Australian National Railways Commission

The Australian National Railways Commission (ANRC) was a government owned railway operator in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. ANRC was also known as Australian National Railways (ANR) in its early years and was later rebranded as Australian National (AN).

History

The Australian National Railways Commission was established by the Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

Government in 1975 following a promise made before the Federal election in December 1972. Gough Whitlam said that if his party was elected to government he would invite the States to hand over their railway systems to the Commonwealth, his dream was to have one railway system for the Australian nation.

On 1 July 1975, he made good that promise by establishing the Commission which acquired the assets and operations of the Commonwealth Railways

Commonwealth Railways

The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1912, as part of a government department, currently called the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, by the Government of Australia to construct the missing link in the east-west transcontinental railway and...

. As a result of the offer to the States the governments of South Australia and Tasmania, both of which were of the same party as the national government and whose railway systems were deeply in debt, accepted. During the next two years discussions between those two States and the Federal Government resulted in a number of staffing and operating agreements being made that resulted in the whole of the Tasmanian Government Railways

Tasmanian Government Railways

The Tasmanian Government Railways was the former Government of Tasmania managed operator of mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia...

and the freight business and non-urban railways of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

being transferred to the Commonwealth and operated by the Commission. The date of the hand over was 1 March 1978. The metropolitan Adelaide railway lines remained with the State Transport Authority, now TransAdelaide

TransAdelaide

TransAdelaide was a publicly owned corporation which provided suburban train and tram services in Adelaide, South Australia, under contract to the Government of South Australia....

).

Overnight the Commission went from an organisation controlling just over 2000 kilometres (1,242.7 mi) of track with a total staff of 4,000 employees to the operator of one-fifth of the trackage of Australia's rail network. It now controlled 7890 kilometres (4,902.6 mi) of rail track being 2395 kilometres (1,488.2 mi) of broad gauge , 2812 kilometres (1,747.3 mi) of standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

and 2683 kilometres (1,667.1 mi) of narrow gauge track. The narrow gauge track included 851 kilometres (528.8 mi) in the island state of Tasmania and 748 kilometres (464.8 mi) on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...

which is isolated from the mainland rail systems. The remainder of the narrow gauge tracks were two short lines in the Mid North

Mid North

The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains, but not as far north as the Far North, or outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern part of the Flinders Ranges, and the northern...

of South Australia radiating from the stations at Peterborough

Peterborough, South Australia

Peterborough is a town in the mid north of South Australia, in wheat country, just off the Barrier Highway. At the 2006 census, Peterborough had a population of 1,689....

and Gladstone

Gladstone, South Australia

Gladstone is a small rural town in the Mid North of South Australia in the approach to the lower Flinders Ranges. At the 2006 census, Gladstone had a population of 629....

and the famous Ghan line from Marree

Marree, South Australia

Marree is a small town located in the north of South Australia. It lies North of Adelaide at the junction of the Oodnadatta Track and the Birdsville Track, above sea level. The area is the home of the Dieri people. At the 2006 census, Marree had a population of 70.The town was home to Australia's...

to Alice Springs

Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...

in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. The total number of employees numbered just over 12,000.

Australian National Railways Commission was an Australian Government owned corporation and, in 1978, the Fraser Government made it clear to the Commission that it was expected to achieve a financial break-even point during the next 10 years. This decision was unique in Australia's railway history because with the exception of the Commonwealth Railways, all the State systems were being financially supported by their respective governments for amounts that were starting to impact on the provision of other services such as health. The Commission appointed a professional engineer with overseas experience as General Manager in a break from the traditional railway practice of making such appointments from within the organisations.

The Commission's first Corporate Plan in 1979 set out the six ways that the Commission was to pursue if it was to survive. These were:

a) concentrating its marketing drive on bulk traffic, inter-capital freight and inter-major city freight.
b) seeking agreement to cease services where there is little or no demand for the services.
c) rationalisation of services and withdrawal of services not effectively demanded.
d) implement technological changes in all areas of railway operation particularly track maintenance.
e) acquire bigger and more efficient locomotives and rolling stock to operate trains at maximum capacity.
f) pursue a vigorous policy directed towards staff reductions and more efficient use of manpower.

In 1980 a delegation of senior staff and led by the General Manager visited North America to examine current railway practices. In Canada the delegation had talks with Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

(which like Australian National was government-owned) and Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

contact was made with Chessie System

Chessie System

Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...

and Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

. The areas looked at included marketing and pricing, finance and planning, engineering and staff training.

Locomotives

Australian National had operated the following class's of locomotive

Ex South Australian Railways

350 class

South Australian Railways 350 class

A class of locomotive introduced and operated by the South Australian Railways that was later operated by Australian National . Unit 350 entered service on 7 June, 1949 and unit 351 entered service on 21 June, 1949...

500 class

South Australian Railways 500 class (diesel)

South Australian Railways 500 is a class of diesel locomotive operated by the South Australian Railways and built by their own workshops using English electric components, including the English Electric 4SRKT diesel engine. In 1975 the 500 class were transferred to the Australian National Railways...

600

South Australian Railways 600 class (diesel)

The 600 class is a class of mainline diesel locomotives of the South Australian Railways. They were built by A. E. Goodwin. They have a Co-Co wheelbase.The locomotive is a hood type with a long and short end and the driving position in the middle....

class some rebuilt as BU class

700 class

South Australian Railways 700 class (diesel)

A class of locomotive introduced and operated by the South Australian Railways that was subsequently operated by Australian National Railways. This class of locomotive was powered by an Alco V12 diesel engine. There were 6 units built....

800 class

South Australian Railways 800 class

The South Australian Railways 800 class is a class of locomotive introduced and operated by the South Australian Railways that was subsequently operated by Australian National Railways. This class of locomotive was powered by an English Electric in line 6 cylinder diesel engine...

830

South Australian Railways 830 class

The 830 class of diesel locomotives were a class of branchline locomotive built by A. E. Goodwin. They had a Co-Co wheelbase and were operated by the South Australian Railways. Most were passed onto Australian National but two were retained by South Australia for the STA but were later sold to...

class some rebuilt as DA class

900 class

South Australian Railways 900 class

930

South Australian Railways 930 class

The 930 class of diesel locomotives were a class of mainline locomotive built by A. E. Goodwin for the South Australian Railways. They have a Co-Co wheelbase. Some are single ended, with a cab at the 'nose' end, while the balance are double ended, with a round cab at one end and a flat cab at the...

class

Ex Tasmanian Government Railways

X class

Y

TGR Y class

The Tasmanian Government Railways built and ran 8 "Y" class diesel electric locomotives.-History:Following the success of the 1952-vintage TGR X class main-line diesel-electric locomotives, the TGR were keen to add additional diesel locomotives to their fleet.A repeat order of 'X' class engines...

class

Z class

ZA class

ex Commonwealth Railways

CL class rebuilt as CLF and CLP class's

DE class (ex NSWR 79 class, ex USA Army)

GM class

NC class

NC class

NC class locomotives were originally built for the Lakewood Firewood Company Pty Ltd and were last used in commercial service by the Commonwealth Railways and Australian National.-Description:...

NJ class

NSU class

Commonwealth Railways NSU Class

The NSU class was a Commonwealth Railways diesel locomotive built for service on the Central and North Australia Railways.- History :By the end of World War 2, the Commonwealth Railways, like every other operator, were surviving on a ragged and worn out collection of rollingstock on their Central,...

NT class

Built new for Australian National were

AN class

AL class Latter rebuilt as ALF class

BL class

DL class

EL class

Also bought 5 T class locomotives from V/Line and reclassed as CK class

Demise

AN's interstate freight operations and rolling stock were transferred to the National Rail Corporation

National Rail Corporation

The National Rail Corporation was a rail operator in Australia. The Australian Government, New South Wales and Victoria established the National Rail Corporation in 1992...

(NR) in 1992. In 2001, NR's freight operations and rolling stock were combined with the New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

Government-owned FreightCorp and sold to Toll Holdings

Toll Holdings

TOLL , properly TOLL Holdings Limited, is Australia's largest transport company, based in Melbourne, Victoria. The company has operations in road, rail, sea and air in 55 countries....

and Patrick Corporation

Patrick Corporation

Patrick Corporation Ltd was an Australian publicly listed logistics conglomerate. Headed by CEO Chris Corrigan before it was absorbed by Toll Holdings in 2006, Patrick had interests in shipping, rail and aviation, including a 62% shareholding in airline Virgin Blue...

as Pacific National

Pacific National

Pacific National is one of Australia's largest private rail freight businesses. Originally a joint venture between Patrick Corporation and Toll Holdings; it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Asciano Limited following the restructure of Toll Holdings....

. The railway infrastructure, owned by Australian National's "Track Access", was transferred to the Federal Government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation

Australian Rail Track Corporation

Australian Rail Track Corporation is a federal government owned corporation established in 1997 that owns, leases, maintains and controls the majority of main line standard gauge railway lines on the mainland of Australia, known as the Defined Interstate Rail Network .-History:The Interstate...

in 1998. The Tarcoola to Alice Springs line was transferred to the AdRail Consortium as part of a deal to build the railway between Alice Springs and Darwin in 2000.

TasRail

TasRail

Tasrail was the brand name of the Australian National Railways Commission's operations on the mainline railways in Tasmania, formed when Australian National absorbed the former Tasmanian Government Railways in 1978...

, its Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

n operations and infrastructure, was sold to Australian Transport Network, which was taken over by Pacific National in 2004. Its South Australian branch lines

Rail transport in South Australia

The first railway in colonial South Australia was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854...

were sold to the Australian Southern Railroad, and passenger operations were taken over by Great Southern Railway

Great Southern Railway (Australia)

Great Southern Railway , owned by Serco Asia Pacific, is a tourism business and rail transport operator in Australia.GSR operates interstate passenger trains aimed at the tourist market:* The Indian Pacific...

History

Locomotives

Demise

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