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RAIL HISTORY - AUSTRALIA

STANDARDISATION OF AUSTRALIA’S INTERSTATE TRACK GAUGE

The process standardising Australia’s interstate
track to a standard, 1435 mm gauge commenced
in the 1930s, and was only completed in 1995.
• A standard gauge line connected Brisbane with
the New south Wales system in 1930.
• Melbourne was linked to New south Wales by a
standard gauge line in 1962.
• The standard gauges link between Perth and
kalgoorlie was completed in 1968.
• The Broken Hill to Port Pirie line in 1969
completed the standard gauge east-west
transcontinental connection.
• Alice springs was connected to the
transcontinental line in 1980 with a line built
from Tarcoola.
• Adelaide was connected to the transcontinental line in 1982 with the conversion of the line from Crystal Brook,
• Melbourne and Adelaide were linked by a standard gauge line that opened in June 1995.
• The standard gauge link between Alice springs to Darwin was completed in January 2004

WORKING TOWARDS A SINGLE NATIONAL INTERSTATE NETWORK
REFERENCE Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd (ARTC) to manage and develop Australia’s interstate track infrastructure as
In 1998, the Australian Government, in agreement with the mainland state governments, established the

a single entity.
ARTC, which is wholly owned by the Australian Government, manages over 8,500 km of standard gauge track,
primarily through direct ownership and long term leases of state owned track between kalgoorlie in Western
Australia and Acacia Ridge in southern Brisbane.
Through ARTC’s ownership and lease of the interstate line, the six separate state-based arrangements which
historically governed mainland interstate rail operations have been gradually replaced with a single set of
common rules, operating standards and access regulations, representing a significant boost to the efficiency of
freight rail in Australia.
• In 1998, the ownership of the interstate rail network between kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Broken
Hill on the NsW / south Australian border and serviceton on the victorian / south Australian border was
transferred from the Australian National Railway Commission to the newly formed ARTC.
www.specialisedforce.com.au
• In 1998, ARTC commenced a 16 year lease of
the victorian interstate network from serviceton
on the south Australian border to Albury on the
NsW border.
• In 2008, victoria extended the lease for a
further 45 years to coincide with a package
of improvement works on the network jointly
financed by ARTC, the Victorian Government and
the Commonwealth.
• In 2003, ARTC took on a 60 year lease of the
NsW interstate and Hunter valley network from
the NsW Government.
• On 15 January 2010, ARTC took over a 60 year
lease of the section of track between the NsW
border and Acacia Ridge in Brisbane.

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>.
306 SYDNEY Head Office (02) 9547 1844 Adelaide (08) 8352 8866 Brisbane (07) 3256 6011 Townsville (07) 4728 8756
Darwin (08) 8984 4453 Melbourne (03) 9761 4199 Perth (08) 9354 8544 Port Hedland (08) 9172 1113 Tasmania 0427 423 217