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Adelaide railway station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropolitan network either departing or terminating here. It has nine below-ground platforms, all using broad gauge track. The station is located on the north side of North Terrace, west of Parliament House.
Rail transport in Australia is a component of the Australian transport system. It is to a large extent state-based, as each state largely has its own operations, with the interstate network being developed ever since Australia's federation in 1901. As of 2022, the Australian rail network consists of a total of 32,929 kilometres (20,461 mi) of track built to three major track gauges: 18,007 kilometres (11,189 mi) of standard gauge, 2,685 kilometres (1,668 mi) of broad gauge, and 11,914 kilometres (7,403 mi) of narrow gauge lines. Additionally, about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) of 610 mm / 2 ft gauge lines support the sugar-cane industry. 3,488 kilometres (2,167 mi), around 11 percent of the Australian heavy railways network route-kilometres are electrified.
The Australian state of New South Wales has an extensive network of railways, which were integral to the growth and development of the state. The vast majority of railway lines were government built and operated, but there were also several private railways, some of which operate to this day.
The former Central Australia Railway, which was built between 1878 and 1929 and dismantled in 1980, was a 1241 km (771 mi) 1067 mm narrow gauge railway between Port Augusta and Alice Springs. A standard gauge line duplicated the southern section from Port Augusta to Maree in 1957 on a new nearby alignment. The entire Central Australia Railway was superseded in 1980 after the standard gauge Tarcoola–Alice Springs Railway was opened, using a new route up to 200 km to the west. A small southern section of the original line between Port Augusta and Quorn has been preserved and is operated as the Pichi Richi Railway.
Australians generally assumed in the 1850s that railways would be built by the private sector. Private companies built railways in the then colonies of Victoria, opened in 1854, and New South Wales, where the company was taken over by the government before completion in 1855, due to bankruptcy. South Australia's railways were government owned from the beginning, including a horse-drawn line opened in 1854 and a steam-powered line opened in 1856. 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. The railway systems spread from the colonial capitals, except for a few lines that hauled commodities to a rural port.
Rail transport in the Australian state of South Australia is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 1435 mm standard gauge links to other states, the 1600 mm broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point, a narrow-gauge gypsum haulage line on the Eyre Peninsula, and both copper–gold concentrate and coal on the standard-gauge line in the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor north of Tarcoola.
Kingston SE, formerly Kingston, is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's south-east coastline on the shores of Lacepede Bay. It is located about 240 kilometres southeast of the state capital of Adelaide and 138 kilometres north-west of the centre of the city of Mount Gambier.
The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the eastern states, the line is economically and strategically important. The railway includes the world's longest section of completely straight track.
The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. In 1975, all assets were acquired by the Australian National Railways Commission, branded as Australian National Railways and subsequently Australian National, trademarked as AN.
Rail gauges in Australia display significant variations, which has presented an extremely difficult problem for rail transport on the Australian continent since the 19th century. As of 2022, there are 11,914 kilometres (7,403 mi) of narrow-gauge railways, 18,007 kilometres (11,189 mi) of standard gauge railways and 2,685 kilometres (1,668 mi) of broad gauge railways. In the 19th century, each of the colonies of Australia adopted their own gauges.
Wolseley is a small South Australian town near the Victorian border. It is five kilometres south of the Dukes Highway and 13 kilometres east of Bordertown. It was first proclaimed a town in 1884.
Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Journey Beyond operates the Indian Pacific.
The South Australian Railways W and Wx class was a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways. Some were used by the Commonwealth Railways in the Northern Territory and by contractors.
Port Augusta railway station is a railway station located on the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line in Port Augusta, South Australia.
The Mount Gambier railway line is a closed railway line in South Australia. Opened in stages from 1881, it was built to narrow gauge and joined Mount Gambier railway station, which was at that time the eastern terminus of a line to Beachport. It connected at Naracoorte to another isolated narrow gauge line joining Naracoorte to Kingston SE, and to the broad gauge Adelaide-Wolseley line at Wolseley, at around the same time that was extended to Serviceton to become the South Australian part of the interstate Melbourne–Adelaide railway. It was closed in April 1995.
The South Australian Railways V class was a class of 0-4-4 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
Naracoorte railway station was located on the junction of the Mount Gambier railway line and the Kingston SE railway line. It served the town of Naracoorte.
Avenue railway station was located on the Kingston SE railway line. It served the locality of Avenue Range, South Australia.
Lucindale railway station was located on the Kingston SE railway line. It served the town of Lucindale, South Australia.
References
- ↑ Bell, Peter; Marsden, Susan (29 September 2010). "Kingston SE – An Overview History". Professional Historians Australia (SA) Inc. p. 21. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ↑ Diesel Days on the Kingston S.E. Goods Milne, Rod Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October, 1997 pp356-364
