The Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor consists of the long standard-gauge main line between the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n capital city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

capital of Darwin, and the lines immediately connected to it. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a transcontinental line through to Darwin was only fully realised in 2004, when the final link from

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

was opened. The line is used by interstate freight trains operated by

Aurizon Aurizon Holdings Limited ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National Limited and branded QR National. In 2015, it was the world's largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland G ...

and by ''

The Ghan ''The Ghan'' () is an experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor ...

'' passenger train operated by

Journey Beyond Journey Beyond is the trading name and brand deployed since 2017 by a succession of companies providing experiential tourism in Australia, including luxury trains (''The Ghan'', the ''Indian Pacific'', and the '' Great Southern'') and ''The Ov ...

First steps toward a transcontinental railway

Under the provisions of the ''Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910'', the

Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australian Railway, Trans-Australia and Adelaide-Darwin railway, Port Augusta to Darwin railways. In 1 ...

assumed responsibility for the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

' narrow gauge lines in the far north of South Australia and the

. The Act mandated the building of a south–north railway although, crucially, no date was specified. Two routes were considered: a standard gauge line branching off the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta railway station, Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie railway station, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. Built to standa ...

at Tarcoola or a cheaper extension, from

Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta ...

, of the narrow gauge

Central Australia Railway The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and dismantled in 1980, was a Narrow-gauge railway, 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta railway station, Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gau ...

(CAR) line that had opened in 1891. Eventually the latter was chosen, and the extension to

was opened in 1929. Meanwhile, the

North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

(NAR) opened in stages south from Darwin to Birdum, the latter being reached in 1929.History of the railway
AustralAsia Railway Corporation In the late 1940s, the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the highest ranking mem ...

developed the Leigh Creek coalfields, 271 km (168 mi) north of

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

to provide coal for a power station in Adelaide and, later, for a new power station built at the port. The infrastructure of the CAR was inadequate for the increased tonnages to be carried, so the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

funded a new standard gauge line from

Stirling North Stirling North (known by locals as Catninga) is a town located east of Port Augusta in the Australian state of South Australia. Its origin was as a reliable watering point in low-rainfall country, used by Aboriginal people since time immemori ...

to the coalfields, and on to Marree to provide cattle transport. The northernmost two-thirds followed an alignment generally within of the narrow-gauge line. The southern third avoided the impediments of the mountainous section near

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

and Hawker. The new standard-gauge line covered one-third of the distance to Alice Springs, and a Commonwealth Railways booklet mentioned its "special importance to the Northern Territory as it is the first stage in the ultimate conversion of the narrow-gauge railway to Alice Springs to standard 4 ft in gauge".

Tarcoola to Alice Springs

By 1967, interest in a transcontinental route had revived again. Extension of the route then in existence was one of three options considered, but a route far to the west, largely free of flood events, was chosen. Construction of the current 828 km (515 mi) kilometre line from Tarcoola to

began in April 1975, opening in October 1980. The CAR closed shortly after. By then, the NAR had closed, in June 1976, following the closure of the iron ore mine at Frances Creek.

Alice Springs to Darwin

In 1983, the

announced its intention to extend the standard gauge line from Alice Springs to Darwin to complete the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. It was planned to open in 1988, Australia's bicentenary year. After a change of federal government in March 1983, the new government cancelled the project, and the project languished for a further 16 years. In June 1999, the AustralAsia Rail Corporation, a company owned by the

and

South Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which includes some of the most arid parts ...

Governments, was awarded the contract to build and operate a Alice Springs to Darwin line as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer project to the

Asia Pacific Transport Consortium The Asia Pacific Transport Consortium is a consortium of three companies and a joint venture established to operate a railway in Australia. History Construction The consortium was established in 1999 to: Under a concession deed by the Aust ...

(APTC). The APTC contracted FreightLink to implement the project and to operate the railway. It cost $1.2 billion to build. The Federal 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 the APTC 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 APTC directly, by way of

mezzanine debt Mezzanine capital is a type of financing that sits between senior debt and equity in a company's capital structure. It is typically used to fund growth, acquisitions, or buyouts. Technically, mezzanine capital can be either a debt or equity ins ...

financing (

subordinated debt In finance, subordinated debt (also known as subordinated loan, subordinated bond, subordinated debenture or junior debt) is debt which ranks after other debts if a company falls into liquidation or bankruptcy. Such debt is referred to as 'subord ...

), equity, and contingent equity. Construction began in July 2001. Completion occurred in September 2003. On 17 January 2004 the first freight train reached Darwin. On 4 February 2004 the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide, travelling in 47 hours.

In operation

FreightLink failed to make a profit in the first four years. In May 2008 the company announced that the board, shareholders and lenders had agreed to sell the company's ownership of the Alice Springs to Darwin line, citing its inheritance of a large amount of debt from the construction phase that it was unable to manage. In November 2008, FreightLink went into

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on ...

after failing to reach agreement with creditors on the terms of a sale of the business. Genesee & Wyoming Australia, later acquired by

, purchased the assets of FreightLink in June 2010 for $334 million, including the 50-year lease on the Tarcoola–Darwin line. , the line from Tarcoola to

is owned by the

Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation, spanning across five states and 39 worksites. ARTC continues to expand the networ ...

and leased until 2047 to Aurizon. The line from Alice Springs to Darwin is owned by Aurizon until 2054, when ownership will pass to the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

and the build–own–operate–and–transfer agreement will end. Aurizon undertakes train control on the entire Tarcoola–Darwin line.Train control is from Northgate block point, from Tarcoola, where the line diverges from the

. It ends at Berrimah passenger terminal at Darwin. Northgate block point is from the Adelaide datum at

Adelaide Parklands Terminal Adelaide Parklands Terminal, formerly known as Keswick Terminal, is the interstate passenger railway station in Adelaide, South Australia. The terminal is north of the suburb of Keswick, by road south-west of the city centre, and adjoins t ...

, near the Adelaide suburb of Keswick. Berrimah passenger terminal is from the Adelaide datum.

Traffic

Two experiential tourism trains operate on the line: ''

'' service operated by

, which traverses the whole line and through to Adelaide weekly in each direction, with a scheduled duration of 53 hours 15 minutes; and the company's ''

Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – ...

'', an east–west service that runs on the southernmost before heading west to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Aurizon is the only freight operator in the Tarcoola–Darwin section. Trains originate or terminate at intermodal terminals at Berrimah (Darwin) and Islington (Adelaide). They stop at intermodal points in Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. The line has facilitated bulk commodity exports from iron ore and copper mines in central Australia, including Oz Minerals' Prominent Hill copper mine. Following a derailment event in December 2011, Oz Minerals elected to use the line to export to the south via

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

. Figures for Darwin's dry bulk exports illustrate the fickle nature of mining. In financial year 2010–11, export product delivered to

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, and is the most northerly port in Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay, and East Arm Wharf. Since 2015, the port has bee ...

by rail – comprising iron ore,

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

, and copper concentrate – exceeded 3 million tonnes for the first time. After copper traffic ceased, the figure in 2013–14 for iron and manganese was 2.7 million tonnes. After mining of iron ore ceased in 2015–16, only manganese remained. In 2018–19, manganese exports totalled 900,000 tonnes. Since 2009 the company has hauled iron oxide / copper / gold ore mined at Prominent Hill. from a 1.5 km (0.9 mi) siding at Wirrida, 95 km (60 mi) west of the mine and 129 km (80 mi) from Northgate. In 2012 a new iron ore mine was opened at Peculiar Knob,. 22 km (14 mi) from Prominent Hill. Until production ceased in 2015, its product was loaded at Wirrida, at a balloon loop immediately north of the Prominent Hill loading site. During 2019, the Australian Rail Track Corporation started a large-scale track upgrade program between Adelaide and Tarcoola to allow heavier freight trains to operate at higher speeds. Rails were placed during the year70,000 tonnes of 60 kilograms per metre rails replaced 47 kg/m rail, increasing the axle load limit to 25 tonnes. and finishing works such as replacing wooden sleepers with concrete ones were scheduled for 2020.

Stations

The original CAR and NAR narrow-gauge lines had many small stations, sidings and halts along their routes for pick-up and set-down of wagons and less-than-car loads, and passengers, but freight traffic has been all-through on the post-2004 standard-gauge route. Stations only exist at

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek () is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the Northern Territory#Cities and towns, seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with ...

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

and Darwin. Additionally there are crossing loops, most of them long: 12 south of Alice Springs and 3 to the north.

Notes

References

External links

AustralAsia Railway Corporation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide-Darwin railway Interstate rail in Australia Privatisation in Australia Railway lines in South Australia Railway lines in the Northern Territory Standard-gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 2004 Adelaide-Darwin railway corridor