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Australians generally assumed in the 1850s that railways would be built by the private sector. Private companies built railways in the then colonies ofVictoria, opened in 1854, andNew South Wales, where the company was taken over by the government before completion in 1855 due to bankruptcy.South Australia'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 were 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 for a few lines that hauled commodities to a rural port.
Railways in Australia date from the 10 December 1831 when theAustralian Agricultural Company officially opened Australia's first railway,[1] located at the intersection of Brown and Church Streets,Newcastle, New South Wales. Privately owned and operated to service theA Pit coal mine, it was acast ironfishbelly rail on an inclined plane as agravitational railway.[2]
The colonial railways were built to three different gauges, which became a problem once lines of different systems met atAlbury in 1881 andWallangarra in 1888. In the 20th century, the lines between major cities were converted tostandard gauge and electrified suburban networks were built inSydney,Melbourne,Brisbane andPerth. 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 inWestern Australia and coal inQueensland 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 theAustralian Rail Track Corporation 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. TheMelbourne suburban railways became the first urban rail system to be operated by private sector franchisees.
Railways in Australia date from the 10 December 1831 when theAustralian Agricultural Company officially opened Australia's first railway,[1] located at the intersection of Brown and Church Streets,Newcastle, New South Wales. Privately owned and operated to service theA Pit coal mine, it was acast-ironfishbelly rail on an inclined plane as agravitational railway.[2]
The earliest railway in South Australia consisted of the 11-kilometre (7 mi) horse-drawn freight line betweenGoolwa andPort Elliot, which began service on 18 May 1854, allowing steam ships to avoid the treacherous mouth of theMurray River.[3] The first steam locomotive began service soon afterward on thePort Melbourne line between Sandridge (nowPort Melbourne), andFlinders Street in Melbourne.[3]
In 1848, theSydney Railway Company was established to connectGoulburn andBathurst to Sydney, mainly to convey wool for export to the United Kingdom. The company proposed thatstandard gauge, that is,4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), be used but had considerable difficulty in raising sufficient funds to commence construction and the first section of the line, betweenGranville and Sydney was not opened until 1855. This area is now part of Sydney's western suburbs and the railway line became the first section of what is now theMain Suburban line. 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 theNew South Wales Government Railways. Part of the reason for the delay in starting construction and the Company's eventual bankruptcy was the start of theAustralian gold rushes in 1851—these created a labour-shortage and forced up prices.[4][failed verification][5][failed verification][6][failed verification] In fact the railway did not reach Goulburn until 1869 and Bathurst until 1876, both lines having had to cross difficult topography.[7][8]
Victoria was the main beneficiary of the gold rushes, with the major discoveries around the state but particularly atBallarat andBendigo (then calledSandhurst) in the early 1850s. While this created a labour shortage in the colony (which had separated from New South Wales in 1851), 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 theMelbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company fromMelbourne to Sandridge in 1854.[9] This line and almost all subsequent Victorian lines were built tobroad gauge, that is,1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in). In 1856, the government-ownedSouth Australian Railways opened its first1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge line fromAdelaide toPort Adelaide.[4]
The three major Australian colonies at the time failed to follow advice from theBritish Government to adopt a uniform gauge in case the lines of the various states should ever meet. In 1850 the original Irish engineer,Francis Sheilds persuaded theGovernment of New South Wales to require that all railways in the colony be of the Irish broad gauge. In 1853 a Scots engineer persuaded the legislature to change back to standard gauge. Unfortunately although New South Wales had informed Victoria of the change, the government there decided to continue with1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge and South Australia then followed Victoria. Suggestions and proposals respectively that Victoria should follow New South Wales or New South Wales should convert to the Victorian gauge were made soon after but the states followed their initial choice.[citation needed]
Queensland's first line, which used3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge known in Australia asnarrow gauge, fromIpswich toBigge's Camp, the first stage of a railway betweenBrisbane andToowoomba, opened in 1865.[10] This gauge was intended to save money and was subsequently followed byTasmania and Western Australia.[11] As a result, in the middle of the 20th century Australia had almost equal amounts of each gauge. Tasmania's first1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge line opened in 1871 fromDeloraine toLaunceston and was converted to1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge in 1888. Finally, Western Australia opened its first Government-owned line in 1879 betweenGeraldton andNorthampton. Lines spread in all the states from these first lines, connecting ports to farmland and ports.[4]
The mainline systems of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia andQueensland met (albeit with threebreaks of gauge) 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 kilometres (1,200 mi) of desert.The first break of gauge was created when the New South Wales and Victorian lines met atAlbury in 1883.[7] The railways of Victoria and South Australia meet atServiceton in 1887, but these lines were both broad gauge.[9] In 1888 the railways of New South Wales and Queensland meet atWallangarra.[7] Meanwhile, in 1889, the first line (1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge) in theNorthern Territory was opened fromDarwin toPine Creek. In 1914, an 8-kilometre (5 mi) extension of the New South Wales Railways fromQueanbeyan toCanberra was opened to create theAustralian Capital Territory's first and only line.[12]
New South Wales' railways date from the 10 December 1831 when theAustralian Agricultural Company officially opened Australia's first railway,[1] located at the intersection of Brown and Church Streets,Newcastle. Privately owned and operated to service theA Pit coal mine, it was acast ironfishbelly rail on an inclined plane as agravitational railway[2]
New South Wales' railways were standard gauge lines built to connect the ports of Sydney and Newcastle to the rural interior. The first public railway was theMain Suburban line from Sydney toParramatta Junction and after two decisions to change therail gauge, problems in raising capital and difficulties in construction, the line was opened in 1855.[5][6][7] TheMain Southern line was built in stages from Parramatta Junction to the Victorian border atAlbury between 1855 and 1881 and connected to theVictorian Railways at abreak-of-gauge in 1883.[7] The standard gauge connection from Albury to Melbourne was finally completed in 1962.[5] Meanwhile, theMain Western line was built in stages to the north west of the state, starting in 1860 at Parramatta Junction and reachingBourke in 1885.[8]
TheMain North line was built in sections over several years. The Sydney toNewcastle section was connected with the conclusion of the final two stages, Mullet Creek toGosford (opened 16 January 1888) andHawkesbury to Mullet Creek (opened 1 May 1889), of the Homebush to Waratah line, these final two stages required the construction of theWoy Woy Tunnel and the originalHawkesbury River Railway Bridge.[13][14] The Newcastle toWallangarra section was constructed between 1857 and 1888 with abreak-of-gauge required at the New South Wales and Queensland border.[14] TheNorth Coast line, constructed between 1905 and 1932 with the completion of theGrafton Bridge, brought about the closure of the northern end of the Main North line at theMaitlandjunction due to its shorter distance.[15][16]
The last main line, theBroken Hill line was completed toBroken Hill in 1927, connecting with theSouth Australian Railways at a break of gauge.[17] Meanwhile, branch lines proliferated over the settled east of the state, including theIllawarra line toWollongong andBomaderry completed in 1893.[18] In 1926 work began on electrifyingSydney's urban railways and connecting them together via new lines.
Victoria's first railway was a suburban railway opened from Melbourne toPort Melbourne in 1854.[9] TheMelbourne & Suburban Railway Company's line fromPrinces Bridge toPunt Road (Richmond) opened in 1859.[19] In the same year theGeelong and Melbourne Railway Company opened its line from Melbourne toGeelong.[20] Subsequently theVictorian Railways built new railways to connect farming and mining communities to the ports of Melbourne, Geelong andPortland. In 1862 lines reached the greatgold rush towns ofBendigo andBallarat. In 1864 a line was opened to theMurray River port ofEchuca.[19] In 1883 the first connection with another State's rail system was made when theNorth East line was completed to theNew South Wales Government Railways station atAlbury, requiring abreak-of-gauge to New South Wales'4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gaugeMain Southern line.[21] In 1887, Victorian Railways metSouth Australian Railways atServiceton, although both systems used broad gauge.[22]
In 1919, electrification and development of theMelbourne suburban lines commenced.[23] 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.[24] In 1981, Melbourne's only underground railway, theCity Loop was opened.[19] 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 theLonie Report 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 theRegional Fast Rail project that saw track upgrades, new trains, and an improved timetable to major regional cities.
The first line opened in 1865 fromIpswich toGrandchester, a temporary terminus in the foothills of theDarling Downs.[10] It was built to narrowgauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) in order to reduce costs through the steep escarpment. This was subsequently applied to all the railways built in Queensland, except for theSydney–Brisbane line and theWeipa mining railway, both built in the 20th century.[11] This was the first1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) railway in the world, but the gauge subsequently spread to Western Australia, South Australia,Tasmania, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia and several African countries. The line was extended from Grandchester toToowoomba at the top of a steep climb in 1867[25] and was connected from Ipswich to Brisbane in 1875.[26] From Toowoomba it was extended in stages to meet theNew South Wales standard gauge line atWallangarra in 1887 and toCharleville inoutback southern Queensland in 1888.[27]
Independent lines were commenced from the east coast ports ofMaryborough,Bundaberg,Gladstone,Rockhampton,Mackay,Bowen,Townsville,Cairns andCooktown. The central line opened from Rockhampton toWestwood in 1887 and reachedWinton in central western Queensland in 1928. The northern line opened from Townsville toCharters Towers in 1882 and reachedMount Isa in 1929.[27][28][29][30] In 1888 the east-west lines began to be connected with the opening of the first section of theNorth Coast line toPetrie. It was not until 1924 that this line finally reached Cairns, Cooktown was never connected.[27][28][29][30]
Many heavy haul coal lines were built in the late 20th century from the ports of Gladstone (beginning in 1968) andHay Point (beginning in 1971). Electrification of some of the heavy haul coal lines commenced in 1986.[31] Finally an electrified rail system was developed in suburban Brisbane from 1979. Eventually the North Coast line between Brisbane and Rockhampton was electrified.[31] This, together with the central Queensland mining railway, constitutes Australia's only significant rural rail electrification.
The first railway in Western Australia was theBallaarat tramline, a private timber railway fromLockville toYoganup nearBusselton, south ofPerth. In 1879, theWestern Australian Government Railways opened a1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)gauge line to connect the copper mine atNorthampton and the port ofGeraldton. Subsequently lines also developed from the ports ofFremantle (the port of Perth),Bunbury,Albany andEsperance, mainly for carrying grain and minerals. The line betweenFremantle, Perth andGuildford (about 15 kilometres or 9.3 miles further east of Perth) was opened in 1881. In 1893, Perth was connected to the port of Bunbury, 175 kilometres (109 mi) south of Perth. In the following year theMidland Railway Company opened aline from Perth toWalkaway, which connected with the Government line to Geraldton, 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of Perth. In 1896, the railway connected Perth toKalgoorlie, where gold had been discovered in 1893.[32]
In the 20th century, Perth was finally connected to the eastern states. In 1917, the standard gaugeTrans-Australian Railway connected eastern Australia with the narrow gauge network atKalgoorlie.[32] 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 thePilbara region by major iron mining companies, particularlyBHP andHamersley Iron. New lines are still being built in this area, particularly to supply the boomingChinese market. In 1986, the electrification ofPerth suburban lines with a25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead power supply commenced. The longest new line was opened on 23 December 2007 from Perth toMandurah.
In 1854,South Australia opened a horse-drawn tramway from the port ofGoolwa on theMurray River to an ocean harbour atPort Elliot 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 atVictor Harbor.[4]
The first South Australian steam-operated line was built as abroad gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) line in 1856 between the city andPort Adelaide stopping at Bowden, Woodville and Alberton, followed by a broad gauge line toGawler the next year 1857. This line was extended toKapunda, a copper mining town in 1860 and then toBurra the great copper centre in 1870.[5] Gradually, a network of lines spread out fromAdelaide,Port Wakefield,Wallaroo,Port Broughton,Port Augusta,Kingston SE,Beachport,Whyalla,Port Pirie andPort 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.[4][32][33] All but the lines radiating from Adelaide were initially narrow1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge lines. The first narrow gauge line was completed in 1870 fromPort Wakefield toHoyleton but was soon upgraded to broad gauge and extended toBlyth, the station nearest the township ofClare.[32]
The first interstate connection was completed in 1887, when the South Australian and Victorian broad gauge railways met atServiceton.[9] In 1888 a narrow gauge line was opened fromPort Pirie toBroken Hill, with a connection atPeterborough toAdelaide.[32] The broad gauge line was completed from Adelaide toTerowie in 1880.[34] The line north of Terowie was built as a narrow gauge line in stages to Peterborough andQuorn in 1882[35] andOodnadatta in 1891.[32] This was extended toAlice Springs by theCommonwealth Railways in 1929, when it was renamed theCentral Australia Railway.[32]
The first railway in Tasmania was a broadgauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) line opened betweenDeloraine andLaunceston in 1871 by theLaunceston and Western Railway. It quickly went bankrupt and was effectively taken over by the Tasmanian Government in 1872. In 1876 theTasmanian Main Line Company opened a narrow gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)line fromHobart toEvandale (near Launceston), connecting with an extension of the Launceston and Western line at abreak-of-gauge. Further gauge confusion was added in 1885 when the Tasmanian Government built a narrow gauge line west of Deloraine toDevonport. This was resolved in 1888 by the conversion of the Launceston–Deloraine line to narrow gauge.[32]
The Tasmanian Government bought the Tasmanian Main Line Company in 1890, creating theTasmanian Government Railways. In 1901 the line to Devonport line was extended toBurnie, connecting with theEmu Bay Railway'sMelba line toZeehan. Other branches were built but the Tasmanian system has always been small and unprofitable. Operated by the Tasmanian Government ownedTasRail since 2009, previous owners includeAustralian National,Australian Transport Network andPacific National.
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 was appointed Engineer in Chief of theNew 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."[32] However, the problem of different gauges became apparent with the meeting of lines of the different systems at Albury in 1883[14] and Wallangarra in 1888.[14]
In the 1890s, the establishment of anAustralian Federation 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 thenew constitution 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 xxxiii) and "railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State" (Section 51 xxxiv). However, theAustralian Government 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").[36]
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 privateAustralAsia Rail Corporation and the only railway in theAustralian Capital Territory, theCanberra-Queanbeyan railway is now operated byNSW TrainLink.
In 1910, a conference of Railway commissioners chose4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) to be thestandard 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.
In the 20th century, the different state rail systems became more integrated, initially creating morebreaks of gauge. In 1917, thefederal government's standard gaugeTrans-Australian Railway was completed betweenKalgoorlie andPort Augusta.[33] However, this required a break of gauge at Kalgoorlie to reachPerth and breaks of gauge at both Port Augusta andTerowie to reach Adelaide. In 1927, the last section of theSydney–Broken Hill line was completed betweenTrida andMenindee meeting theSouth Australian Railways line at a break of gauge and requiring a further break of gauge at Terowie to reach Adelaide.[17]
In 1932 the first progress in reducing the gauge conflict was made with the completion of the standard gaugeSydney–Brisbane railway with the opening ofa bridge atGrafton.[14] The first standard gauge line in South Australia,Trans-Australian Railway, was completed in 1917 between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie,[33] requiring break-of-gauges at Terowie, Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie to reach Perth. This line was extended toPort Pirie Junction in 1937 and the broad gauge line from Adelaide toRedhill was extended to Port Pirie, removing one break-of gauge.[32]
In the 1950s, a parliamentary committee chaired byWilliam Wentworth recommended a much more modest and affordable plan to gauge convert the three main missing links:
In 1962 theAlbury to Melbournestandard gauge line was opened, completing theSydney–Melbourne railway. In 1966, a new mixed standard and narrow gaugeEastern 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, completingSydney–Perth railway.[5]
TheWhyalla line was opened between Port Augusta andWhyalla in 1972. In October 1980, a new standard gauge railway was completed fromTarcoola toAlice Springs, replacing theformer narrow gauge railway. Adelaide was connected to the standard gauge network with the opening of the line toCrystal Brook in 1982 and theMelbourne–Adelaide railway was converted to standard gauge in 1995.[33] Meanwhile, the Tarcoola to Alice Springs railway was extended to Darwin in 2004 to complete theAdelaide–Darwin rail corridor.[5]
There have always been niches for private railways in most colonies, such as:
Most timber railway operations across Australia were transitory, only existing for the time that timber was extracted. Some lines were moved regularly to the areas of forest to be exploited. A few 19th century operations were horse hauled, but most were steam powered. Very few timber railways lasted into the 1960s with the advent of more versatile and stronger road based haulage.[37]
Starting in the 1960s, four heavy duty railways were developed in thePilbara 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 (220 billion pounds) 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 all1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge, and started off using American standards for track, locomotives and wagons.
In 2008,Fortescue commenced operating a fifth iron ore railway in thePilbara.[38]
The railway lines are:[non sequitur]
In 1992, the largelyfederal government ownedNational Rail Corporation took over interstate rail freight operations fromAustralian National,FreightCorp and thePublic Transport Corporation, 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 Government owned FreightCorp and sold toToll Holdings andPatrick Corporation asPacific National in 2002.
Australian National was privatised in 1997. ItsTasmanian operations and infrastructure (TasRail) were sold toAustralian Transport Network, which was taken over by Pacific National in 2004. South Australian branch lines were sold toGenesee & Wyoming Australia. Its passenger operations were taken over byGreat Southern Railway.
State freight and country passenger operations were privatised. Urban passenger trains remained in government ownership, except inVictoria, because such services are politically sensitive and could not operate profitably.
New operating companies that appeared included:
Licensing of personnel with nationally recognised credentials facilitates the transfer of those people from one state or operator to another, as traffic demands.
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) and Western Australia (WestNet Rail). This was intended to provide access to new and existing players.
Theinterstate rail network of the formerAustralian National Railways was transferred to the newly establishedAustralian Rail Track Corporation in 1998. In 2002, theTarcoola–Alice Springs line was leased to theAustralAsia Rail Corporation. The ARTC track consists of the track fromKalgoorlie toBroken Hill andServiceton. The ARTC also manages under lease the interstate standard gauge rail network in New South Wales and Victoria and has rights to sell access betweenKalgoorlie andKwinana to interstate rail operators under a wholesale access agreement with the Western Australian track owner and operator,Brookfield Rail. It also "has a working relationship withQueensland Rail about the use of the 127 kilometres of standard gauge line between the Queensland border andFisherman Islands. ARTC intends to start discussions with Queensland about leasing this track once the NSW arrangements are bedded down".[39] 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 underNational Competition Policy principles agreed by the Federal, State and Territory governments:
Much maintenance of tracks were contracted out.
TheAustralian Government has provided substantial funding for the upgrading of roads since the 1920s, but it has not regularly funded investment in railways except for its own railway, theCommonwealth Railways, which was established in 1911 to build thestandard gaugeTrans-Australian Railway betweenKalgoorlie andPort Augusta, and to take over the1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge railways between Port Augusta andOodnadatta (used by the old "Ghan") and thePalmerston and Pine Creek Railway. Commonwealth Railways became part ofAustralian National Railways 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.
Under theKeating government'sOne Nation program:
In 2004, the final link in theAdelaide-Darwin rail corridor – the long-awaited 1420 km Alice Springs to Darwin line – was opened by theAustralAsia Rail Corporation with assistance from theAustralian Government and the governments ofSouth Australia and theNorthern Territory. The Northern Territory expected that the line would open up mining ventures that would otherwise be uneconomic without a heavy duty rail line.[citation needed][needs update]
Inland Rail is a railway construction project extending from Melbourne to Brisbane along a route west of theGreat Dividing Range. Construction in stages commenced in 2018 and is scheduled to be completed in 2025, using existing routes where appropriate.
In 2009, it was proposed to combine the seven separate state rail regulators into a single regulator.[40][needs update]
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