History of rail transport in Australia
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.
Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast iron fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway.
In the 20th century, the lines between major cities were converted to standard gauge and electrified suburban networks were built in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
On the other hand, long heavy-haul railways were built to transport iron ore in Western Australia and coal in Queensland to ports.
The interstate standard gauge network came largely under the control of the Australian Rail Track Corporation and private companies were allowed to operate on it for the first time.
Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast-iron fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway.
[2] The earliest railway in South Australia consisted of the seven-mile horse-drawn freight line between Goolwa and Port Elliot, which began service on 18 May 1854, allowing steam ships to avoid the treacherous mouth of the Murray River.
The company proposed that standard gauge (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, between Granville and Sydney was not opened until 1855.
[7][8] Victoria was the main beneficiary of the gold rushes, with the major discoveries around the state but particularly at Ballarat and Bendigo (then called Sandhurst) 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.
The three major Australian colonies at the time failed to follow advice from the British Government to adopt a uniform gauge in case the lines of the various states should ever meet.
[citation needed]Queensland's first line (3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge—known in Australia as "narrow gauge") from Ipswich to Bigge's Camp, the first stage of a railway between Brisbane and Toowoomba, opened in 1865.
In 1914, an eight kilometre extension of the New South Wales Railways from Queanbeyan to Canberra was opened to create the Australian Capital Territory's first and only line.
Privately owned and operated to service the A Pit coal mine, it was a cast iron fishbelly rail on an inclined plane as a gravitational railway[2] New South Wales' railways were standard gauge lines built to connect the ports of Sydney and Newcastle to the rural interior.
[5] Meanwhile, the Main Western line was built in stages to the north west of the state, starting in 1860 at Parramatta Junction and reaching Bourke in 1885.
The Sydney to Newcastle section was connected with the conclusion of the final two 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 two stages required the construction of the Woy Woy Tunnel and the original Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge.
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.
[26] From Toowoomba it was extended in stages to meet the New South Wales standard gauge line at Wallangarra in 1887 and to Charleville in outback southern Queensland in 1888.
[27] Independent lines were commenced from the east coast ports of Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Bowen, Townsville, Cairns and Cooktown.
In 1879, the Western Australian Government Railways opened a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge line to connect the copper mine at Northampton and the port of Geraldton.
[32] The first interstate connection was completed in 1887, when the South Australian and Victorian broad gauge railways met at Serviceton.
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.
In 1966, a new mixed standard and narrow gauge Eastern Railway route was completed through the Avon Valley, east of Perth.
[37] 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.
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 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge, and started off using American standards for track, locomotives and wagons.
Urban passenger trains remained in government ownership, except in Victoria, because such services are politically sensitive and could not operate profitably.
ARTC intends to start discussions with Queensland about leasing this track once the NSW arrangements are bedded down".
Other railways continue to be integrated, although access to their infrastructure is generally required under National Competition Policy principles agreed by the Federal, State and Territory governments: Much maintenance of tracks were contracted out.
