Everything about Australian Broad Gauge totally explained
Australian broad gauge is the principal
railway gauge of used by the
railway network of the
Australian state of
Victoria. It is also used on on railway lines in
South Australia, Victorian built lines in southern
New South Wales, and a single line in
Tasmania.
In origin, it's the
Irish standard gauge as introduced to Australia by the Irish-born chief engineer of the Sydney Railway Company in
New South Wales,
F.W. Shields. When the state of Victoria began developing railways it received instructions from the British
Colonial Office in London to build them to the same gauge as those in New South Wales. Unfortunately, and with long-lasting consequences for the railways of Australia, New South Wales failed to inform Victoria (and South Australia) that in the meantime Shields had resigned from the Sydney company and been replaced by a Scot,
James Wallace, who overturned his predecessor's advice and ordered that all construction should be at the British
standard gauge of .
Australia's first railway was a 2½ mile (4 km) Victorian broad gauge line, opened in September 1854 between the Melbourne (or City) Terminus (on the site of
Flinders Street Station) and Sandridge (now
Port Melbourne). In
1987, the
Port Melbourne railway line was closed, and replaced by a standard gauge
light rail service, tram route #111, which ran from Port Melbourne to Exhibition Buildings (later replaced with
tram route #109, which runs to
Box Hill via the city).
As Victoria used a different gauge from
New South Wales passengers were required to change trains at
Albury. Limited Standard gauge railways now connect Melbourne with
Sydney and
Adelaide. The adoption of different railway gauges in Australia was a cause for arguments in the leadup to the
Federation of Australia, and is still causing difficulties in funding and decision-making today.
Further Information
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