There are many forms oftransport in Australia. Australia is highly dependent onroad transport due to its large size. There are more than300 airports with paved runways. Passenger rail transport includes widespread commuter networks in the major capital cities with more limited intercity and interstate networks. TheAustralian mining sector is reliant upon rail to transport its product to Australia's ports for export.
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Road transport is an essential element of the Australian transport network, and an enabler of theAustralian economy. There is a heavy reliance on road transport due to Australia's large area and lowpopulation density in considerable parts of the country.[1] This is similar to the US. Australia's road network experiences excessive demand during peak periods and very weak demand overnight.[2]
Another reason for the reliance upon roads is that theAustralian rail network has not been sufficiently developed for a lot of the freight and passenger requirements in most areas of Australia. This has meant thatgoods that would otherwise be transported by rail are moved across Australia viaroad trains. Almost every household owns at least onecar, and uses it most days.[3]
There are three different categories of Australian roads. They are federal highways, state highways and local roads. The road network comprises a total of 913,000 km broken down into:[4]
Victoria has the largest network, with thousands of arterial (major, primary and secondary) roads to add.
The majority of road tunnels in Australia have been constructed since the 1990s to relieve traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, or to cross significant watercourses.
Australia has the thirteenth-highest level ofcar ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third-highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world.Melbourne is the most car-dependent city in Australia, according to a data survey in the 2010s, having over 110,000 more cars driving to and from the city each day thanSydney.Perth,Adelaide andBrisbane are rated as being close behind. All these capital cities are rated among the highest in this category in the world (car dependency).[5] The distance travelled by car (or similar vehicle) in Australia is among the highest in the world.[1]
The adoption ofplug-in electric vehicles in Australia is driven mostly by state-basedelectric vehicle targets and monetary incentives to support the adoption and deployment of low- orzero-emission vehicles. The monetary incentives include electric vehicle subsidies, interest-free loans, registration exemptions,stamp duty exemptions, theluxury car tax exemption and discounted parking for both private and commercial purchases. TheVictorian andNew South Wales governments target between 50% and 53% of new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030.[6][7][8]
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Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide have extensive suburban rail networks which have grown and expanded over time. Australian suburban rail typically operates with bidirectional all-day services with Sydney, Melbourne, and to a lesser extent Perth and Brisbane's systems operating with much higher frequencies, particularly in their underground cores.Sydney Trains operates the busiest system in the country with approximately 1 million trips per day.Metro Trains Melbourne operates a larger system albeit with a lower number of trips.
Trams have historically operated in many Australian towns and cities, with the majority of these being shut down before the 1970s in the belief that more widespread car ownership would render them unnecessary.Melbourne is a major exception and today has the largest tram network of any city in the world. Adelaide retained one tram service — theGlenelg tram line, since 2008 extended toHindmarsh and theEast End. Trams once operated inSydney,Brisbane,Perth, andHobart, and a number of major regional cities includingBallarat,Bendigo,Broken Hill,Fremantle,Geelong,Kalgoorlie,Launceston,Maitland,Newcastle,Rockhampton, andSorrento.
TheInner West Light Rail opened in Sydney in 1997 with the conversion of a disused section of theMetropolitan Goods line. TheCBD and South East Light Rail opened toRandwick in December 2019 andKingsford in April 2020. A light rail system openedon the Gold Coast in 2014. A line opened inNewcastle in February 2019 and one inCanberra opened in April 2019.[9][10]
Sydney is the only city in Australia with arapid transit system. The Sydney Metro currently consists of one 52 km driverless line, connectingTallawong andSydenham, and is scheduled to be extended toBankstown in 2025 under theMetro North West & Bankstown Line.[11][12] Upon completion, it will complete theSydney Metro City & Southwest project to form a 66 km network with 31 metro stations.
TheSydney Metro West andSydney Metro Western Sydney Airport are currently under construction. The former aims to connectWestmead to theSydney CBD, via stations includingParramatta,Sydney Olympic Park,Five Dock, and theBays Precinct, and is scheduled to be completed by 2032.[13] The latter aims to connectSt Marys and Badgerys CreekAerotropolis viaWestern Sydney Airport, scheduled to be completed in 2026, aligning with the opening of the airport.[14]
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth's commuter systems are all partially underground and reflect some aspects of typical rapid transit systems, particularly in the city centres.
The following table presents an overview of multi-modal intra-city public transport networks in Australia's larger cities. The onlyAustralian capital cities without multi-modal networks areDarwin andHobart. The table does not include tourist or heritage transport modes (such as theprivate monorail atSea World or the touristVictor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram).
The railway network is large, comprising a total of 33,819 km (2,540 km electrified) of track: 3,719 kmbroad gauge, 15,422 kmstandard gauge, 14,506 kmnarrow gauge and 172 kmdual gauge. Rail transport started in the various colonies on different dates. Privately owned railways started the first lines, and struggled to succeed on a remote, huge, and sparsely populated continent, and government railways dominated. Although the various colonies had been advised byLondon to choose a commongauge, the colonies ended up with different gauges.
Journey Beyond operates four trains: theIndian Pacific (Sydney-Adelaide-Perth),The Ghan (Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin),The Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide),[17] and theGreat Southern (Brisbane-Melbourne-Adelaide).NSW Government ownedNSW TrainLink services linkBrisbane,Canberra,Melbourne,Dubbo,Broken Hill,Armidale,Moree andGriffith toSydney. Since the extension of theGhan from Alice Springs to Darwin was completed in 2004, all mainland Australian capital cities are linked bystandard gauge rail, for the first time.
There are various state and city rail services operated by a combination of government and private entities, the most prominent of these includeV/Line (regional trains and coaches inVictoria);Metro Trains Melbourne (suburban services in Melbourne);NSW TrainLink (regional trains and coaches inNew South Wales);Sydney Trains (suburban services in Sydney);Queensland Rail (QR) operating long-distanceTraveltrain services and theCity network in South-East Queensland, andTranswa operating train and bus services in Western Australia.
In Tasmania,TasRail operates a short-haul narrow gauge freight system, that carries inter-modal and bulk mining goods. TasRail is owned by theGovernment of Tasmania and is going through significant below and above rail upgrades with new locomotives and wagons entering service. Significant bridge and sleeper renewal have also occurred. The Tasmanian Government also operates theWest Coast Wilderness Railway as a tourist venture over an isolated length of track on Tasmania's West Coast.
Six heavy-dutymining railways carry iron ore to ports in the northwest ofWestern Australia. These railways carry no other traffic and are isolated by deserts from all other railways. The lines arestandard gauge and are built to the heaviest US standards. Each line is operated by one of eitherBHP,Rio Tinto,Fortescue andHancock Prospecting.
A common carrier railway was proposed to serve the port ofOakajee Port just north ofGeraldton, but this was later cancelled after a collapse in the iron ore price.[18]
InQueensland, 19 sugar mills are serviced by ~3,000 km ofnarrow gauge (2 ft /610 mm gauge) cane tramways that deliversugar cane to the mills.
There are several pipeline systems including:
Projects under construction or planned:
Victoria
Between 1850 and 1940,paddle steamers were used extensively on theMurray-Darling Basin to transport produce, especially wool and wheat, to river ports such asEchuca,Mannum andGoolwa. However, the water levels of the inland waterways are highly unreliable, making the rivers impassable for large parts of the year. A system oflocks was created largely to overcome this variability, but the steamers were unable to compete with rail, and later, road transport. Traffic on inland waterways is now largely restricted to private recreational craft.[22]
In 2006, the Australian fleet consisted of 53 ships of 1,000 gross tonnage or over. The use of foreign registered ships to carryAustralian cargoes between Australian ports is permitted under a permit scheme, with either Single Voyage Permit (SVP) or a Continuous Voyage Permit (CVP) being issued to ships.[23] Between 1996 and 2002 the number of permits issued has increased by about 350 per cent.[24]
Over recent years the number of Australian registered andflagged ships has greatly declined, from 75 ships in 1996 to less than 40 in 2007, by 2009 the number isnow approaching 30. Marine unions blame the decline on the shipping policy of theHoward government which permitted foreign ships to carry coastal traffic.[25]
There have also been cases where locally operated ships have an Australian flag from the vessel, registering it overseas under aflag of convenience, then hiring foreign crews who earn up to about half the monthly rate of Australian sailors.[24] Such moves were supported by theHoward government but opposed by maritime unions and theAustralian Council of Trade Unions.[26] The registration of the ships overseas also meant the earnings of the ships are not subject to Australian corporate taxation laws.[25]
Qantas is the flag carrier of Australia.Australian National Airways was the predominant domestic carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s. AfterWorld War II, Qantas was nationalised and its domestic operations were transferred toTrans Australia Airlines in 1946. TheTwo Airlines Policy was formally established in 1952 to ensure the viability of both airlines. However, ANA's leadership was quickly eroded by TAA, and it was acquired byAnsett Airways in 1957. The duopoly continued for the next four decades. In the mid-1990s TAA was merged with Qantas and later privatised. Ansett collapsed in September 2001. In the following years,Virgin Australia became a challenger to Qantas. Both companies launched low-cost subsidiariesJetstar andTigerair Australia respectively.
Overseas flights from Australia to the United Kingdom via theEastern Hemisphere are known as theKangaroo Route, whereas flights via theWestern Hemisphere are known as theSouthern Cross Route. In 1948, the first commercial flight from Australia to Africa was flown by Qantas, launching what is known as theWallaby Route.[27][28] In 1954, the first flight from Australia to North America was completed, as a 60-passenger Qantas aircraft connected Sydney withSan Francisco andVancouver, having fuel stops at Fiji, Canton Island and Hawaii. In November 1982, aPan Am747SP flew the first non-stop commercial flight fromLos Angeles to Sydney.[29] Airport transfer provides a seamless and efficient transportation solution for travelers.[30] A non-stop flight between Australia and Europe was first completed in March 2018 from Perth to London.
There are many airports around Australia paved or unpaved. A 2004 estimate put the number of airports at 448. The busiest airports in Australia are:
| Length | Paved | Unpaved | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over 3,047 m (10,000 ft) | 10 | — | 10 |
| 2,438 to 3,047 m (8,000 to 10,000 ft) | 12 | — | 12 |
| 1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 8,000 ft) | 131 | 17 | 148 |
| 914 to 1,523 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft) | 139 | 112 | 251 |
| Under 914 m (3,000 ft) | 13‡ | 14 | 27 |
| Total | 305 | 143 | 448 |
‡ 2004 estimate
The environmental impact of transport in Australia is considerable. In 2009, transport emissions made up 15.3% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. Between 1990 and 2009, transport emissions grew by 34.6%, the second-highest growth rate in emissions after stationary energy.[32]
The Australian Energy Regulator and state agencies such as the New South Wales Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal set and regulate electricity prices, thereby lowering production and consumer cost.[citation needed]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2000 ed.).CIA.
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