Английская Википедия:Adelaide–Darwin railway line
Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Use Australian English Шаблон:Stack begin Шаблон:Tarcoola–Darwin railway line RDT Шаблон:Stack end
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 Шаблон:Convert 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.
First steps towards a transcontinental railway
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 coal for a power station in Adelaide and, later, for a new power station built 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.[5]Шаблон:Rp
The northernmost two-thirds followed an alignment generally within 8 km (5 mi) of the narrow-gauge line. The southern third avoided the impediments of the mountainous section near Quorn and Hawker.[6][7] 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 Шаблон:Frac in gauge".[8]Шаблон:Rp
Tarcoola to Alice Springs
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.[9] 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.[10][11] By then, the NAR had closed, in June 1976, following the closure of the iron ore mine at Frances Creek.[4]
Alice Springs to Darwin
In 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.[12][13] After a change of federal 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][14] The APTC contracted FreightLink to implement the project and to operate the railway. It cost $1.2 billion to build.[15]
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][16][17] On 17 January 2004 the first freight train reached Darwin.[18] On 4 February 2004 the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide, travelling 2,979 km in 47 hours.[19][20]
In operation
FreightLink failed to make a profit in the first four years. In 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.[21][22][23] In November 2008, Freightlink went into voluntary administration after failing to reach agreement with creditors on the terms of a sale of the business.[24] Genesee & Wyoming Australia, later acquired by Aurizon, purchased the assets of FreightLink in June 2010 for $334 million, including the 50-year lease on the Tarcoola–Darwin line.[15][25]
Шаблон:As of, the line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and leased until 2047 to Aurizon.[26][27] The line from Alice Springs to Darwin is owned by Aurizon until 2054, when ownership will pass to the Australian Government and the build–own–operate–and–transfer agreement will end.[28] Aurizon undertakes train control on the entire Tarcoola–Darwin line.[29][note 1]
Traffic
Two experiential tourism trains operate on the line: The Ghan service operated by Journey Beyond, which traverses the whole line and through to Adelaide weekly in each direction, with a scheduled duration of 53 hours 15 minutes;[30]Шаблон:Rp and the company's Indian Pacific, an east–west service that runs on the southernmost Шаблон:Convert before heading west to Perth.
Aurizon is the only freight operator in the Tarcoola–Darwin section. Trains originate or terminate at intermodal terminals at Berrimah (Darwin) and Islington (Adelaide). They stop at intermodal points in Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.[30]Шаблон:Rp
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]
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]
Stations
The original CAR and NAR narrow-gauge lines had many small stations, sidings and halts along their routes for pick-up and set-down of wagons and less-than-car loads, and passengers, 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 (2000 yds) long: 12 south of Alice Springs and 3 to the north.[29]
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Rozycki, Jack (Jan–Mar 2003). "The Never Never Line. Australia's biggest project: the Adelaide-Darwin railway". Australian Geographic 69: 50–67.
External links
- AustralAsia Railway Corporation
- History of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway Шаблон:Webarchive
- Tarcoola To Alice Springs Railway Act 1974
- Crossing Loops T-AS
- Crossing Loops AS-D
Шаблон:AustralianInterstateRail Шаблон:Authority control
- ↑ Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910 Federal Register of Legislation
- ↑ Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910 Commonwealth of Australia Consolidated Acts
- ↑ "Australian Commonwealth Railway Developments" Railway Gazette 28 January 1927 page 116
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 4,2 4,3 4,4 History of the railway AustralAsia Railway Corporation
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Port Augusta to Marree Chris's Commonwealth Railways
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news Paid subscription required
subscription
: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall"). - ↑ "In Brief" Railway Gazette International June 1975 page 210
- ↑ Standard Gauge to Alice Springs – Construction of Tarcoola–Alice Springs Railway Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin June 1981 pages 117–139
- ↑ "Preliminary work starts on 1500km Alice - Darwin link" Railway Gazette International April 1981 page 262
- ↑ "Premier launches Alice - Darwin line" Railway Gazette International March 1983 page 152
- ↑ Darwin deal Railway Gazette International July 1999
- ↑ 15,0 15,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Industry unites at Australian showcase Railway Gazette International November 2003
- ↑ "Transcontinental link is ready for business" Railway Gazette International January 2004 page 20
- ↑ Australia's last frontier is conquered Railway Gazette International February 2004
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ First Train Шаблон:Webarchive AustralAsia Railway Corporation
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite news
- ↑ Our Network Australian Rail Track Corporation
- ↑ Network map Шаблон:Webarchive Genesee & Wyoming Australia
- ↑ AustralAsia link making rapid progress Railway Gazette International 1 April 2002.
Paid subscription requiredsubscription
: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("paywall"). - ↑ 29,0 29,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 30,0 30,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ First production from Prominent Hill copper-gold operation OZ Minerals ASX announcement, 26 February 2009. Accessed 12 January 2010.
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
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