HISTORIC RAIL LINK OPEN AT LAST 15.1.2004. 20:04:37
On what politicians and business leaders are calling an historic day for Australia, the Adelaide to Darwin rail link has started operation, a century after the line was first proposed.
The 3-thousand-kilometre line links the southern states to export markets in ASIA.
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The chairman of the United States engineering firm Halliburton, David Lesar, says the project was one of the most challenging his company has faced.
'In response to the formidable logistical challenges that we had on this project, you look at the achievements, they're truly remarkable. For instance, with clever engineering and efficient construction, we built the 93 bridges along the line in an average of one per week and brought the project in five months ahead of schedule. It shows that these types of projects can get done in Australia — and, I might add, done exceptionally well.'
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=76954®ion=7
Last Updated:Thursday, January 15, 2004. 0:04am (AEDT) "Century-old rail dream becomes reality"
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The train line's been dubbed the white elephant that would never be built, previous governments said it was too expensive to justify and economic studies said it would never break even.
Just weeks ago, [transport tycoon] Chris Corrigan said it would never compete with shipping.
"They've spent $2 billion building a railway for five trains a week and a few cartons of beer and I've described the financial returns on that as being smaller than a tic's testicles," Mr Corrigan said.
But like it or not, a century after the first pioneers dreamt of a north-south railway, a 1.2 kilometre long freight train will pull out of Adelaide's Keswick Station today on the inaugural 3,000 kilometre journey stopping all stations to Darwin.
The train will carry 1,300 tonnes of cargo consumables, cars, furniture, steel, cement and electrical goods, most of it bound for the domestic market up north.
Bruce McGowan, the chief executive of Freightlink, which operates the railway, says he is confident the train service will be viable within three years.
"Our targets for the future will be to run at a rate of about 350,000 tonnes a year and building up to about 800,000 tonnes per annum," he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1025620.htm