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RAIL HISTORY - AUSTRALIA

FIRST RAILWAYS IN EACH STATE AND TERRITORY

New south Wales: In 1849, the sydney Railway Company
started building the first railway track in New South
Wales between sydney and Parramatta—a distance of 22
km. The project ran into financial difficulty and was taken
over by the New south Wales colonial government. The
line opened on 26 september 1855.
Victoria: The first railway line in Australia opened
between Melbourne’s Flinders street station and Port
Melbourne, then called sandridge, on 12 september
1854. Operated originally as a 1600 mm gauge, it has
since been converted to a 1435 mm gauge electric light
railway feeding the Melbourne tram system.
Queensland: The first railway in Queensland ran from Ipswich inland to Grandchester using the narrow 1067
mm gauge. The system was extended further to the Darling Downs before being connected with Brisbane, the
capital, in 1875.
south Australia: While south Australia had a
horse-drawn railway operating at the mouth of
the Murray River in 1854, the first line carrying
steam powered trains opened on 21 April 1856
between Adelaide and Port Adelaide. It was built
by the colonial government to the then Australian
‘standard’ gauge of 1600 mm.
Western Australia: Commencing in 1871, a private REFERENCE
timber railway from Lockville to Yoganup, south of
Perth, was the first railway to operate in Western
Australia. The first Government railway opened
in 1879 between Geraldton and Northampton. In
the 19th century the network in south-western
Western Australia was built as 1067 mm gauge
lines, but in the 20th century the eastern states
were connected to Perth and Esperance with
standard (1435 mm) gauge lines.
Tasmania: A railway line 72 km long opened between the Northern Tasmanian towns of Launceston and
Deloraine in 1868. Built to the 1600 mm gauge, the operator was the Launceston and Western Railway Company.
subsequently, the Tasmanian Government passed an act of Parliament incorporating the Tasmanian Mainline
Railway Company. This company built the mainline between Launceston and Hobart, the state capital.

Northern Territory: The completion of the Alice
springs to Darwin standard gauge rail link in
January 2004 resulted in a national rail network
linking all mainland state and Territory capital
cities. A railway between Darwin and Pine Creek
(253 km) became operational on 1 October 1889.
The Australian Government took control of the Pine www.specialisedforce.com.au
Creek Railway from 1 January 1911. It operated
until 1 July 1918, when the line became part of
the Commonwealth Railways. The former North
Australia Railway linked Darwin with Birdum—a
distance of 511 km—by 1929. It was never
profitable and has been closed for many years.
Australian Capital Territory: A 10 km standard
gauge branch line opened between queanbeyan,
NsW, and Canberra, the Australian capital, in 1914.
Passenger operations commenced in 1923.

Reproduced without modification with permission from the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development,
“History Of Rail In Australia” (2015) Infrastructure.gov.au <https://infrastructure.gov.au/rail/trains/history.aspx>.
SYDNEY Head Office (02) 9547 1844 Adelaide (08) 8352 8866 Brisbane (07) 3256 6011 Townsville (07) 4728 8756 305
Darwin (08) 8984 4453 Melbourne (03) 9761 4199 Perth (08) 9354 8544 Port Hedland (08) 9172 1113 Tasmania 0427 423 217