It branches off the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo, and runs in a north-westerly direction through Pyramid Hill and Kerang to the border town of Swan Hill, then roughly parallels the New South Wales border to Piangil and Yungera.

[5] In April 2008, it was announced that the Swan Hill – Piangil section of the track, along with six other lines, would be upgraded under a $23.7 million package of improvements to the Victorian core grain network.

[6] In October 2010, the Victorian government released a report into public transport options for the north-west of Victoria, which analysed nine proposals for improving services to the city of Mildura.

Dedicated Swan Hill passenger services serve the remainder of the operating stations on the line and Eaglehawk.

All Swan Hill services stop at all other operating stations, both picking up and setting down passengers.

On 5 June 2007, a fatal crash occurred when a semi-trailer ran into a train at a level crossing near Kerang.