Australia For Everyone

Today, when you cross the vast deserts of Central Australia aboard The Ghan train, you do so seated in a soft armchair in air-conditioned comfort. But in the early days of The Ghan, it was quite a different story. This narrow-gauge line it first travelled on lay well over 100km east of the current one, and was no pleasure trip.

The City of Sydney has numerous railway lines that once carried goods and passengers to parts of the suburban area that for various reasons were deemed to no longer warrant railway services. We explore the bridges, tunnels and abandoned routes of these railways.

Melbourne's Inner Circle Line was a steam era suburban railway line. It served the inner-northern suburbs of Parkville, Carlton North, Fitzroy North, and Fitzroy. The line is one of many around the Melbourne metropolitan area where trains no longer run. Others, like the Port Melbourne line, are now serviced by trams.

Rail trails are shared-use paths recycled from abandoned railway corridors. Usually managed by local councils for the enjoyment of the general public, rail trails can be used for a range of purposes including walking, cycling and horse riding. There are now rail trails all around Australia and in other countries too. Rail trails link big and small country towns and meander through scenic countryside just as railways did in the past.