The Tasmanian Great Western Railway was a proposed railway that was never built to connect

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

with the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

during the 1890s mining boom in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It would have passed through a route somewhat similar to the current Lyell Highway through the northern edge of South West Tasmania into the

It was a proposal by business interests to use Hobart on the east coast, rather than the west or north west coast ports. However the proposal was not a simple idea that failed - but a play between rival companies and regions:

In 1896 two rival companies lobbied for permission to build railways from Hobart to the west. The Great Western Railway Company, promoted in Melbourne, planned an electric railway from Glenora to Mount Lyell and
Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater ...
.... The theoretical plans of the rival syndicates passed as genuine currency in Hobart, where the
Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...
printed a huge red and black map

Capital was raised in 1899. Initial surveys and appraisals of the route were made in 1900. By 1903 there were reports that the proposal was "doomed". The Great Western railway proposal was part of a complex play of political and business interests between the three regions of power in Tasmania that were relatively balanced in the 1890s through to the time of the First World War - after which the distribution was never balanced again.Geoffrey Blainey's "Population Movements in Tasmania, 1870-1901", in

Tasmanian Historical Research Association The Tasmanian Historical Research Association is a Hobart based Tasmanian historical group and publisher in existence since 1951. Earlier groups concerned about history and historical preservation occurred in the 1890s and 1920s. The Tasmania ...

, Papers and Proceedings, vol.3, 1954, pp.62-70. "The Rise and Decline of the West Coast", in Tasmanian Historical Research Association. Papers and Proceedings, vol.4, 1955, pp.66-74. both articles give an early view on the Tasmanian regional rivalries and the resolution through the downfall of the west Coast influence The solution of the North West Route to Burnie and the rise of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company and

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell ...

routes saw the Great Western Railway proposals vanish in time.

References

{{coord missing, Tasmania Rail transport in Tasmania South West Tasmania Western Tasmania

See also

References