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 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. 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. Meanwhile, the North Australia Railway (NAR) opened in stages south from Darwin to Birdum, the latter being reached in 1929.
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.
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. 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 in gauge".
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. 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. By then, the NAR had closed, in June 1976, following the closure of the iron ore mine at Frances Creek.
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. After a change of federal government in March 1983, the new government cancelled the project, and the project languished for a further 16 years.
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). The APTC contracted FreightLink to implement the project and to operate the railway. It cost $1.2 billion to build.
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. On 17 January 2004 the first freight train reached Darwin. On 4 February 2004 the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide, travelling 2,979 km in 47 hours.