Great Railway Journeys | Green Energy News

January 25, 2004 – Vol.8 No.44

GREAT RAILWAY JOURNEYS

. Who says that in a time when airplanes and the automobile are the focus of attention for transportation that a great new railway can’t be built?

It can and did ... in Australia.

With the completion of 882 miles (1420 kilometers) of track between Alice Springs and Darwin, the north and south of the Australian continent are now connected by rail. Passengers can take the train known as the Ghan in a three-day, 1740 mile (3000 kilometer) journey from Adelaide, South Australia to the Port of Darwin, Northern Territories. Freight service, too, uses the same line.

The Ghan is named after Afghan camel drivers who made the trek on a similar route after the European colonization.

The train link has been a dream in Australia for more than 150 years and the rail between Adelaide and Alice Springs has been operating since 1929. The final length of track was built at cost of AUD $1.3 billion (USD $1 billion) in 30 months.

Visit the construction of the new rail line through the AustralAsia Railway Corporation at http://www.aarc.com.au/ and the Ghan passenger train (and other Australia Great Train Journeys) through the Great Southern Railway at http://www.trainways.com.au/ .