History of rail transport in Australia

This article is part of the history of rail transport by country series

Following the British model, Australians generally assumed in the 1850s that railways would be built by the private sector . Private companies built railways

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

in the then colonies of Victoria

Rail transport in Victoria

Rail transport in Victoria, Australia, is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. Victorian lines use broad gauge, with the exception of a number of standard gauge freight and interstate lines, a few experimental narrow gauge lines, and...

, opened in 1854, and New South Wales

Rail transport in New South Wales

The Australian state of New South Wales has an extensive network of railways, which were integral to the growth and development of the state. The vast majority of railway lines were government built and operated, but there were also several private railways, some of which operate to this...

, where the company was taken-over by the government before completion in 1855, due to bankruptcy. South Australia

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...

's railways were government owned from the beginning, including a horse-drawn line opened in 1854 and a steam-powered line opened in 1856. In Victoria, the private railways were soon found not to be financially viable, and existing rail networks and their expansion was taken over by the colony. Government ownership also enabled railways to be built to promote development, even if not apparently viable in strictly financial terms. The railway systems spread from the colonial capitals, except in cases where geography dictated a choice of an alternate port.

Railways in Australia date from the 10 December 1831 when the Australian Agricultural Company

Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...

officially opened Australia's first railway, located at the intersection of Brown & Church Streets, Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

. Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway

The colonial railways were built to three different gauges, which became a problem once lines of different systems met at Albury, New South Wales

Albury, New South Wales

Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...

in 1881 and Wallangarra, Queensland

Wallangarra, Queensland

Wallangarra is a village on the border between Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. It is the third most southerly town in Queensland, 258 km south west of Brisbane. Wallangarra is on the Queensland side of the border and Jennings is on the New South Wales side...

in 1888. In the 20th century, the lines between major cities were converted to 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 electrified suburban networks were built in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

and Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. In the second half of the 20th century, many rural branch lines were closed to passenger traffic or altogether in all states. On the other hand, long heavy-haul railways were built to transport iron ore in Western Australia and coal in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

to ports. In Western Australia these railways are privately owned.

In the 1990s and the early 21st century, the traditional networks were reorganised and partially privatised. The interstate standard gauge network came largely under the control of the 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...

and private companies were allowed to operate on it for the first time. Some non-metropolitan intrastate networks became privately controlled and the operation of private freight and passenger trains commenced. Queensland Rail was left as the only government-owned operator of freight or rural passenger trains. The Melbourne suburban railways

Railways in Melbourne

The Melbourne rail network is operated by Metro Trains Melbourne under franchise from the Government of Victoria. The network is based on a commuter rail model centred on the Melbourne Central Business District and Flinders Street Station, rather than a rapid transit model, with a focus on...

became the first urban rail system to be operated by private sector franchisees.

Development of State networks

Railways in Australia date from the 10 December 1831 when the Australian Agricultural Company

Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...

officially opened Australia's first railway, located at the intersection of Brown & Church Streets, Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

. Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast iron

Cast iron

fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway.

The earliest railway in South Australia consisted of the seven-mile horse-drawn freight line between Goolwa and Port Elliot in South Australia, which began service on 18 May 1854, allowing steam ships to avoid the treacherous mouth of the Murray River. The first steam locomotive began service soon afterward between Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), and Flinders Street, Melbourne.

In 1848, the Sydney Railway Company was established to connect Goulburn and Bathurst to Sydney, mainly to convey wool for export to the United Kingdom. It had considerable difficulty in raising sufficient funds to commence construction and none of the proposed 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...

line was opened until 1855, when the line was opened between Sydney and Granville in what is now Sydney's western suburbs, the first section of what is now the Main Southern line

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...

. In fact, the Sydney Railway Company went bankrupt building it and as a result the line was taken over by the government, leading to the establishment of the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...

. Part of the reason for the delay in starting construction and the Company's eventual bankruptcy and was the start of the Australian gold rushes

Australian gold rushes

The Australian gold rush started in 1851 when prospector Edward Hammond Hargraves claimed the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, at a site Edward Hargraves called Ophir.Eight months later, gold was found in Victoria...

in 1851—these created a labour-shortage and forced up prices. In fact the railway did not reach Goulburn until 1869 and Bathurst until 1876, both lines having had to cross difficult topography.

Victoria was the main beneficiary of the gold rushes, with the major discoveries in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

and Bendigo (then called Sandhurst) in 1851. While this also created a labor shortage in Victoria, it also caused great development in Melbourne, first settled in 1835 and declared a city in 1847. As a result Australia's first steam-powered railway was a suburban line opened by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company

Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company

The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was founded on 20 January 1853 to build Australia's first railway broad gauge line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge...

from Melbourne to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne, Victoria

Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....

) in 1854. This line and almost all subsequent Victorian lines were built to broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

' onMouseout='HidePop("20083")' href="/topics/Rail_gauge">gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

). In 1856, the government-owned South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 to the incorporation of its non-urban railways into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1975, together with the former Commonwealth Railways and the former Tasmanian Government Railways...

opened its first line (1600 mm gauge) from Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

to Port Adelaide. The three major Australian colonies at the time failed to follow advice from the British Government

Politics of the United Kingdom

The politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...

to adopt a uniform gauge in case the lines of the various states should ever meet. The original Irish engineer, Sir Francis Shields persuaded the Parliament of New South Wales

Parliament of New South Wales

The Parliament of New South Wales, located in Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney, is the main legislative body in the Australian state of New South Wales . It is a bicameral parliament elected by the people of the state in general elections. The parliament shares law making powers with...

to require that all railways in the colony be of the Irish broad gauge. Subsequently a Scots engineer persuaded the legislature to change to standard gauge. Unfortunately New South Wales failed to inform Victoria and South Australia of the change until, after the other states had ordered broad gauge rolling-stock. Both states subsequently refused to follow this change.

Queensland's first line ( gauge—known in Australia as "narrow gauge") from Ipswich

Ipswich, Queensland

Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...

to Bigge's Camp, the first stage of a railway between Brisbane

Brisbane

and Toowoomba, opened in 1865. This gauge was intended to save money and was subsequently followed by 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...

and Western Australia. As a result, in the middle of the 20th century Australia had almost equal amounts of each gauge. Tasmania's first (1600 mm gauge) line opened in 1871 from Deloraine

Deloraine, Tasmania

Deloraine is a town on the Meander River, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 50 km west of Launceston and 52 km south of Devonport along the Bass Highway. It is part of the Meander Valley Council. At the 2006 census, Deloraine had a population of 2,243.The region was...

to Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

and was converted to 1067 mm gauge in 1888. Finally, Western Australia opened its first Government-owned line in 1879 between Geraldton and Northampton

Northampton, Western Australia

Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 813. It is historic, with an outstanding National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Formerly named Gwalla after the location's...

. Lines spread in all the states from these first lines, connecting ports to farmland and ports.

The mainline systems of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland

Queensland

met (albeit with three breaks of gauge

Break-of-gauge

With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...

) in the 1880s. Only Victoria and South Australia shared a common gauge, and even so they opted to change engines at the border. The other mainland colony, Western Australia, was isolated by 2,000 km of desert.
The first break of gauge was created when the New South Wales and Victorian lines met at Albury

Albury, New South Wales

in 1883. The railways of Victoria and South Australia meet at Serviceton

Serviceton, Victoria

Serviceton is a small town in Victoria, Australia, located near the Victorian-South Australian border, 437 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. The town was named after James Service, Premier of Victoria in 1880 and from 1883-86...

in 1887, but these lines were both broad gauge. In 1888 the railways of New South Wales and Queensland meet at Wallangara

Wallangarra, Queensland

. Meanwhile, in 1889, the first line (1067 mm gauge) 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...

was opened from Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

to Pine Creek

Pine Creek, Northern Territory

Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia. According to the 2001 Australian census 665 people live in Pine Creek, which is the fourth largest town between Darwin and Alice Springs....

. In 1914, an eight kilometre extension of the New South Wales Railways from Queanbeyan

Queanbeyan, New South Wales

Queanbeyan is a regional centre in the Southern Tablelands in south-eastern New South Wales adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory. The city's mixed economy is based on light construction, high technology, manufacturing, service, retail and agriculture. It is the council seat of the...

to Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

was opened to create the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

's first and only line.

New South Wales

New South Wales' railways date from the 10 December 1831 when the Australian Agricultural Company

Australian Agricultural Company

The Australian Agricultural Company is a company which serves to improve beef cattle production through responsible natural resource and land use...

officially opened Australia's first railway, located at the intersection of Brown & Church Streets, Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

. Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast iron

Cast iron

fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway

New South Wales' railways were standard gauge lines built to connect the ports of Sydney and Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

to the rural interior. The first public railway was built from Sydney to Parramatta Junction and after two decisions to change the rail gauge

Rail gauge

, problems in raising capital and difficulties in construction, the line was opened in 1855. The Main Southern line

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

was built in stages from Parramatta Junction to the Victorian border at Albury

Albury, New South Wales

between 1855 and 1881 and connected to the Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

at a break-of-gauge

Break-of-gauge

in 1883. The standard gauge connection from Albury to Melbourne was finally completed in 1962. Meanwhile, the Main Western line

Main Western railway line, New South Wales

The Main Western Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains, Central West, North West Slopes and the Far West regions.- Description of route :...

was built in stages to the north west of the state, starting in 1860 at Parramatta Junction and reaching Bourke

Bourke, New South Wales

-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...

in 1885.

The Main North line

Main North railway line, New South Wales

The Main North Line is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Central Coast, Hunter and the New England regions. The line was the original main line between Sydney and Brisbane, however this required a change of gauge at Wallangarra...

was built in sections over several years. The Sydney to Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

section was connected with the conclusion of the final 2 stages, Mullet Creek to Gosford (opened 16 January 1888) and Hawkesbury to Mullet Creek (opened 1 May 1889), of the Homebush to Waratah line, these final 2 stages required the construction of the Woy Woy Tunnel

Woy Woy Tunnel

The Woy Woy railway tunnel, opened on the 15th August, 1887, is located between Wondabyne and Woy Woy railway stations on the Newcastle and Central Coast railway line which follows the route of the Main North railway line.- Statistics & facts :...

and the original Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge

Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge

The Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge spans the Hawkesbury River just north of the town of Brooklyn on the northern outskirts of Sydney, Australia...

. The Newcastle to Wallangarra

Wallangarra, Queensland

section was constructed between 1857 and 1888 with a break-of-gauge

Break-of-gauge

required at the New South Wales & Queensland border. The North Coast railway line

North Coast railway line, New South Wales

The North Coast Line is the primary rail route in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions of New South Wales, and forms a major part of the Sydney-Brisbane rail corridor....

, constructed between 1905 and 1932 with the completion of the Grafton Bridge

Grafton Bridge, New South Wales

Grafton Bridge is a bascule bridge which spans the Clarence River in Grafton in New South Wales, Australia. Its upper level supports a two way road for traffic, and its lower level supports a rail bridge, a water main, and two footbridges on either side. The bascule span was operational until 1969...

, brought about the closure of the northern end of the Main North line at the Maitland

Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...

junction

Junction (rail)

A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...

due to its shorter distance.

The last main line, the Broken Hill line was completed to Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

in 1927, connecting with the South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

at a break of gauge. Meanwhile branch lines proliferated over the settled east of the state, including the Illawarra line to Wollongong and Nowra

Nowra, New South Wales

Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Located SSW and approximately by road south of the state capital of Sydney, it has an estimated population together with its twin-town of Bomaderry of 34,479. It is also the seat and commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven...

completed in 1893. In 1926 work began on electrifying Sydney's urban railways

Railways in Sydney

Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger network is a hybrid metro-suburban railway with a central underground core running at metro style frequencies, which branches out into a suburban commuter type network...

and connecting them together via new lines.

Victoria

Victoria's first railway was a suburban railway opened from Melbourne to Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne, Victoria

in 1854. The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company

Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company

The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company opened a line from Princes Bridge railway station in Melbourne, Australia to Punt Road and South Yarra in 1859, Prahran in 1859 and Windsor in 1860, connecting with the St Kilda and Brighton...

's line from Princes Bridge railway station

Princes Bridge railway station, Melbourne

Princes Bridge was a Melbourne railway station built in 1859 and was the terminus for all Epping line and Hurstbridge line trains. The station was named after the adjacent Princes Bridge, which crosses the Yarra River. Originally Princes Bridge station was isolated from Flinders Street Station,...

to Punt Road

Richmond railway station, Melbourne

Richmond is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Richmond. It is classed as a Premium Station and is in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:...

(Richmond) opened in 1859. In the same year the Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company

Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company

The Geelong and Melbourne Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company opened a railway in 1857 from Geelong to Newport. In 1859 this line was extended to Spencer Street Station and a branch line was opened from Newport to Williamstown Pier. The Company was taken...

opened its line from Melbourne to Geelong. Subsequently the Victorian Railways

Victorian Railways

built new railways to connect farming and mining communities to the ports of Melbourne, Geelong and Portland

Portland, Victoria

The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

. In 1862 lines reached the great gold rush

Victorian gold rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...

towns of Bendigo and Ballarat. In 1864 a line was opened to the Murray River

Murray River

The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...

port of Echuca

Echuca, Victoria

Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe river in Victoria, Australia. The Border town Moama is on the northern side of the Murray river in New South Wales. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Shire of Campaspe...

. In 1883 the first connection with another State's rail system was made when the North East line was completed to the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

station at Albury

Albury, New South Wales

, requiring a break-of-gauge

Break-of-gauge

to New South Wales' 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...

Main Southern line

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

. In 1887, Victorian Railways met South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

at Serviceton

Serviceton, Victoria

, although both systems used broad gauge.

In 1919, electrification and development of the Melbourne suburban lines

Railways in Melbourne

commenced. Minor extensions to suburban lines have continued, but patronage fell as road transport gained favour from the 1960s. In recent years, patronage has risen substantially, with more than 200 million trips on the network in 2007–2008. In 1981, Melbourne's only underground railway, the City Loop was opened. On the country network, a large number of uneconomic branch line railways have been closed since the 1950s, leaving a skeleton network by the time of the Lonie Report

Lonie Report

The Lonie Report, officially titled Victorian Transport Study, was a thoroughgoing study of freight and passenger transport within the state of Victoria, in Australia...

of 1980. Privatisation of the Victorian railway network was carried out by the Kennett Government in the 1990s, with freight, suburban and country rail services split into separate companies. This was later followed by the Regional Fast Rail project

Regional Fast Rail project

The Regional Fast Rail project was a rail transport project of the State Government of Victoria, Australia undertaken between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving the passenger services on the Victorian regional railway network , specifically to reduce travel times, enhance service frequency and...

that saw track upgrades, new trains, and an improved timetable to major regional cities.

Queensland

The first line opened in 1865 from Ipswich

Ipswich, Queensland

to Grandchester

Grandchester, Queensland

Grandchester is a town in the Lockyer Valley region in South East Queensland, Australia. It is located 76 km west of the Brisbane CBD and is situated on the border of the Ipswich and Laidley local government areas. The name comes from Grantchester, a village outside of Cambridge in England...

, a temporary terminus in the foothills of the Darling Downs. It was built to narrow gauge

Rail gauge

(1067mm — ) in order to reduce costs through the steep escarpment. This was subsequently applied to all the railways built in Queensland, except for the Sydney-Brisbane standard gauge line and the Weipa

Weipa, Queensland

Weipa is the largest town on the Gulf of Carpentaria coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Weipa had a population of 2,830; the largest community on Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast...

mining railway, both built in the 20th century. This was the first 1067mm railway in the world, but the gauge subsequently spread to Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania

Tasmania

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Japan, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

and several African countries. The line was extended from Grandchester to Toowoomba at the top of a steep climb in 1867 and was connected from Ipswich to Brisbane in 1875. From Toowoomba it was extended in stages to meet 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...

standard gauge line at Wallangarra

Wallangarra, Queensland

in 1887 and to Charleville

Charleville, Queensland

Charleville is a town in south western Queensland, Australia, 758 kilometres by road west of Brisbane . It is the largest town and administrative centre of the Murweh Shire, which covers an area of 43,905 square kilometres...

in outback

Outback

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...

southern Queensland in 1888.

Independent lines were commenced from the east coast ports of Maryborough

Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...

, Bundaberg, Gladstone

Gladstone, Queensland

- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...

, Rockhampton

Rockhampton

Rockhampton can refer to:* Rockhampton, Queensland is a city in Queensland, Australia* Rockhampton City, Queensland, a suburb of Rockhampton, Queensland* Electoral district of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia...

, Mackay

Mackay, Queensland

Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....

, Bowen

Bowen, Queensland

Bowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.-Geography:Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street...

, Townsville, Cairns and Cooktown

Cooktown, Queensland

Cooktown is a small town located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. At the 2006 census, Cooktown had a population of 1,336...

. The central line opened from Rockhampton to Westwood

Westwood, Queensland

Westwood is a town in Central Queensland, Australia, south west of the city of Rockhampton. At the 2006 census, Westwood and the surrounding area had a population of 253....

in 1887 and reached Winton

Winton, Queensland

-Qantas:Winton was one of the founding towns of the Australian airline Qantas. The first board meeting was held at the Winton Club on 10 February 1921.-Waltzing Matilda:...

in central western Queensland in 1928. The northern line opened from Townsville to Charters Towers

Charters Towers, Queensland

Charters Towers is a city in northern Queensland, Australia. It is located 137 kilometres inland from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. In 2006 the population was 7,979 people, some 450 fewer than in the 2001 census. During the last quarter of the 19th century the town boomed as the rich gold...

in 1882 and reached Mount Isa in 1929. In 1888 the east-west lines began to be connected with the opening of the first section of the North Coast line

North Coast railway line, Queensland

The North Coast railway line is a narrow gauge railway line in Queensland, Australia. It runs from Brisbane, along the Queensland coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The line is electrified between Brisbane and Rockhampton...

to Petrie. It was not until 1924 that this line finally reached Cairns—Cooktown was never connected.

Many heavy haul coal lines were built in the late 20th century from the ports of Gladstone (beginning in 1968) and Hay Point

Hay Point, Queensland

Hay Point is a small town located approximately 40 kilometres south of the city of Mackay, Queensland, Australia. It is made up of two bulk coal terminals, Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, owned by Prime Infrastructure Holdings and Brookfield Asset Management , and Hay Point Services Coal Terminal,...

(beginning in 1971). Electrification of some of the heavy haul coal lines commenced in 1986. Finally an electrified rail system was developed in suburban Brisbane from 1979. Eventually the North Coast line between Brisbane and Rockhampton was electrified. This, together with the central Queensland mining railway, constitutes Australia's only significant rural rail electrification.

Western Australia

The first railway in Western Australia was a private timber railway from Lockville to Yoganup, south of Perth. In 1879, Western Australian Government Railways

Western Australian Government Railways

Western Australian Government Railways was most common name of the Western Australian government rail transport authority from 1890 to 1976. It is, in its current form, known as the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia....

opened a 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge

Rail gauge

to connect the copper mine at Northampton

Northampton, Western Australia

and the port of Geraldton. Subsequently lines also developed from the ports of Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

(the port of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

), Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

, Albany

Albany, Western Australia

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

and Esperance

Esperance, Western Australia

Esperance is a large town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The shire of Esperance is home to 9,536 people as of the 2006 census, its major industries are tourism, agriculture,...

, mainly for carrying grain and minerals. The line between Fremantle, Perth and Guildford

Guildford railway station, Perth

Guildford Train Station is a Transperth train station 12.5km from Perth Train Station, in Western Australia, on the Midland Line.-History:The station opened in 1881 as the terminus of the original Eastern Railway from Fremantle. In the mid 1880s a second station was built, and a third in 1898...

(about 15 km further east) was opened in 1881. In 1893, Perth was connected to the port of Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

, 175 kilometres south of Perth. In the following year the Midland Railway Company

Midland Railway of Western Australia

The Midland Railway of Western Australia was a privately built and operated railway in Western Australia, operated by the British-owned Midland Railway Company of Western Australia...

opened a line from Perth to Walkaway

Walkaway, Western Australia

Walkaway is a small town in the City of Greater Geraldton local government area of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Walkaway had a population of 262....

, which connected with the Government line to Geraldton, 424 km north of Perth. In 1896, the railway connected Perth to Kalgoorlie, where gold had been discovered in 1893.

In the 20th century, Perth was finally connected to the eastern states. In 1917, the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway

Trans-Australian Railway

The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

connected eastern Australia with the narrow gauge network at Kalgoorlie. The nationalisation of non-paying branch lines started in 1957, with the closure of many lines. Commencing in the 1960s, a number of long distance heavy-haul railways have been built in the Pilbara region by major iron mining companies, particularly BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

and Hamersley Iron

Hamersley Iron

Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio and three Japanese steel companies Mitsui Iron Ore...

. New lines are still being built in this area, particularly to supply the booming Chinese market

Economy of the People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China ranks since 2010 as the world's second largest economy after the United States. It has been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of...

. In 1986, the electrification of Perth suburban lines

Transperth Trains

Transperth Trains is a division of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. It is responsible for operating Perth’s urban passenger rail system, as part of the Transperth network.- Lines :...

with a 25 kV AC

25 kV AC

The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...

overhead power supply commenced. The longest new line was opened on 23 December 2007 from Perth to Mandurah.

South Australia

In 1854 South Australia opened a horse-drawn tramway

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

from the port of Goolwa

Goolwa, South Australia

Goolwa is a historic river port on the Murray River near the Murray Mouth in South Australia, and joined by a bridge to Hindmarsh Island. The name "Goolwa" means "elbow" in Ngarrindjeri, the local Aboriginal language....

on the Murray River

Murray River

to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot

Port Elliot, South Australia

Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay...

to transfer freight between shallow-draft vessels and coastal and ocean-going vessels, which later became part of the steam-powered network. The South Australia line was later extended to a safer harbour at Victor Harbor

Victor Harbor, South Australia

Victor Harbor is a city located on the coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about 80 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. The city is the largest population centre on the peninsula, with an economy based upon agriculture, fisheries and various industries...

.

The first South Australian steam-operated line was built as a broad gauge

Victorian broad gauge

Rail gauge in Australia displays significant variation, which has been an ongoing problem for transportation on the Australian continent, for over a hundred years.-Track gauges and route km:The most used gauges are Main gauges:...

(1600 mm) line in 1856 between the city and Port Adelaide stopping at Bowden, Woodville and Alberton, followed by a broad gauge line to Gawler the next year 1857.This line was extended to Kapunda, a copper mining town in 1860 and then to Burra the great copper centre in 1870. Gradually, a network of lines spread out from Adelaide, Port Wakefield

Port Wakefield, South Australia

Port Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway...

, Wallaroo

Wallaroo, South Australia

Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, 160 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall", the other two being Kadina ...

, Port Broughton

Port Broughton, South Australia

Port Broughton is a small South Australian town located on the Yorke Peninsula on the east coast of Spencer Gulf. It is situated about 170 km north west of Adelaide, and 56 km south of Port Pirie At the 2006 census, Port Broughton had a population of 908....

, Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

, Kingston SE

Kingston SE, South Australia

Kingston SE is a town approximately 297 km southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and 44 km from the town of Robe. It is at the southeastern end of Encounter Bay and the Coorong. At the 2006 census, Kingston SE had a population of 1,443.-History:The town was named after...

, Beachport

Beachport, South Australia

Beachport is a small coastal town 379 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, South Australia, located in the Wattle Range Council. Known for its 772 metre long jetty , Beachport is located on the northern end of Rivoli Bay...

, Whyalla, Port Pirie and Port Lincoln. Some of these were built initially to carry ore, particularly copper. Some lines later carried freight from the Murray River and grain from the broadacre lands. All but the lines radiating from Adelaide were initially narrow (1067 mm) gauge lines. The first narrow gauge line was completed in 1870 from Port Wakefield

Port Wakefield, South Australia

to Hoyleton but was soon upgraded to broad gauge and extended to Blyth, the station nearest the township of Clare.

The first interstate connection was completed in 1887, when the South Australian and Victorian broad gauge railways met at Serviceton, Victoria

Serviceton, Victoria

. In 1888 a narrow gauge line was opened from Port Pirie to Broken Hill, New South Wales

Broken Hill, New South Wales

, with a connection 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....

to Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

. The broad gauge line was completed from Adelaide to Terowie

Terowie, South Australia

Terowie is a small town in the mid-north of South Australia located north of Adelaide. It is located in the Regional Council of Goyder. Terowie retains a number of authentic and well preserved 1880s buildings, and has been declared a "historic town". It also remains a town of interest to those...

in 1880. The line north of Terowie was built as a narrow gauge line in stages to Peterborough and Quorn

Quorn, South Australia

Quorn is a township and railhead in the Flinders Ranges in the north of South Australia, 39 km northeast of Port Augusta. At the 2006 census, Quorn had a population of 1068.Quorn is the home of the Flinders Ranges Council local government area...

in 1882 and Oodnadatta

Oodnadatta, South Australia

Oodnadatta, South Australia, is a small town surrounded by an area of with cattle stations in arid pastoral rangelands close to the Simpson Desert, north of Adelaide and 112 m above sea level. It can be reached by an unsealed road from Coober Pedy or via the unsealed Oodnadatta Track from...

in 1891. This was extended to Alice Springs by 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...

in 1929, when it was renamed the Central Australia Railway.

Tasmania

The first railway in Tasmania was a broad gauge

Rail gauge

(1600 mm) line opened between Deloraine

Deloraine, Tasmania

and Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

in 1871 by the Launceston and Western Railway. It quickly went bankrupt and was effectively taken over by the Tasmanian Government in 1872. In 1876 the Tasmanian Main Line Company

Tasmanian Main Line Company

The Tasmanian Main Line Company was a private railway that opened a narrow gauge line from Hobart to Evandale, near Launceston, where it connected with the Launceston and Western Railway.- Initial proposals :...

opened a narrow gauge (1067 mm) line

South Line, Tasmania

The South Line, also known as the Main Line and sometimes the North/South Line or the North–South Line, is a freight rail corridor connecting Hobart to the northern ports of Tasmania. The Railway Line was built by the Tasmanian Main Line Company...

from Hobart to Evandale

Evandale, Tasmania

Evandale is a small town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River 18 km south of Launceston. A classified historic town, many of its buildings remain largely in original condition...

(near Launceston), connecting with an extension of the Launceston and Western line at a break-of-gauge

Break-of-gauge

. Further gauge confusion was added in 1885 when the Tasmanian Government built a narrow gauge line west of Deloraine to Devonport

Devonport, Tasmania

-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...

. This was resolved in 1888 by the conversion of the Launceston–Deloraine line to narrow gauge.

The Tasmanian Government bought the Tasmanian Main Line Company in 1890, creating 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...

. In 1901 the line to Devonport line was extended to Burnie

Burnie, Tasmania

- Sport :Australian rules football is popular in Burnie. The city's team is the Burnie Dockers Football Club in the Tasmanian State League.Rugby union is also played in Burnie. The local club is the Burnie Rugby Union Club. They are the current Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide Division Two Premiers...

, connecting with the Emu Bay Railway

Emu Bay Railway

The Melba Line is a narrow gauge railway on the west coast of Tasmania. The line was originally constructed as a private railway line named the Emu Bay Railway and was one of the longest lasting and successful private railway companies in Australia...

's line to Zeehan

Zeehan, Tasmania

Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It lies southwest of Burnie. At the 2006 census, Zeehan had a population of 845. It is part of the Municipality of West Coast....

. Other branches were built but the Tasmanian system has always been small and unprofitable. Currently operated by the Tasmanian Government owned 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...

, previous owners include Australian National, Australian Transport Network and most recently, 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....

Development of the national network

In the 19th Century, railways were created to enable agricultural and minerals traffic to be carried to ports for export, and to allow passenger and freight operations between colonial capitals and regional areas. Coastal shipping handled most passenger and freight traffic between the colonies. John Whitton

John Whitton

John Whitton was appointed Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Railways, Australia, in January 1867. Over the next 32 years he completed 2811 miles of railway around NSW and Victoria...

was appointed Engineer in Chief of the New South Wales Government Railways

New South Wales Government Railways

in 1856 and immediately advised his government that the short railway that had been opened in Sydney be converted to broad gauge in case the railways of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia ever joined, but he was refused because "... his political masters ... were unable to envisage intercolonial traffic ever developing." However, the problem of different gauges became apparent with the meeting of lines of the different systems at Albury in 1883 and Wallangarra in 1888.

In the 1890s, the establishment of an Australian Federation

Federation of Australia

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

from the six colonies was debated. One of the points of discussion was the extent that railways would be a federal responsibility. A vote to make it so was lost narrowly, instead the new constitution

Constitution of Australia

The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...

allows "the acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any railways of the State on terms arranged between the Commonwealth and the State" (Section 51

Section 51 of the Australian Constitution

Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia grants legislative powers to the Australian Parliament only when subject to the constitution. When the six Australian colonies joined together in Federation in 1901, they became the original States and ceded some of their powers to the new Commonwealth...

xxxiii) and "railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State" (Section 51 xxxiv). However, the Australian Government

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

is free to provide funding to the states for rail upgrading projects under Section 96 ("the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit").

The Australian Government has full responsibility for railways in the federal territories, although the Northern Territory's railway is now owned and operated by the private AustralAsia Rail Corporation

AustralAsia Rail Corporation

The AustralAsia Railway Corporation was established in 1997 by the Government of the Northern Territory to build the Darwin - Alice Springs section of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway. 50% of its board positions and voting right are assigned to the South Australian Government...

and the only railway in the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

, the Canberra

Canberra

-Queanbeyan railway is now operated by the Rail Corporation New South Wales

Rail Corporation New South Wales

Rail Corporation New South Wales is a statutory authority of the New South Wales government. RailCorp owns, operates and maintains the Sydney suburban and interurban rail network which is marketed under the CityRail brand; in addition to operating rural passenger services under the CountryLink...

.

In 1910, a conference of Railway commissioners chose to be the 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...

. Over the decades, many plans were floated to fix the break of gauge. These failed, mainly because they were too ambitious and proposed to convert all lines, even lines of little economic value.

Creating a standard gauge network

In the 20th century, the different state rail systems became more integrated, initially creating more breaks of gauge. In 1917, the Federal Government

Government of Australia

's standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway

Trans-Australian Railway

The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

was completed between Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta, South Australia

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

. However, this required a break of gauge at Kalgoorlie to reach Perth

Perth, Western Australia

and breaks of gauge at both Port Augusta and Terowie to reach Adelaide. In 1927, the last section of the Sydney–Broken Hill line was completed between Trida

Trida, New South Wales

Trida is a locality in Central Darling Shire in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia.-Village:Records show that a Hotel existed at Trida with the license being established in 1889 by an Alexander Pearce...

and Menindee

Menindee, New South Wales

Menindee is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980.-History:...

meeting the South Australian Railways

South Australian Railways

line at a break of gauge and requiring a further break of gauge at Terowie to reach Adelaide.

In 1932 the first progress in reducing the gauge conflict was made with the completion of the standard gauge Sydney-Brisbane railway with the opening of a bridge

Grafton Bridge, New South Wales

at Grafton

Grafton, New South Wales

The city of Grafton is the commercial hub of the Clarence River Valley. Established in 1851, Grafton features many historic buildings and tree-lined streets. Located approximately 630 kilometres north of Sydney and 340 km south of Brisbane, Grafton and the Clarence Valley can be reached...

. The first standard gauge line in South Australia, Trans-Australian Railway

Trans-Australian Railway

The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

, was completed in 1917 between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie, requiring break-of-gauges at Terowie, Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie to reach Perth. This line was extended to Port Pirie in 1937 and the broad gauge line from Adelaide to Redhill

Redhill, South Australia

- Governance :Redhill is in the Port Pirie Regional Council local government area, the South Australian House of Assembly electoral district of Frome and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Grey.-History:...

was extended to Port Pirie, removing one break-of gauge.

In the 1950s, a parliamentary committee chaired by William Wentworth recommended a much more modest and affordable plan to gauge convert the three main missing links:

Albury
Albury, New South Wales
Albury is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia, located on the Hume Highway on the northern side of the Murray River. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Albury Local Government Area...

to Melbourne 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...

track added parallel to broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

to complete the Sydney-Melbourne railway.
Kalgoorlie to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

– narrow gauge converted to standard gauge.
Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

to Port Pirie – narrow gauge converted to standard.

In 1962 the Albury

Albury, New South Wales

to Melbourne 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...

line was opened, completing the Sydney-Melbourne railway. In 1966, a new mixed standard and narrow gauge Eastern Railway route was completed through the Avon Valley, east of Perth. In 1968 the Kalgoorlie to Perth line was completed and in 1969 the Broken Hill to Port Pirie standard gauge railway were opened, completing Sydney-Perth railway.

A standard gauge line was built between Port Augusta and Whyalla in 1972. In October 1980, a new standard gauge railway was completed from Tarcoola, South Australia

Tarcoola, South Australia

Tarcoola is a town in the Far North of South Australia 416 km north-northwest of Port Augusta.Tarcoola is taken from a non-local aboriginal language from an area around Tarcoola Station in NSW; it means river bend.-History:Tarcoola Post Office opened on 18 August 1900 and the town was...

to Alice Springs, replacing the former narrow gauge railway. Adelaide was connected to the standard gauge network with the opening of the line to Crystal Brook, South Australia

Crystal Brook, South Australia

Crystal Brook is a town in South Australia, named after the spring-fed creek next to which it was founded. It is north of Adelaide and in 2006 had a population of 1,185.Crystal Brook is situated on Goyder's Line near the border of two climate systems...

in 1982 and the Melbourne-Adelaide railway was converted to standard gauge in 1995. Meanwhile, the Tarcoola, South Australia

Tarcoola, South Australia

to Alice Springs standard gauge railway was opened in 1980 and extended to Darwin in 2004 to complete the Adelaide-Darwin railway

Adelaide-Darwin railway

The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...

Private railways

There have always been niches for private railways in most colonies, such as:

mining – private iron mining railways alone now account for most Australian rail freight by tonnage, but private coal railways have been important since the early years of coal mining in the mid 19th century
quarrying
major factory sites, such as steel works
temporary lines at construction sites
agriculture, especially the sugar industry

Mining railways

Starting in the 1960s, four heavy duty railways were developed in the Pilbara region of the far north of Western Australia for the haulage of iron ore from several mines to the nearest ports. These railways are isolated from each other and from the national system, carrying no other traffic.

The very heavy traffic on these lines, up to 100 million tonnes per year, push wheel/rail technology to its limits, and has resulted in considerable research and development that has been of value to railways worldwide.

These iron ore railways are all 1435mm gauge, and started off using American standards for track, locomotives and wagons.

In 2008, the Fortescue Metals Group

Fortescue Metals Group

Fortescue Metals Group is an Australian iron ore mining company. The company has holdings of more than 87,000 km² in the Pilbara region of Western Australia making it the largest tenement holder in the state. It is listed as FMG on the Australian Securities Exchange .In 2008, the group loaded...

commenced operating a fifth iron ore railway in the Pilbara.

The railway lines are:

Hamersley & Robe River railway
Hamersley & Robe River railway
The Hamersley & Robe River railway, majority-owned and operated by the Rio Tinto Group, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. The network is larger than any other Australian heavy freight rail network in private ownership. The...

(Rio Tinto)
Mount Newman railway
Mount Newman railway
The Mount Newman railway, owned and operated by BHP Billiton, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore...

(BHP)
Goldsworthy railway
Goldsworthy railway
The Goldsworthy railway, owned and operated by BHP Billiton, is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. It is one of two railway lines the group operates in the Pilbara, the other being the Mount Newman railway.Additionally to the BHP...

(BHP)
Fortescue railway
Fortescue railway
The Fortescue Railway, owned and operated by the Fortescue Metals Group , is a private rail network in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for the purpose of carrying iron ore. It is the only railway line the group operates in the Pilbara, having opened in 2008...

(FMG)

Privatisation

In 1992, the largely Federal Government-owned 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...

took over interstate rail freight operations from the Australian National Rail Commission, and commenced operations on the interstate network. National Rail Corporation's freight operations and rolling stock (not infrastructure) were combined with the New South Wales

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

in 2002.

The Australian National Rail Commission was privatised in 1997. Its Tasmania

Tasmania

n operations and infrastructure (TasRail

TasRail

) were sold to Australian Transport Network, which was taken over by Pacific National in 2004. South Australian branch lines were sold to Genesee and Wyoming Inc. Its 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...

.

State freight and country passenger operations were privatised, except in Queensland

Queensland

. Urban passenger trains remained in government ownership, except in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

, because such services are politically sensitive and these operations could not operate profitably.

New train operating companies (TOC) appeared, including wheat trains operated by wheat exporting companies. At least one company (Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia) appeared to lease locomotives and rolling stock to any TOC that wanted them. These companies include :

Australian Railroad Group
Australian Railroad Group
Australian Railroad Group was one of Australia's largest private rail operators, operating across almost 10,000 kilometres of track and began operating in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was acquired by QR National...
Southern Shorthaul Railroad
Southern Shorthaul Railroad
Southern Shorthaul Railroad was established in December 2003, when the remains of Great Northern Rail Services were purchased from CFCL Australia Pty Ltd. Jason Ferguson was then the Fleet Manager for CFCL Australia, and this company was facing a $1.3M write-off of a bad-debt from the previous...
South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services
South Spur Rail Services is a Western Australian owned railway company that provides terminal operations and short haul rail services to the rail transport industry. It is a family owned and operated business formed in 1997 whose shareholders come from a Westrail background.South Spur Rail have a...
Patrick Rail Operations
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...
Specialised Container Transport
Specialised Container Transport
SCT Logistics is an interstate transport company in Australia, with facilities in Melbourne, Adelaide, Parkes, and Perth. The company was founded in 1974.- History :...
FreightLink
FreightLink
FreightLink is a railway freight operator in Australia that operates over the Adelaide–Darwin railway.-History:In 2000, the AustralAsia Rail Corporation awarded the contract to build and operate the Adelaide to Darwin railway as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer back project to the Asia Pacific...
Silverton Rail
Silverton Rail
Southern and Silverton Rail is an Australian regional rail operator providing rail freight haulage, hook and pull, terminal and shunting services, maintenance and first response/recovery services...

Licensing of personnel with nationally recognised credentials facilitates the transfer of those people from one state or operator to another, as traffic demands.

Separation of infrastructure and operations

Construction and maintenance of network infrastructure were consolidated into non-profit government bodies, in the case of the interstate network and the non-urban railways of New South Wales (Australian Rail Track Corporation

Australian Rail Track Corporation

) and Western Australia (WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail is the operator of approximately 5000 kilometres of former WAGR railway track in Western Australia, leased from the State of Western Australia following the sale of Westrail in 2000....

). This was intended to provide access to new and existing players.

The interstate rail network of the former Australian National Railways Commission

Australian National Railways Commission

The Australian National Railways Commission was a government owned railway operator in Australia. ANRC was also known as Australian National Railways in its early years and was later rebranded as Australian National .-History:...

was transferred to the newly established Australian Rail Track Corporation in 1998. In 2002, the Tarcoola–Alice Springs line

Adelaide-Darwin railway

The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...

was leased to the AustralAsia Rail Corporation

AustralAsia Rail Corporation

. The ARTC track consists of the track from Kalgoorlie to Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

and Serviceton, Victoria

Serviceton, Victoria

. The ARTC also manages under lease the interstate standard gauge rail network in New South Wales and Victoria and has rights to sell access between Kalgoorlie and Kwinana

Kwinana, Western Australia

The Town of Kwinana is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth's central business district, via the Kwinana Freeway...

to interstate rail operators under a wholesale access agreement with the Western Australian track owner and operator, WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail

WestNet Rail is the operator of approximately 5000 kilometres of former WAGR railway track in Western Australia, leased from the State of Western Australia following the sale of Westrail in 2000....

. It also "has a working relationship with Queensland Rail about the use of the 127 kilometres of standard gauge line between the Queensland border and Fisherman Island. ARTC intends to start discussions with Queensland about leasing this track once the NSW arrangements are bedded down". The ARTC also maintains the NSW rural branch lines under contract.

Other railways continue to be integrated, although access to their infrastructure is generally required under National Competition Policy

National Competition Policy

The term National Competition Policy refers to a set of policies introduced in Australia in the 1990s with the aim of promoting microeconomic reform.-Origins:...

principles agreed by the Federal, State and Territory governments:

Queensland – Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail, also known as QR, is a government-owned railway operator in the state of Queensland. Under the control of the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates the inner-city and long-distance passenger services, as well as some freight operations and gives railway access to other...
Tasmania – 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....
Victorian non-interstate lines – Pacific National
Western Australian non-interstate lines – Australian Railroad Group
Australian Railroad Group
Australian Railroad Group was one of Australia's largest private rail operators, operating across almost 10,000 kilometres of track and began operating in Western Australia on 17 December 2000 following its purchase of the Westrail freight business. It was acquired by QR National...
South Australian non-interstate lines – Genesee and Wyoming Australia
Genesee and Wyoming Australia
Genesee and Wyoming Australia is an Australian rail freight operator based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming Inc based in the USA, and was formed in June 2006 to run the South Australian operations of the Australian Railroad Group joint...
Darwin-Tarcoola railway
Adelaide-Darwin railway
The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...

– FreightLink
FreightLink
FreightLink is a railway freight operator in Australia that operates over the Adelaide–Darwin railway.-History:In 2000, the AustralAsia Rail Corporation awarded the contract to build and operate the Adelaide to Darwin railway as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer back project to the Asia Pacific...

Much maintenance of tracks were contracted out.

Australian Government funding

While, the Australian Government

Government of Australia

has provided substantial funding for the upgrading of roads, since the 1920s, it has not regularly funded investment in railways except for its own railway, the Commonwealth Railways

Commonwealth Railways

, which was established in 1911 to build the 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...

Trans-Australian Railway

The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

between Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta, South Australia

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

, and to take over the 1067 mm gauge railways between Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

and Oodnadatta (used by the old "Ghan") and the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway

Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway

The North Australia Railway , also known as the Palmerston to Pine Creek railway, was a narrow gauge railway which ran from Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah.-History:...

. Commonwealth Railways became part of the Australian National Railways Commission

Australian National Railways Commission

in 1975, which was privatised in 1997. Although the Australian Government has considered the funding of railways owned by State Government to be a State responsibility, it has made loans to the States for gauge standardisation projects from the 1920s to the 1970s. From the 1970s to 1996, the Australian Government has provided some grant funding to the States for rail projects.

One Nation program

Under the Keating

Paul Keating

Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...

Government's One Nation program:

the Melbourne-Adelaide line was converted to standard gauge in 1995.
the 1067 mm gauge line to the Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. It is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on reclaimed land that was once called Fisherman Islands at the mouth of the river. It currently is the third busiest port in Australia and the nation's...

was converted to dual 1435/1067 mm gauge and extended in parallel with the duplicated passenger line to Dutton Park.
a standard gauge link was built to the port at Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

.
new standard gauge sidings were provided at Adelaide Outer Harbor
Outer Harbor, South Australia
Outer Harbor is a north-western industrial suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, located at the northern tip of the Lefevre Peninsula; administratively, it lies in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, 22 km from the Adelaide city centre. It is adjacent to Osborne, North Haven and Pelican Point...

.
a separate freight line was built between Ingleburn and Glenfield
Glenfield railway station, Sydney
Glenfield railway station is an important junction station serving the small Sydney suburb of Glenfield. To the north of the station is a junction between the Main South line and the East Hills Line. To the south, a junction between the Main South and South West lines will be constructed. The...

as the first stage of what is now known as the Southern Sydney Freight Line
Southern Sydney Freight Line
The Southern Sydney Freight Line is a railway line under construction in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. At present, a curfew for non-passenger trains operates in the suburban area during peak hours, restricting the movement of freight to off-peak periods...

. Its planned extension to the Chullora
Chullora, New South Wales
Chullora, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and the Municipality of Strathfield, is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and forms a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.-History:The suburb of...

– Enfield
Enfield, New South Wales
Enfield is a suburb, in the Inner-West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Enfield is located 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Burwood Council.-History:...

freight line near Sefton is being built by the 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...

with funds provided by the Australian Government
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

under AusLink
AusLink
AusLink was an Australian Government land transport funding program, established in June 2004 and administered by the Department of Transport and Regional Services. In 2009 it was replaced with the Nation Building Program under the Nation Building Program Act 2009...

.
the Sydney-Brisbane line was upgraded with longer passing loops, the replacement of wooden trestles with concrete bridges, concrete resleepering, some minor deviations and bank stabilisation.
passing loop
Passing loop
A passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...

s were extended between Wodonga
Wodonga, Victoria
Wodonga is a small city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. Adjacent to Wodonga across the border is the New South Wales city of Albury. Wodonga is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga LGA...

and Melbourne.

Alice Springs to Darwin railway

In 2004, the long awaited 1420 km Alice Springs to Darwin railway

Adelaide-Darwin railway

The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...

was opened by the AustralAsia Rail Corporation

AustralAsia Rail Corporation

with assistance from the Australian Government

Government of Australia

and the governments of South Australia and the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory expects that this railway line will open up many mining ventures that would otherwise be uneconomic without a heavy duty rail line.

See Rail transport in Australia
Rail transport in Australia
Rail transport in Australia is a crucial aspect of the Australian transport network, and an enabler of the wider Australian economy. Rail in Australia is to a large extent state-based. The Australian rail network consists of a total of 41,461 km of track of three major gauges, of which...

for current Australian Government rail funding.

Single regulator

In 2009, it is proposed to combine the seven separate state rail regulators into a single regulator.

External links

John L. Buckland collection of railway transport photographs / National Library collection that covers all aspects of Australian railway history
National Archives of Australia

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