The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory. From 2000 the line was extended from Alice Springs to Darwin as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer back (BOOT) project by the AustralAsia Rail Corporation.
The line sees the Great Southern Railway operated passenger train 'The Ghan' as well as freight trains operated by FreightLink.
Contents |
Original construction was by South Australian Railways as a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (Cape gauge) narrow gauge railway.[1]
The tortuously curving narrow gauge line between Maree and Alice Springs was notoriously prone to delays, often caused by flash floods washing away bridges and tracks. A decision was thus made to rebuild the entire line with a straighter alignment some 150 km west of the existing track, this time using standard gauge. Shortly before the closure of the narrow gauge line in 1980, the BBC filmed an episode of the television series "Great Railway Journeys of the World" featuring the original route of the Ghan (and the infamously slow speed of the train). One downside of the building of the new line (and resulting closure of the old) was that Oodnadatta and other communities along the route of the original line lost their railway service.
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.[3][4] 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.[5] Genesee and Wyoming Inc agreed to purchase the assets of FreightLink in June 2010 and when the sale is complete the 50 year lease on the Adelaide- Darwin railway will be transferred to Genesee and Wyoming Australia.[6]
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.
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.
The railway has been sold to Genesee and Wyoming Inc, under the title of Genesee and Wyoming North.[7]
As well as the Great Southern Railway operated The Ghan passenger service, freight services operate on the line. FreightLink is the main operator, announcing in June 2008 that it would add an extra weekly rail service between Adelaide and Darwin due to growing demand, taking the total number of services to six.[10]
The original narrow gauge railway served, indeed often created, the towns at the stations along the way.
The new standard gauge railway has stations at Tennant Creek and Katherine, plus passing loops at Illoquara and Newcastle Waters.[11]
|
|
|||||||||||