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Adelaide–Darwin railway line

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The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a south-north transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory. Between 2000-2004 the line was extended from Alice Springs to Darwin as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer back (BOOT) project by the AustralAsia Rail Corporation. This replaced the former narrow gauge line from Darwin to Larrimah and the narrow gauge/standard gauge Central Australia Railway from Port Augusta to Alice Springs which used a different route up to 200 km to the east.

The line sees the Great Southern Rail operated passenger train The Ghan as well as goods trains operated by Genesee & Wyoming Australia.

History

See Central Australian Railway for details of history of the first route - the Adelaide-Darwin railway is a different gauge and route

The Northern Territory Act (Cth) of 1910[1][2] required the building of a North-South railway although no date was specified. By 1967, Commonwealth Railways were looking at an alternative to the often flooded original route and the current Tarcoola route was suggested as one of three options although the route may be different to the current version.[3]

The Northern section of the current line replaces the original narrow gauge North Australia Railway from Darwin to Birdum. The Central Australian Railway that operated from Alice Springs to Port Augusta in the south was up to 200 km to the east of the current line and only the short section from Alice Springs to Heavitree was repurposed.

Elizabeth River Bridge, 17 km South of Darwin

Adelaide to Tarcoola (South Australia)

The line runs from the Adelaide Parklands Terminal north to Tarcoola using existing infrastructure including parts of the Indian Pacific that runs from Sydney to Perth and was gauge standardised in 1970.[5]

The former Central Australia Railway to Alice Springs commences from the current route at Port Augusta and a small southern section is now the Pichi Richi Tourist Railway

Tarcoola to Alice Springs (Northern Territory)

The section north of the Indian Pacific at Tarcoola to Alice Springs opened in 1980.[6] The new route does not have the water requirements that the previous steam age route that necessitated the former route. Whilst the previous line to Alice Springs had many stations and halts, there are limited passing loops and halts.

Alice Springs to Darwin

In 2000, the AustralAsia Rail Corporation (a company owned by the Northern Territory and South Australian Governments) awarded the contract to build and operate the Adelaide to Darwin railway line as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer back (BOOT) project to the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium. The Asia Pacific Transport Consortium contracted FreightLink to implement the project and to operate the railway.

It cost $1.2 billion to build.[7]

The Australian Government contributed $165 million from the Centenary of Federation Fund, the Northern Territory Government contributed $165 million and the South Australian Government contributed $150 million to the AustralAsia Rail Corporation for the construction of assets by Asia Pacific Transport Consortium and FreightLink that were later leased for a peppercorn rent to FreightLink in addition, the three Governments contributed about $26 million each, a total of $79 million in further funding to support the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium directly, by way of mezzanine debt financing (subordinated debt), equity, and contingent equity.

Construction

Adelaide–Darwin railway line in Darwin, Northern Territory

Bankruptcy and sale

The Freightlink board, shareholders and lenders on 19 May 2008 agreed to sell its ownership of the Adelaide to Darwin rail link after failing to make a profit since the railway line commenced operation.[9][10] Then on 6 November 2008 Freightlink went into voluntary administration after failing to reach agreement with creditors on the terms of a sale of the business.[11] Genesee & Wyoming agreed to purchase the assets of FreightLink on 10 June 2010 for $334 million,[7] and the sale meant that the 50-year lease on the Adelaide–Darwin railway was transferred to Genesee & Wyoming Australia.[12]

Infrastructure

The line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and leased on a long term basis to Gennesee and Wyoming. The line from Alice Springs to Darwin is owned by Gennesee and Wyoming, and will transfer to the state and federal governments at the end of the contract term.

The line consists of:

  • 1420 km;
  • 6 major bridges crossing the Katherine, Elizabeth, Adelaide, Cullen, Fergusson and Edith rivers;
  • 87 minor bridges;
  • 1,500 culverts;
  • 145,000 tonnes of rail;
  • 2.8 million tonnes of ballast;
  • 2 million sleepers;
  • 8 million sleeper fastenings.[13]

Services

Freight services operate on the line in addition to The Ghan passenger service, which is operated by Great Southern Rail. Genesee & Wyoming Australia is the main freight operator. The line has facilitated bulk commodity exports from iron ore and copper mines in central Australia, including Oz Minerals' Prominent Hill copper mine.[14] Following a derailment event in December 2011,[15] Oz Minerals has elected to use the line to export to the south via Port Adelaide,[16] rather than their previous outport, Darwin.

Dry bulk exports from Darwin's port (serviced by rail) exceeded 3 million tonnes for the first time in financial year 2010-2011 and comprised iron ore, manganese and copper concentrate.[17]

Stations

The original narrow gauge North Australia Railway served, indeed often created, the towns at the stations along the way however the new standard gauge railway has stations at Tennant Creek and Katherine, plus passing loops at Illoquara and Newcastle Waters.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Northern Territory Surrender Act 1908 (SA) National Archives of Australia.
  2. ^ Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910 (Cth) Archived 31 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine National Archives of Australia.
  3. ^ "The Senate - Alice Springs Railway". Fairfax. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  4. ^ Standard Gauge to Alice Springs – Construction of Tarcoola–Alice Springs Railway Buckland, John L. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, June 1981 pp117–39
  5. ^ "The Indian Pacific". Great Southern Railway. GSR. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Old Ghan Heritage Railway". Road Transport Hall of fame. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Taxpayer funds sought from new rail owner". The World Today. abc.net.au. 10 June 2010.
  8. ^ "Completion of the Adelaide to Darwin railway line". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 8 December 2006.
  9. ^ Vesna Poljak and Michael Smith (19 May 2008). "Banks force sale of $1.2bn Adelaide- Darwin rail link". The Australian Financial Review. p. 1 and 19.
  10. ^ Calacouras, Nick (20 May 2008). "Railway up for sale". Northern Territory News. News Ltd. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  11. ^ "End of the line as train sale derailed". Northern Territory News. News Ltd. 7 November 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  12. ^ "FreightLink-owned Adelaide-Darwin railway to be sold to US company Genesee & Wyoming". The Advertiser. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  13. ^ "Alice Springs to Darwin Railway". Laing O'Rourke. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
  14. ^ "First Prominent Hill shipment set for export". ABC News. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Train derailment copper concentrate recovered". ABC News. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Oz Minerals - Intermodal Solutions Group". Intermodal Solutions Group. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Dry Bulk Exports". Darwin Port. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  18. ^ "Network Operating Guide, Part 32, Tarcoola to Darwin" (PDF). Australia Southern Railroad. 2 January 2004.

Further reading

  • Bromby, Robin (2004). Rails to the Top End: The Adelaide-Darwin Transcontinental Railway (4th ed.). Alice Springs: Paul Fitzsimons. ISBN 9780958176019.
  • Rozycki, Jack (Jan–Mar 2003). "The Never Never Line. Australia's biggest project: the Adelaide-Darwin railway". Australian Geographic 69: 50–67.