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Article: Australia's missing link is bridged.(world perspective)(Alice Springs-Darwin railroad)
- Article from:
- Railway Age
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Australia's new 882-mile Alice Springs-Darwin railroad opened in January, about five months earlier than planned, completing a south north transcontinental railway across Australia's Outback.
The new line connects with the existing railroad at Alice Springs, which runs south to Tarcoola, the junction with the transcontinental main line running west to Perth and east to Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney (map, right). The line was built primarily for freight traffic (above), but will also be used by the famous Ghan passenger service to Adelaide (below).
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The project was completed remarkably quickly. Tracklaying began in April ...