What is Branch Line?

Information about Branch Line

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The '0 kilometre peg' marks the start of a branch line in Western Australia.
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.

United Kingdom

Many British branch lines were closed as a result of the "Beeching Axe" in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways.

The smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town. This only has one track. The journey is 1/3 of a mile (536 m) and the train takes around 55 seconds to complete its journey.

North America

In North America, little used branch lines are often spun off from larger railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own.

New Zealand

New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. Many were built in the late 19th century to open up regions inland from coastal harbours and cities for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the aforementioned South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the West Coast, an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central North Island and the Bay of Plenty, lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations.

Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries not located near main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and steelworks. In Wellington, two branch lines exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see the list of New Zealand railway lines.
Rail transport is the transport of passengers and goods by means of wheeled vehicles specially designed to run along railways or railroads. Rail transport is part of the logistics chain, which facilitates the international trading and economic growth in most countries.
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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running the British railway system. The name derives from the main author of the report The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr. Richard Beeching.
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

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Their 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive.
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heritage railway (Great Britain), preserved railway (Great Britain), or tourist railroad (United States and Canada) is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and seeks to re-create railway scenes of
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Stourbridge Junction

Location
Place Stourbridge
Local authority Dudley

Operations
Station code SBJ
Managed by Central Trains

Platforms in use 3
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Stourbridge

Stourbridge ()
|240px|Stourbridge (

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North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
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worldwide view of the subject.
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A common carrier is an organization that transports persons or goods, and offers its services to the general public.
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short line is an independent railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance. Short lines generally exist for one of three reasons: to link two industries requiring rail freight together (for example, a gypsum mine and a wall board factory, or a coal mine and a
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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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South Island<nowiki />

Satellite view of South Island

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location New Zealand <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Area
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The New Zealand region of Canterbury (Māori: Waitaha) is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains.
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Otago ( pronunciation   (help info ) ) is a region of New Zealand in the south-east of the South Island.
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Southland (Māori: Murihiku) is the name of New Zealand's southernmost region and is also the name of a district within that region.
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For the periodical, see .
The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland.
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Coal (IPA: /ˈkəʊl/) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
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worldwide view of the subject.
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Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam.
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North Island<nowiki />

Geography
<nowiki/>
Location New Zealand <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Area 113,729 km²<nowiki />
Highest point
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The Bay of Plenty (Māori: Te Moana-a-Toi), often abbreviated to BoP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name.
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Disambiguation: other uses of the term Logging
Logging is the process in which trees are sawed down usually as part of a timber harvest. Timber is harvested to supply raw material for the wood products industry including logs for sawmills and pulp wood
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port is a facility for receiving ships and transferring cargo. They are usually situated at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. Ports often have cargo-handling equipment such as cranes (operated by longshoremen) and forklifts for use in loading/unloading of ships, which may
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Industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent, industrious"), is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods. Industry began in its present form during the 1800s, aided by technological advances, and it has continued to develop to this day.
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A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses, or camels —for human consumption.
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factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where workers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another.
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Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteen's early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 till January 1971.

In 1969 Springsteen jammed regularly at a small Asbury Park, New Jersey club named The Upstage, and there he
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For the first Duke of Wellington, see .


Wellington (unofficially Te Whanganui-a-Tara[1] or Poneke[2]
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The New Zealand railway network consists of four main lines, six secondary lines and numerous short branch lines in almost every region. It links all major urban centres, with the notable exceptions of Nelson and Taupo.
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