The Ghan

The Ghan atAlice Springs in July 2015
Overview
Service type	Transcontinental passenger rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Australia
First service	1929
Current operator(s)	Journey Beyond
Former operator(s)	Commonwealth Railways Australian National
Website	www.journeybeyondrail.com.au
Route
Termini	Adelaide Parklands Terminal Darwin
Distance travelled	2,979 km (1,851 mi)
Average journey time	52 hours 30 minutes (average)
Service frequency	Weekly
Line(s) used	Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor
On-board services
Seating arrangements	All in roomette/twinette compartments
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Auto-rack arrangements	No
Observation facilities	No dome car
Entertainment facilities	Piano
Technical
Rolling stock	Commonwealth Railways stainless steel carriage stock
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Average length	774 m (2,539 ft)[1]
Route map Legend Darwin Katherine Alice Springs Northern Territory South Australia Marla Coober Pedy Adelaide This diagram: view talk edit

The Ghan (/ɡæn/)^[2] is anexperiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities ofAdelaide,Alice Springs andDarwin on theAdelaide–Darwin rail corridor.

Operated byJourney Beyond, its scheduled travelling time, including extended stops for passengersto do off-train tours, is 53 hours 15 minutes to travel the 2,979 kilometres (1,851 mi).^[3][4] The Ghan has been described as one of the world's greatest passenger trains.^[5][6]

The service's name is an abbreviated version of its previous nickname,The Afghan Express. The nickname is reputed to have been bestowed in 1923 by one of its crews.^[7] Some suggest the train's name honoursAfghan camel drivers who arrived in Australia in the late 19th century to help the British colonists find a way to reach the country's interior.^[8]

A contrary view is that the name was a veiled insult. In 1891, the railway fromQuorn reached remoteOodnadatta where an itinerant population of around 150 cameleers were based, generically called "Afghans". "The Ghan Express" name originated with train crews in the 1890s as a taunt to officialdom because, when an expensive sleeping car was put on from Quorn to Oodnadatta, "on the first return journey the only passenger was an Afghan", mocking its commercial viability.^[9]

By as early as 1924, because of the notorious unreliability of this fortnightly steam train, European pastoralists commonly called it "in ribald fashion The Afghan Express".^[10] By 1951, whensteam engines were replaced bydiesel-electric locomotives, this disparaging derivation, like the cameleers, had faded away. Modern marketing has completed the name turnabout.

The Ghan was privatised in 1997 and has since then been operated byJourney Beyond Rail Expeditions (formerly known as Great Southern Rail), initially as part of theSerco Group. Great Southern Rail was sold to Allegro Funds, a Sydney investment fund, in March 2015.^[11]

The train usually runs once weekly. During December 2012 and January 2013, it ran only once every two weeks.^[4] Until 2016, a second service operated between June and September, recommencing again in May 2019 due to demand.^[4][12] The train stops at Adelaide, Alice Springs, Katherine and Darwin; the stops at Alice Springs and Katherine allow time for passengers to take optional tours.^[13]

Each train has an average of 28stainless steel carriages, built byComeng,Granville, in the late 1960s and early 1970s for theIndian Pacific, plus amotorail wagon.^[14] The average length of the train is 774 metres (2,539 ft).^[15] TwoPacific NationalNR class locomotives haul the train, previouslyAN class or aDL class locomotives assisted. Locomotive crews are sourced from Pacific National, with the on-train staff employed by Journey Beyond.

Starting in August 1929,The Ghan ran on theCentral Australia Railway, originally built as a1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)narrow-gauge railway to Alice Springs under Chief Engineer,Commonwealth Railways,N. G. Bell. In 1957, the1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gaugeStirling North to Marree line opened, and theGhan was curtailed to operate only north ofMarree.^{[citation needed]}

In October 1980, the remainder of the line was replaced by a standard-gauge line built to the west of the original line. An extension north fromAlice Springs toDarwin opened in January 2004.^[16]

Construction of what was then known as the Port Augusta to Government Gums Railway began in 1878 whenPremier of South AustraliaWilliam Jervois broke ground atPort Augusta.^[7] The1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) line reachedHawker in June 1880,Beltana in July 1881,Marree in January 1884 andOodnadatta in January 1891.^[17] Work on the extension to Alice Springs began in 1926,^[18] and was completed in 1929. Until then, the final leg of the train journey was still made by camel.^[19]

Although there were plans from the beginning to extend the line to Darwin, by the time the extension to Alice Springs had been completed,The Ghan was losing money and the plans for further extension to Darwin were suspended indefinitely.^[20] The originalGhan line followed the same track as theoverland telegraph, which is believed to be the route taken byJohn McDouall Stuart during his 1862 crossing of Australia.^[21]

The Ghan service was notorious for delays caused by washouts of the track. Aflatcar immediately behind the locomotive carried spare sleepers and railway tools, so passengers and crew could repair the line. The very uncertain service via this route was tolerated becausesteam locomotives needed large quantities of water, and Stuart's route to Alice Springs was the only one that had sufficient available water.^{[citation needed]}

Initially operated fortnightly, in the 1930s, it was increased to weekly. From 1956 until 1975, it operated twice weekly, before reverting to a weekly service.^[22]

DuringWorld War II, the service had to be greatly expanded, putting great pressure on the limited water supplies. As a result, de-mineralisation towers, some of which survive to this day, were built along the track so that bore water could be used. When a new line to Alice Springs was built in the 1970s, the use ofdiesel locomotives meant that there was far less need for water, thus allowing the line to take the much drier route fromTarcoola to Alice Springs.

The last narrow gauge service departed Alice Springs on 26 November 1980.^[23]

In October 1980, a newstandard gauge line fromTarcoola on theTrans-Australian Railway toAlice Springs opened, and the train took the form it has today. The new line is approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of the former line in order to avoidfloodplains where the original line was often washed away during heavy rain.^[19] It was also hoped that the construction of the new line would improve the train's timekeeping.^[20]

The firstGhan on the new line departed Adelaide on 11 December 1980.^[24] It initially operated as a broad gauge service toPort Pirie. Following the conversion of theAdelaide to Crystal Brook to standard gauge in 1982, it operated as a standard gauge train throughout. Operating weekly, a second service was operated between May and October.^[25][26]

In November 1998, one service per week was extended from Adelaide toMelbourne while from April 1999, the other was diverted to operate toSydney viaBroken Hill.^{[27][28][29][30]} The extensions were withdrawn in November 2002 and March 2003 respectively.^[31][32]

Construction of Alice Springs–Darwin line was believed to be the second-largest civil engineering project in Australia, and the largest since the creation of theSnowy Mountains Scheme.^[33][34]Line construction began in July 2001, with the first passenger train reaching Darwin on 3 February 2004, after 126 years of planning and waiting^[35][36] and at a cost of $1.3 billion.^[37]

The Ghan's arrival in Darwin signified a new era of tourism in theNorthern Territory,^[38] making travel to the region easier and more convenient.^[39] The rail link will allow for more freight to travel through the region, leading to a hope that Darwin will serve as another trade link with Asia.^[40]

In preparation for the connection to Darwin, one of the locomotives was named after wildlife expertSteve Irwin, an international symbol ofoutback Australia,^[41] to promote the new service and tourism to the region.^[42]

The Ghan was suspended for five months from March to August 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions and border closures – the longest suspension in the train's existence. The first post-COVID train departed Adelaide for Darwin on 31 August 2020. The train would later be suspended again on its final run of the 2020 season due to a lockdown in South Australia.^[43]

The originalGhan was featured in an episode ofBBC Television's seriesGreat Railway Journeys of the World in 1980, presented byMichael Frayn.

The modernGhan featured in an episode ofChannel 5 seriesChris Tarrant: Extreme Railways, and theMighty Trains series.^[44]

In 2018, it was also the subject ofSBSslow television documentaryThe Ghan: Australia's Greatest Train Journey. The entire journey from Adelaide to Darwin which was filmed in 2017, was condensed into a three-hour highlights show with no voiceover or narration, much of it featuring footage directly from the front of the locomotive and various helicopter views.^[45] An extended 17-hour version of the show aired on SBS's secondary channel,SBS Viceland.^[46]

In October 2019, the train featured in BBC Two's episode one ofMichael Portillo'sGreat Australian Railway Journeys.^[47]

The Ghan is the setting of Benjamin Stevenson's 2023 novel,Everyone on this train is a suspect, in which a group of crime writers attempt to solve a murder on board the train.^[48]

• On 24 October 2002,The Ghan collided with a school bus inSalisbury, South Australia. Four people on the bus were killed, but there were no significant injuries toGhan passengers.^[49]
• On 12 December 2006,The Ghan collided with atruck at a level crossing and derailed 35 kilometres (22 mi) south ofAdelaide River in theNorthern Territory. Seven of the eleven carriages came off the tracks. One woman was critically injured; other passengers received only minor injuries. The truck driver involved was arrested, according to the NT police,^[50] charged and found guilty^[51] of a number of charges related to the accident.
• On 4 March 2007, rain washed out a portion of the track between Darwin and Adelaide River. During the period of repairs, trains terminated atKatherine.^[52]
• On 6 August 2007,The Ghan collided with a sewagetruck at a level crossing 50 km (31 mi) north ofAdelaide in South Australia. Three passengers suffered from shock and minor injuries. The truck driver was temporarily trapped in his vehicle.^[53]
• On 6 June 2009, a nineteen-year-old American tourist clung to the outside ofThe Ghan for two hours and 200 kilometres (120 mi) when he was locked out of the train following a stop in Port Augusta. A technician heard his screams and stopped the train.^[54]

• 
  Ghan passengers stretch their legs at one of the many stops to take on water –Finke, north of theSouth Australia /Northern Territory border, winter ca 1948
• 
  Flash floods regularly washed away bridges and track on the narrow-gauge railway.The Ghan is climbing out of the Finke River depression after track was laid on the river bed as a cheap solution.
• 
  Proceeding through the Finke River was possible with trains hauled by steam locomotives but not withdiesel-electrics because of their low-slung traction motors
• 
  The Ghan in the narrow-gauge diesel-hauled era (pre-1980): the train, headed by anNJ class locomotive, is ready to depart Alice Springs, about 1973
• 
  A latter-day narrow-gaugeGhan restaurant car retained at theOld Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum,Alice Springs, in 2009
• 
  The Ghan atDarwin railway station, East Arm, in 2005
• 
  The Ghan, southbound, on the curve into Alice Springs, 2015
• 
  The train, further back, looking towards Alice Springs
• 
  The Ghan atDarwin station in 2011; thelocomotive was one of several bearing the train's logo and red livery
• 
  The Ghan at its southern departure point, theAdelaide Parklands Terminal
• 
  The first-class restaurant car onThe Ghan (standard gauge), 2009
• 
  AnNSU class diesel locomotive that hauledThe Ghan in the narrow-gauge era, now operating at thePichi Richi Railway

• The Ghan travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Media related toThe Ghan at Wikimedia Commons
• The Ghan ephemera digitised and held by theNational Library of Australia
• The Ghan Australia's Greatest Train Journey 3-hour "Slow TV" documentary bySBS TV, first broadcast 7 January 2018 (video not accessible outside Australia)
• The Ghan Australia's Greatest Train Journey aired onBBC Four on 28 October 2018

• Adelaide-Darwin railway corridor
• Interstate rail in Australia
• Luxury trains
• Named passenger trains of Australia
• Railway services introduced in 1929
• Passenger rail transport in the Northern Territory
• Rail transport in South Australia
• 1929 establishments in Australia
• Motorail

• Webarchive template wayback links
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from July 2021
• Articles with dead external links from May 2023
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from January 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from September 2020
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017
• Commons category link from Wikidata