Inverell railway line

[4] An unsuccessful proposal by the mayor of Inverell, James H Hindmarsh was first made in 1872 to construct a railway from Tamworth to the town via Manilla, Barraba and Bingara with the possibility of extending further north to the Queensland border.

In 1894 surveying of a line linking Moree and Inverell began, and the Parliamentary Committee for Public Works recommended it be constructed in 1897.

[7] In 1910, major flooding destroyed a bridge near Warialda, closing the line for three days until repairs could be completed.

Passenger services were mostly provided by railmotors and ran to timetables which connected with the daily North West Mail train from Sydney to Moree.

[13] It was intended that the extended line could function as a quicker route to ports in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions via the incomplete Guyra to Dorrigo railway.

[14] In 2011, the Regional Development Australia Committee - Northern Inland New South Wales backed feasibility studies based on a proposal to reopen and extend the line beyond Inverell to a new export port facility to be located near Iluka or Coffs Harbour.

Traffic on the line would be mostly coal from deposits in the Gunnedah Basin and function as an alternative to congested ports in Sydney and Newcastle.