Three mainline rail gauges in Australia were initiated in the very early years of railway development and remain in operation today. The diversity of track gauges – the distance between the inner rail edges – arose at a time when the respective colonies were building lines mainly to transport agricultural produce or minerals to ports. The colonies competed fiercely over trade with the United Kingdom and were quite isolationist in their attitude to each other, an independence of attitude that persists in some quarters even today.[1]
During the 1850s, the local unavailability of anyone with knowledge of rail transport, including the relative advantages and disadvantages of particular gauges, and the best track design, made decisions about the choice of gauge very difficult. Additionally, a change of mind by the colony of New South Wales as to the gauge of its first railway immediately conflicted with the projects already under way in South Australia and Victoria. The first of innumerable attempts to unify the gauges, often by engineers, occurred in 1857. However, politicians had little interest in standardising gauges; they applied unrelenting pressure to attain maximum development of railways at least possible construction cost.[1][2]
When the Australian colonies federated in 1901 and trade barriers between the states were removed, the short-sightedness of having three gauges became very apparent. Even so, years of procrastination followed, in which the national and state legislatures put off the important decisions, engaging – usually after strong disagreement – in small projects only. In 1937, travel from Brisbane to Perth involved the discomfort of four railway systems, three gauges, and changes of train at eight stations. It would be 1995 before standard-gauge rails connected all the mainland state capitals – but regional routes remained largely unconverted.[1][3] As of 2023[update], there were 10,964.5 kilometres (6813.0 mi) of 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge, 17,370.5 kilometres (10,793.5 mi) of 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge, 2477.1 kilometres (1539.2 mi) of broad gauge and 262.0 kilometres (162.8 miles) of dual-gauge track: in all, 31,074 kilometres (19,308 miles)[note 1][4]
- ^ a b c Brady, Ian A. (May 1971). "A brief history of standard gauge in Australia". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin (403). Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division: 98–99. ISSN 0005-0105.
- ^ Mills 2007, pp. 99–101, 113, 115.
- ^ Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John R. (2000). Australian railway routes 1854–2000. Redfern, New South Wales: Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division. p. 56. ISBN 0909650497.
- ^ "Trainline 11" (PDF). Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. 24 June 2025. p. 76. Retrieved 24 June 2025.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).