Steam trains could soon run along the River Derwent to Granton for the first time in decades after the Tasmanian government agreed to extend a heritage railway’s lease over the old line.
The Tasmanian Transport Museum currently runs trains as far as Berriedale, with its lease ending at Mentmore Street in Chigwell.
President Jeff Bronstein said Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent had recently written to confirm the lease would be extended through Hobart’s northern suburbs to Granton, including the old railway station.
“It’s been a lot of work, a lot of negotiations to get to this point,” Bronstein told Pulse.
He said the extended line could become “one of Australia’s iconic rail experiences”, with trains travelling along the banks of the Derwent.
“It’ll be a pretty exciting development for the museum and for Tasmania,” he said.
There are still several steps before trains can reach Granton.
Building Tasmania must survey the line and secure parliamentary approval under the Strategic Infrastructure Corridors Act.
No timeframe has been set, but Bronstein expects the process to take about 12 months.
Once the lease is signed, the museum would become the corridor manager, allowing it to repair the track and seek approval from the rail safety regulator to run passenger services.
Passenger trains last used the Granton section in the 1970s, while freight services stopped around 2014.
The museum has held its current lease since 2021 and began running trains in 2023, initially only as far as Grove Road.
Services reached Berriedale Road near Mona last December, extending the run to about 3.5 kilometres.
Next year, the museum plans to install crossing lights and push services further towards Claremont.
Reaching Granton would eventually give the museum about 12 kilometres of track, with a return journey taking more than an hour.
Longer term, it wants to restore Granton station, which Bronstein described as “pretty dilapidated” and turn it into a western terminus with a cafe and shop.
He said expanding the service could eventually create jobs at the museum.
“We don’t receive any form of government funding or any large-scale corporate funding, so we have to rely on our admission fees, donations and what we earn from our rail revenue,” he said.
The expansion comes as the state government seeks feedback on its $315 million rapid bus route through Hobart’s northern suburbs.
The buses would use the old rail corridor only between New Town and Glenorchy, where the museum’s line begins.
Beyond Granton, the line is no longer connected to the rest of Tasmania’s rail network following construction of the new Bridgewater Bridge.
