Williams Narrogin Rail Bridges

The Brunswick Junction to Narrogin Railway line is a 186km railway line which began construction in 1898, following the Collie Coalfields Railway Act 1895. This saw the rail line initially connecting Brunswick Junction (and the South Western line that ran through it) to Collie.

In 1903, the Brunswick Junction to Narrogin rail line was extended from Collie to Collie Cardiff, located at the end of the town site of Collieburn. (The Cardiff Progress Association requested Collie Cardiff to be renamed to Cardiff in 1916). Located south of the current town site, the Cardiff colliery was a former open-cut coal mine known as Western Five, which formed part of the mining lease operated by Wesfarmers Premier Coal (who sold it to Austar Coal Mine Pty Limited, “a wholly owned subsidiary of Yancoal Australia Limited” for $296.8 million on 27 September 2011). It was established from 1900 until 1960 and was connected to the rail line. The former open pit mine site is today filled with water from the Collie River and is known as Lake Kepwari.

The Collie-Narrogin Railway Act 1904 was passed on 16 January 1904, authorising the Western Australia Public Works Department to construct the rail line’s extension. This saw the Narrogin to Darkan rail line opening on 7 September 1906, although it was said that the steam engines had to burn wood in lieu of coal, as it wasn’t immediately available in Narrogin at the time.

This was followed with the construction of the final section, connecting Collie to Darkan, opening on 7 October 1907.

The official ceremony for the Brunswick Junction to Narrogin Railway line took place on October 24, with the attendance of Premier Sir Newton James Moore and Minister for Railways, Henry Gregory. The opening of the line saw the “necessity to formally declare and name town sites and sidings along its route”, with the town of Darkan officially gazetted on 7 December 1906.

Today the only part of the line that remains in use is 53km of rail between Brunswick Junction and the Premier Coal mine site. The coal mine is located 15km east of the town of Collie, situated amongst the jarrah forests of the area. It mines approximately three million tonnes of coal per year and employs around 500 people. Yancoal Australia manages the mine on behalf of their major Chinese shareholder, Yanzhou Coal Mining Company Limited.


New Rail Trail
The Shires of Narrogin and Williams announced a joint initiative on 28 May 2024 to look at creating a rail trail to follow the old 25km train line, once connecting the two towns.

With a $9,715 grant received from the 2023-2024 Community Trail Planning Grants Program, a feasibility study will be conducted, which is also supported by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC).