Railways in NT, Australia

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About Railways in NT, Australia

In 2004 the new Freightlink line from Alice Springs to Darwin in the Northern Territory opened to traffic and has been operating continually since then providing a vital rail transport connection to the rest of the Australian rail network. The line runs some 1400 km. Alice Springs itself, which was linked by the original narrow gauge Ghan railway from Port Augusta in SA until the standard gauge from Tarcoola in SA was opened in the 1980's, it just over 1500 km from Adelaide (capital city of South Australia).

The original narrow gauge railway line from Darwin to Katherine (which the standard gauge line pretty much follows all the way from just out of Darwin) was closed down a long time ago (in the 1970's?) but a fair amount of original civil engineering infrastructure is still evident, and the museum at Adelaide River showcases some of the narrow gauge rollingstock, etc.

Surprisingly, evidence of the original narrow gauge in Darwin is still very easy to find including sections of track on the old wharves, and in the CBD area itself, along with the route of the old main line which basically follows the Stuart Highway out of Darwin through Palmerston.