The Ghan

The Ghan is the 48-hour, 2,979-km passenger service on the Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin railroad in Australia. The service is named after the Afghan camel drivers who trekked the same route before the advent of the railroad.

Table of contents

1 History 2 Operations 3 External Links

History

Initial construction was by South Australian Railways as a narrow gauge (3'6") line.

• January 18, 1878: Construction of southern line from Port Augusta starts
• 1879: South: Quorn reached
• 1883: South: Marree reached
• 1883: Construction of northern line from Palmerston (Darwin) starts
• 1888: North: Pine Creek reached
• 1891: South: Oodnadatta reached
• 1910: First promise to complete the line in the Acceptance Act (but no date given)
• 1926: Line acquired by Commonwealth Railways
• 1926: North: Katherine reached
• 1929: North: Birdum reached, terminus at Larrimah
• August 6, 1929: South: Alice Springs reached, The Ghan starts running under current name
• 1957: South: Line from Stirling North (near Port Augusta) to Marree rebuilt as standard gauge, now connected to Adelaide
  • Some sections of the narrow gauge track remain in operation as the Pichi Richi Railway
• 1976: Northern line closed
• October 1980: Standard gauge track from Tarcoola to Alice Springs opens
• July 2001: Construction of Alice Springs-Darwin track starts
• September 17 2003: Darwin reached

Operations

The Ghan runs twice weekly from Adelaide to Alice Springs and once a week to Darwin. Fares for a full one-way trip start at A$440440.

External Links

• The Ghan homepage
• History of the line
• History of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway