Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor

Darwin's railway station, known as the Berrimah passenger terminal

The Berrimah rail maintenance depot and freight terminal, at East Arm, are 1 km before the Berrimah passenger terminal and 5 km before the extreme end of the line at East Arm wharfs

Elizabeth River Bridge, 17 km south of Darwin, built for rail and road traffic by the Alice Springs–Darwin railway project in 2003

Under the provisions of the Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910, the Commonwealth Railways assumed responsibility for the South Australian Railways' narrow gauge lines in the far north of South Australia and the Northern Territory. The Act mandated the building of a south–north railway although, crucially, no date was specified.[1][2] Two routes were considered: a standard gauge line branching off the Trans-Australian Railway at Tarcoola or a cheaper extension, from Oodnadatta, of the narrow gauge Central Australia Railway (CAR) line that had opened in 1891. Eventually the latter was chosen, and the extension to Alice Springs was opened in 1929.[3] Meanwhile, the North Australia Railway (NAR) opened in stages south from Darwin to Birdum, the latter being reached in 1929.[4]

In the late 1940s, the South Australian Government developed the Leigh Creek coalfields, 271 km (168 mi) north of Port Augusta, to provide fuel for a new power station at the port. The infrastructure of the CAR was inadequate for the increased tonnages to be carried, so the federal government funded a new standard gauge line from Stirling North to the coalfields (and on to Marree to provide cattle transport). The northernmost two-thirds followed an alignment generally within 8 km (5 mi) of the narrow-gauge line but the southern third avoided the impediments of the mountainous section near Quorn and Hawker.[5][6] The new standard-gauge line covered one-third of the distance to Alice Springs, and a Commonwealth Railways booklet mentioned its "special importance to the Northern Territory as it is the first stage in the ultimate conversion of the narrow-gauge railway to Alice Springs to standard 4 ft ​8 ¹⁄₂ in gauge".[7]^:257

By 1967, interest in a transcontinental route had revived again. Extension of the route then in existence was one of three options considered, but a route far to the west, largely free of flood events, was chosen.[8] Construction of the current 828 km (515 mi) kilometre line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs began in April 1975, opening in October 1980; the CAR closed shortly after.[9][10] By then, the NAR had closed (in June 1976) following the closure of the iron ore mine at Frances Creek.[4]

In January 1983, the federal government announced its intention to extend the standard gauge line from Alice Springs to Darwin to complete the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. It was planned to open in 1988, Australia's bicentenary year.[11][12] However, after a change of government in March 1983, the new government cancelled the project, and the project languished for a further 16 years.[4]

In June 1999, the AustralAsia Rail Corporation (a company owned by the Northern Territory and South Australian Governments) was awarded the contract to build and operate a 1,420 kilometre Alice Springs to Darwin line as a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer project to the Asia Pacific Transport Consortium (APTC).[4][13] The APTC contracted FreightLink to implement the project and to operate the railway. It cost $1.2 billion to build.[14]

The Federal 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 the APTC 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 APTC directly, by way of mezzanine debt financing (subordinated debt), equity, and contingent equity. Construction began in July 2001; completion occurred in September 2003.[4][15][16] On 17 January 2004 the first freight train reached Darwin.[17] On 4 February 2004 the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide, travelling 2,979 km in 47 hours.[18][19]

FreightLink failed to make a profit in the first four years, and on 19 May 2008 the company announced that the board, shareholders and lenders had agreed to sell the company's ownership of the Alice Springs to Darwin line, citing its inheritance of a large amount of debt from the construction phase that it was unable to manage.[20][21][22] 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.[23] Genesee & Wyoming Australia (now One Rail Australia) purchased the assets of FreightLink on 10 June 2010 for $334 million, including the 50-year lease on the Tarcoola–Darwin line.[14][24]

As of 2020 the line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs was owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and leased until 2047 to One Rail Australia.[25][26] The line from Alice Springs to Darwin is owned by One Rail Australia until 2054, when ownership will transfer to the state and federal governments.

One Rail Australia undertakes train control on the entire Tarcoola–Darwin line.[27][note 1] The lease includes provisions for access by other rail operating companies.

The only passenger train is The Ghan experiential travel service operated by Journey Beyond, which traverses the line weekly in each direction with a scheduled duration of 53  hours 15 minutes.[28]^:108 The train is hauled by Pacific National locomotives.[29]

One Rail Australia is the only freight operator in the Tarcoola–Darwin section.[30] Trains originate or terminate at intermodal terminals at Berrimah (Darwin) and Islington (Adelaide); they stop at intermodal points in Katherine, Tenant Creek and Alice Springs.[28]^:79

The line has facilitated bulk commodity exports from iron ore and copper mines in central Australia, including Oz Minerals' Prominent Hill copper mine.[31] Following a derailment event in December 2011,[32] Oz Minerals elected to use the line to export to the south via Port Adelaide,[33] rather than their previous outport, Darwin.

Figures for Darwin's dry bulk exports illustrate the fickle nature of mining. In financial year 2010–11, export product delivered to Port Darwin by rail – comprising iron ore, manganese, and copper concentrate – exceeded 3 million tonnes for the first time.[34] With copper traffic ceased, the figure in 2013–14 for iron and manganese was 2.7 million tonnes. After mining of iron ore ceased in 2015–16, only manganese remained. In 2018–19, manganese exports totalled 900,000 tonnes.[35]

Since 2009 the company has hauled iron oxide / copper / gold ore mined at Prominent Hill[36][note 2] from a 1.5 km (0.9 mi) siding at Wirrida, 95 km (60 mi) west of the mine and 129 km (80 mi) from Northgate. In 2012 a new iron ore mine was opened at Peculiar Knob,[note 3] 22 km (14 mi) from Prominent Hill; until production ceased in 2015 its product was loaded at Wirrida, at a balloon loop immediately north of the Prominent Hill loading site.[37][38][39]

During 2019, a large-scale track upgrade program was started between Adelaide and Tarcoola to allow heavier freight trains to operate at higher speeds. Rails were placed during the year[note 4] and finishing works such as replacing wooden sleepers with concrete ones were scheduled for 2020.[40]

The original CAR and NAR narrow-gauge lines had many stations and halts along their routes for pick-up and set-down of wagons and less-than-car loads, but freight traffic has been all-through on the post-2004 standard-gauge route; stations only exist at Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Darwin.[41] Additionally there are crossing loops, most of them 1859 m (1000 yds) long: 12 south of Alice Springs and 3 to the north.[27]

• Central Australia Railway
• North Australia Railway

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adelaide-Darwin Railway.

• AustralAsia Railway Corporation
• History of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway
• Tarcoola To Alice Springs Railway Act 1974
• Crossing Loops T-AS
• Crossing Loops AS-D