Transport in Australia Totally Explained

Everything about Transport In Australia totally explained

Transport in Australia is a highly significant part of the infrastructure of the Australian economy, since the distances are large and the country has a relatively low population density.

Railways

km (2,540 km electrified) of track: 3,719 km broad gauge, 15,422 km standard gauge, 14,506 km narrow gauge and 172 km dual gauge. Rail transport started in the various colonies at different dates. Privately owned railways started the first lines, and struggled to succeed on a remote, huge, and sparsely populated continent, and government railways dominated. Although the various colonies had been advised by London to choose a common gauge, the colonies ended up with different gauges.

National rail services

The Great Southern Railway, owned by Serco Asia Pacific, operates three trains: the Indian Pacific (Sydney-Adelaide-Perth), The Ghan (Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin), and The Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide) (External Link

). NSW owned CountryLink services link Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne via Sydney. Since the extension of the Ghan from Alice Springs to Darwin was completed in 2004, all mainland Australian capital cities are linked by standard gauge rail, for the first time.

State and city rail services

There are various state and city rail services operated by a combination of government and private entities, the most prominent of these include V/Line (regional trains and buses in Victoria); Connex Melbourne which operates the Melbourne suburban railway network; RailCorp operating all passenger rail services in New South Wales including (CityRail and CountryLink);Queensland Rail (QR) operating Traveltrain and the Citytrain network, South-East Queensland's commuter railway network under the TransLink scheme, and Transwa operating train and bus services in Western Australia.

Mining railways

Four heavy-duty mining railways carry iron ore to ports in the northwest of Western Australia. These railways carry no other traffic, and are isolated by deserts from all other railways. The lines are standard gauge and are built to the heaviest US standards.
In 2006, a fifth iron ore railway is proposed by the Fortescue Metals Group, while a sixth common carrier railway is proposed to serve the port of Oakajee just north of Geraldton.

Cane railways

In Queensland about 15 sugar mills have narrow gauge (gauge) cane tramways that deliver sugar cane to the mills.

Highways

The Australian Highway System is broken up into 3 different categories for rural Australia:

Federal Highways
State Highways
and Local Roads
Small Information from the CIA world fact book The road network is again extensive, comprising a total of 913,000 km broken down into:

Paved: 353,331 km (including 13,630 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 559,669 km (1996 estimate) The majority of road tunnels in Australia have been constructed since the 1990's to relieve traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, or to cross significant watercourses. See for a listing.
Pipelines
There are several pipeline systems including:

Crude oil: 2,500 km
Petroleum products: 500 km
Natural gas: 5,600 km
Water
Perth to Kalgoorlie - Goldfields Water Supply Scheme
Morgan on the Murray River to Adelaide, Whyalla, Port Lincoln
Turunga Bain to Bendigo Super Pipe and proposed extension to Ballarat

Waterways
Australia's inland waterways are not a significant means commercial transport. In the 19th century, paddle steamers were used on the Murray-Darling Basin to transport produce such as wool and wheat but the water levels are highly unreliable, making the river impassable for large parts of the year. The steamers proved unable to compete with rail, and later, road transport. Traffic now on inland waterways is therefore largely restricted to private recreational craft.
Ports and harbours

Mainland

General

Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Fremantle,
Geelong, Gladstone, Mackay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney, Townsville, Wollongong
Port Lincoln
Iron Ore

Dampier
Port Hedland
Geraldton
Oakajee - proposed 2006
Esperance
Port Lincoln - possible 2007
Tasmania

Devonport
Launceston
Hobart
Merchant marine vessels
As of 2006, the Australian fleet consists of 53 ships of 1,000 gross register tons or over:

Airports
Australia are:

Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport
Melbourne Airport
Brisbane Airport
Perth Airport
Adelaide Airport
Cairns International Airport
Gold Coast Airport
Canberra International Airport
Hobart International Airport
Avalon Airport
Darwin International Airport
Airports with paved runways
Total: 305
Over 3,047 m (10,000 ft): 10
2,438 to 3,047 m (8,000 to 10,000 ft): 12
1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 8,000 ft): 131
914 to 1,523 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft): 139
Under 914 m (3,000 ft): 13 (2004 estimate)
Airports with unpaved runways
Total:143
1,524 to 2,437 m (5,000 to 8,000 ft): 17
914 to 1,523 m (3,000 to 5,000 ft): 112
Under 914 m (3,000 ft): 14 (2004 estimate) Note: sourced from CIA World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html/Further Information
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