Railways and Tramways of Australia
Railway and Tramway Networks
SCT008, SCT015, SCT006 with an Adelaide-bound container train passing through Belair in the Adelaide Hills, 28 September 2012.
Railway networks reach across Australia from east to west and from north to south. They include busy urban lines with trains passing every few minutes, heavy freight railways bearing huge tonnages of minerals, interstate and regional lines carrying passenger and freight services, branch lines that see minimal traffic, and a series of 610 mm gauge lines in Queensland for conveying cut sugar cane to processing mills. In 2016 the National Transport Commission reported that Australian railway networks consisted of a total of 41,461 kilometres of track (Who moves what where: freight and passenger transport in Australia, p. 62); however, not all of these lines were operational. The total length of operational heavy railways using the three major railway gauges in Australia in 2022 was 32,756 route kilometres, of which around 10 per cent was electrified.
A breakdown of operational heavy railways by gauge and state or territory is indicated in the following table.
Estimated total route kilometres of railways open in each state and territory of Australia in October 2023
Gauge
State or Territory 1067 mm 1435 mm 1600 mm Dual Total
New South Wales 0 6967 73 0 7040
Victoria 0 1794 2384 55 4233
Queensland 8346 117 0 36 8499
South Australia 66 2599 126 0 2791
Western Australia 2978 4701 0 207 7886
Tasmania 611 0 0 0 611
Northern Territory 0 1690 0 0 1690
Australian Capital Territory 0 6 0 0 6
Total 12,001 17,874 2583 298 32 ,756
Source: Australian infrastructure and transport statistics yearbook 2023, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Canberra, 2023, p. 178.
The figures in the above table do not include the sugar cane railways in Queensland, which have a total length of around 4000 km.
Five states have electrified railway lines: New South Wales had a total of 666 km of electrified railway lines in October 2023; Victoria had 364 km; Queensland had 2173 km; Western Australia had 189 km; and South Australia had 83 km. The total length of electrified railway lines in Australia was 3475 km. Electrified railways in Victoria and New South Wales use 1.5 kV (kilovolts) DC, while those in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia use 25 kV AC.
Links to maps of the major railway lines in Australia are below.
Australasian Railway Association: Railways of Australia
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development: Key Freight Routes
The total length of operational tramways and light rail lines in Australia in 2023 was 327 route kilometres, and these lines are located in the cities of Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Canberra and Newcastle. All lines are standard gauge. Melbourne has by far the largest network, with 250 route km of double track.
A breakdown of tramways and light rail lines in Australia is indicated in the following table. These figures do not include heritage and tourist tramways.
Total route kilometres and number of stops of tramways and light rail lines open in Australia in July 2023
City Route km Stops
Melbourne 250 1717
Sydney 25 42
Adelaide 17 29
Gold Coast 20 19
Canberra 12 13
Newcastle 3 6
Total 327 1826
Source: Trainline 11 Statistical Report, , Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Canberra, 2024, p. 102.
Links to the major railway and tramway networks in Australia are below. Some short sections are not listed, which are mainly those solely operated by heritage and tourist railways, as well as short private lines and sidings.
New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory
South Australia and Northern Territory