Editing Transport in Australia (section)

== Intercity rail transport ==
[[Image:Passenger rail services in Australia en.png|thumb|Map of passenger railway services in Australia
<br>
'''State Government owned rail services:'''
{{legend|#225500|[[Queensland Rail City network]] and [[Queensland Rail#Long-distance trains|Traveltrain]] services}}
{{legend|#b5111b|[[NSW TrainLink]] services}}
{{legend|#800080|[[V/Line]] services}}
{{legend|#f8981c|[[Transwa]] services}}

'''[[Journey Beyond]] lines:'''
{{legend|#002d62|[[Indian Pacific]]}}
{{legend|#0055d4|[[The Overland]]}}
{{legend|#f15c22|[[The Ghan]]}}]]

[[Image:Indian Pacific Perth, Western Australia.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Indian Pacific]]'' in [[Perth]]]]

{{main|Rail transport in Australia|History of rail transport in Australia}}

The railway network is large, comprising a total of 33,819&nbsp;km (2,540&nbsp;km electrified) of track: 3,719&nbsp;km [[Australian broad gauge|broad gauge]], 15,422&nbsp;km [[standard gauge]], 14,506&nbsp;km [[Narrow gauge railways in Australia|narrow gauge]] and 172&nbsp;km [[dual gauge]]. Rail transport started in the various colonies on 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 [[Rail gauge|gauge]], the colonies ended up with different gauges.

===Inter-state rail services===
[[Journey Beyond]] operates four trains: the ''[[Indian Pacific]]'' ([[Central railway station, Sydney|Sydney]]-[[Adelaide Parklands Terminal|Adelaide]]-[[Public Transport Centre#East Perth Terminal|Perth]]), ''[[The Ghan]]'' (Adelaide-[[Alice Springs railway station|Alice Springs]]-[[Darwin railway station|Darwin]]), ''[[The Overland]]'' ([[Southern Cross railway station|Melbourne]]-Adelaide),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gsr.com.au/trains.htm |title=Australia's Great Train Journeys |access-date=2003-04-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030401215421/http://www.gsr.com.au/trains.htm |archive-date=1 April 2003}}</ref> and the ''[[Great Southern (train)|Great Southern]]'' ([[Brisbane]]-[[Melbourne]]-[[Adelaide]]). [[Government of New South Wales|NSW Government]] owned [[NSW TrainLink]] services link [[Roma Street railway station|Brisbane]], [[Canberra railway station|Canberra]], [[Southern Cross railway station|Melbourne]], [[Dubbo railway station|Dubbo]], [[Broken Hill railway station|Broken Hill]], [[Armidale railway station|Armidale]], [[Moree railway station|Moree]] and [[Griffith railway station|Griffith]] to [[Central railway station, Sydney|Sydney]]. Since the extension of the [[The Ghan|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.
{{see also|High-speed rail in Australia}}

===Intra-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 coaches in [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]]); [[Metro Trains Melbourne]] ([[Melbourne rail network|suburban services in Melbourne]]); [[NSW TrainLink]] (regional trains and coaches in [[New South Wales]]); [[Sydney Trains]] (suburban services in Sydney); [[Queensland Rail]] (QR) operating long-distance [[Queensland Rail|Traveltrain]] services and the [[Queensland Rail City network|City network]] in South-East Queensland, and [[Transwa]] operating train and bus services in Western Australia.

In Tasmania, [[TasRail]] operates a short-haul narrow gauge freight system, that carries inter-modal and bulk mining goods. TasRail is owned by the [[Government of Tasmania]] and is going through significant below and above rail upgrades with new locomotives and wagons entering service. Significant bridge and sleeper renewal have also occurred. The Tasmanian Government also operates the [[West Coast Wilderness Railway]] as a tourist venture over an isolated length of track on Tasmania's West Coast.

=== Mining railways ===
Six 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. Each line is operated by one of either [[BHP]], [[Rio Tinto (corporation)|Rio Tinto]], [[Fortescue (company)|Fortescue]] and [[Hancock Prospecting]].

A common carrier railway was proposed to serve the port of [[Oakajee Port]] just north of [[Geraldton]], but this was later cancelled after a collapse in the iron ore price.<ref>Mixed fortunes for Western Australian rail projects ''[[International Railway Journal]]'' January 2013 page 8</ref>

===Cane railways===
In [[Queensland]], 19 sugar mills are serviced by ~3,000&nbsp;km of [[Narrow gauge railways in Australia|narrow gauge]] ({{Track gauge|2ft|disp=s|lk=on}} gauge) cane tramways that deliver [[sugar cane]] to the mills.