Alice Springs Darwin

Alice Springs–Darwin rail link construction

A north-south rail link was first mooted in 1858 before the Northern Territory was created in 1911, and it became the subject of Parliamentary debate for four decades. By 1891, the railway from Adelaide reached Oodnadatta, which became the railhead until the line was extended to Alice Springs in 1929. In 1980 a new standard gauge line opened from Tarcoola to Alice Springs.

Construction of the 1420 km rail link between Alice Springs and Darwin, which began in April 2001 with the first track laid in April 2002, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.

Four construction companies—Kellogg Brown & Root, Barclay Mowlem Holdings, John Holland Group and Macmahon Holdings—constructed the line in joint venture which, from the start of the earthworks, took 31 months to complete.

A logistical challenge, the project required extensive surveys to ensure the track would conform to stringent design criteria, which provides for 1 in 100 year flood events at major bridges. Earthworks, bridges and culverts were then completed to a stage to allow uninterrupted tracklaying. Concrete sleeper manufacturing plants established at Katherine and Tennant Creek collectively produced 6000 sleepers a day.

Each morning, work trains left the depots with enough materials to lay 1.6 km of track in each direction, initially heading north from Tennant Creek and south from Katherine joining halfway in December 2002.

The start of the line from Tennant Creek toward Alice Springs began in early 2003, with the final leg into Alice Springs completed on 31 October 2003.