Hobart to Burnie service will be replaced by a daytime service. Other trains are expected to broadly retain their existing schedules. Approximate timings and further details will be added to this page once the full affects of the new timetable are known an understood.
Last updated January 2009
This is a summary of the current Pacific National timetable, made up from observations of people from around Tasmania. A more detailed analysis of the current timetable can be found in the September 2007 issue of Tasmanian Rail News magazine and subsequent amendments. The times included are typical of trains seen, and are a guide only, as they do vary by up to an hour (or more) each way depending on the day — if they even run! All trains that regularly operate have been included, although often only times for the daylight portion of the trip have been listed. Please note that not all trains operate every day, and when they do the times do vary.
All train movements are coordinated by a single train controller in Launceston, via a State-wide VHF radio network, backed up with mobile phones as required. Frequencies can be found at the Australian Communications and Media Authority internet site. (Try “Land Mobile System” category, in the range 158 MHz to 163 MHz for repeaters, "Ambulatory System" around the same range for shunting).
There are up to three return trips scheduled between Hobart/Boyer and northern ports per day. The trains vary depending on the day of the week.
Trains 35 and 53 (intermodal services) run south overnight, usually arriving in Hobart between 6 and 8am (Wednesday to Monday & Tuesday to Saturday respectively), although being combined on the South Line is not uncommon when freight is minimal or for crewing purposes. Train 31 (the ‘Paper Train’) runs south from Burnie during the day, arriving Boyer around 6pm (Monday to Friday), often crossing the two northbound trains at Tea Tree.
Northbound trains are more complex to take into account regular loco changes and serving multiple locations. A lunchtime train operates from Hobart to Boyer (daily except Saturdays) with loading for Boyer and Bell Bay, usually departing around 1:30pm. These locomotives then form the northbound "Paper Train" from Boyer to Burnie, the train departing around 5:30pm (Sunday to Friday) and running to Burnie overnight, crossing the southbound service at Tea Tree or Colebrook. Train 36 is scheduled to depart Hobart around 6:00pm (Monday to Friday) and operates direct to Burnie, crossing the southbound paper train at Tea Tree, or waiting for it to clear at Bridgewater. Later in the evening (as traffic allows - anytime after 8pm), a third train heads north (using the locos from the southbound paper train), and this runs from Boyer through to Bell Bay overnight (with a loco change at Conara).
Shunting takes place in Hobart throughout the day, with the Hobart yard adjoining the large public areas of the ‘Regatta Grounds’ and Cenotaph area. The Boyer yard is within the Norske Skog paper mill, and has no public access, although some shunting of wagons toward New Norfolk is visible from Boyer Road.
The only train during the day in the southern midlands is the southbound ‘paper train’ which passes through Conara around 1:30 pm on weekdays. The loaded coal train on the Fingal Line is scheduled to depart Fingal around 10:30am, and run to Conara, then Western Junction and then directly to Railton. This usually operates three days a week (generally Monday, Wednesday and Thursday).
A train leaves East Tamar for Bell Bay each weekday at around 06:30. The arrival time of the return Bell Bay train is extremely variable, although 19:00 is common.
Access to East Tamar yard and the workshops area is restricted, although limited public viewing is available from the adjacent netball courts (off Hoblers Bridge Road), and nearby Cypress Street.
Western Junction, about 18 km south of Launceston, is the junction station on the main Hobart–Burnie line. Although most train movements are at night, the eastbound paper train and westbound coal train pass through during daylight hours. The Boyer-bound ‘paper train’ is scheduled at around midday, while the coal train usually arrives at around 14:00, depending on destination.
The evening arrival from Bell Bay continues south from East Tamar at around 10:30 pm and runs to Conara, where the locos are swapped between northbound train 52 and southbound train 53, with train 52 arriving at East Tamar around 5 am.
The Railton to Devonport cement train can operate almost continuously, seven days a week, depending on shipping schedules. The three times a week coal train runs as far as Railton, arriving about 5pm before unloading and returning east.
During daylight hours, the eastbound container trains between Burnie and Boyer/Hobart pass though Devonport in the early morning depending on their lateness, and in the early evening respectively.
The unloading of the cement train is visible from the main road in Devonport.
Trains arrive and depart Burnie in two directions: south to Melba and Rosebery, and east to Devonport and then to Launceston and Hobart.
Concentrate trains on the West Coast line leave around 4am and 3:45pm, returning around 1pm and 1am. The early train operates 6 times per week (Monday to Saturday), while the late train usually operates as required, often three days a week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday).
The procession of trains along the coast starts around 04:40am with the arrival of the Burnie-bound ‘paper train’ (Monday to Saturday). The south/east bound working of this train departs around 8am (Monday to Friday), after the arrival of the intermodal train from Hobart sometime between about 6am and 8am. The return run of the container train is scheduled to depart at 6pm (Tuesday to Saturday) and 4:30pm (Sunday), but is often early. The paper train and container train are combined on Saturday afternoons and run through to Hobart.
Shunting is carried out all day, and is visible from Marine Terrace, which parallels the yard for most of its length, or from other public roads/open space in this area.
Compiled by Stuart Dix with assistance from Michael Dix and Phil Lange
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Page last updated: January 24, 2010, 12:40:51
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