External links
| By state |  | |
|---|---|---|
| By capital | ||
| Stations | ||
| Related articles | ||
While railways in some states were briefly operated as private companies, railways of Australia have historically operated as Government instrumentalities.
The earlier form of a single state government railway department in each state no longer exists – with complex relationships developed by state and federal government corporations operating in multiple locations and across borders between states.
They are further divided into 'above' and 'below' rail companies – track owners, and train operators. Some companies are both.
| By state | | |
|---|---|---|
| By capital | ||
| Stations | ||
| Related articles | ||
The Adelaide–Darwin railway line is a railway line in Australia, between the South Australian town of Tarcoola and the Northern Territory city of Darwin. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a line through to Darwin was fully realised in 2004 when the final link from Alice Springs to Darwin was opened. Forming the main section of the 2,975 kilometres (1,849 mi) rail corridor between the cities of Adelaide and Darwin, the line is used by The Ghan passenger train and interstate freight trains operated by Aurizon.
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 per cent of the Australian heavy railways network route-kilometres are electrified.
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.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation.
Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses.
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 Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in November 2010. The company was originally established in 2004–05 when the coal, bulk, and container transport divisions from Queensland Rail were brought under one banner as QR National.
Downer Rail is a business unit within the Downer Group. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. The head office is located in North Ryde.
Southern Shorthaul Railroad is an Australian rail freight services operator in New South Wales and Victoria. The company also provides workshop services, such as rolling stock manufacturing and wagon and locomotive maintenance.
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 Western Railway, also known as the South West Main Line, is the main railway route between Perth and Bunbury in Western Australia.
The 422 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Department of Railways New South Wales in 1969/70.
El Zorro was an Australian railway operator hauling freight and infrastructure trains in Victoria and New South Wales.
The rail network of Melbourne, Australia, has a significant number of railway lines and yards serving freight traffic. Rail transport in Victoria is heavily focused on Melbourne, and, as a consequence, much of the state's rail freight passes through the metropolitan network.
One Rail Australia was an Australian rail freight operator company. Founded by a United States short line railroad holding company, Genesee & Wyoming Inc, in 1997 as Australian Southern Railroad, and successively renamed Australian Railroad Group and Genesee & Wyoming Australia, it was renamed One Rail Australia in February 2020 after the American company sold its remaining shareholding. In July 2022, assets from the South Australian, Northern Territory and interstate operations of the company were sold to rail operator company Aurizon Holdings Limited. The remaining assets, relating to coal haulage in New South Wales and Queensland, were sold in February 2023 to Magnetic Rail Group.
The GT46C-ACe is a model of Australian diesel-electric locomotive designed and built between 2007–present by Downer Rail at its Cardiff Locomotive Workshops using Electro-Motive Diesel components until 2014, later units were built in Muncie, Indiana.
The CBH Group is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia.
The GE Transportation C44aci is a model of Australian heavy duty diesel electric locomotive designed by UGL Rail and built at the Broadmeadow factory. It is operated by a number of rail freight operators. The design is based on the National Rail NR class but with some modifications and upgraded features.
The L Class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville and Eagle Farm, and Commonwealth Engineering, Rocklea for the Western Australian Government Railways between 1967 and 1973.
In 2010, the Queensland Government split the government owned rail operator Queensland Rail into two companies: the government owned passenger operator Queensland Rail and the freight operator QR National, the latter to be floated in late 2010.
Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group in Western Australia. In 2019, it commenced operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco.
