1899 to 1929 The
Northam–Goomalling Railway Act 1899, an
act by the
Parliament of Western Australia granted
assent on 16 December 1899, authorised the construction of the long railway line from
Northam to Goomalling, which was constructed by the Western Australian
Public Works Department and officially opened on 1 July 1902. The '
, assented to on 23 December 1905, authorised construction of the first section of the railway line from Goomalling, branching off the Northam to Goomalling railway line, to Dowerin, which became known as the Goomalling to Dowerin railway line'
. The contract for the construction of this line was awarded to the Public Works Department on 3 June 1906 and the railway line was officially opened on 4 December 1906. The contracts for the construction of the sections from Dowerin to Korrelocking and Korrelocking to Kununoppin were both awarded to Atkins & Finlayson on 26 April 1910 while the final section, from Kununoppin to Merredin was awarded to the Public Works Department on 22 June 1910. The three sections opened on 6 February, 19 June and 28 August 1911. In the same year, the railway line north from Goomalling was extended to Wongan Hills. while the Ejanding Northwards Railway Act 1926'' authorised the construction of the spur lines north of Amery, which had its name changed from Ejanding in 1928.
1954 to present In 1954, the state government of Western Australia had compiled a list of loss-making railway operations, of which the Wyalkatchem to Merredin section of line was one, having had a total expenditure of almost four times its earnings in the financial year to June 1953,
£A 76,607 expenditure versus earnings of £A 20,787. Similarly, the Wyalkatchem to
Mukinbudin section of the Southern Cross railway line was also loss-making with an expenditure of £A 79,433 versus earnings of £A 21,965. From October 1970 to November 1971,
The Kalgoorlie, a passenger service between
Perth and
Kalgoorlie, ran via the Goomalling to West Merredin line as the narrow gauge tracks between East Northam and West Merredin had been closed and replaced by standard gauge tracks. This service ended with the commencement of
The Prospector, a standard gauge service, on 29 November 1971. In 2013, the section of the railway line from
Trayning to Merredin was closed, with a lack of government investment in the line stated as the cause by the operator. In 2021, it was estimated that it would cost A$77.6 million to upgrade the Trayning to Merredin section of the railway line to reopen it. The Wyalkatchem to Trayning section was not covered in this assessment. Arc Infrastructure deems the railway line from Goomalling to West Merredin to be part of its Grain Freight Rail Network, which, in 2017, accounted for 50 percent of its network but only 10 percent of its freight. The line from Goomalling to Wyalkatchem and on to Korda was classified as
Tier 1 while the Trayning to Merredin line was classified as Tier 3. ==Heritage==