The Ghan, now operated by Great Southern Rail with motive power provided by Pacific National, is this train and it could not be further removed from these humble, yet significant beginnings. Today’s train consists generally of up to two thundering, 4020 horsepower, gleaming red NR class locomotives hauling between 14 and 24 gleaming silver carriages and a wagon carrying private cars for passengers who plan to drive at the other end of the journey – now extending beyond its original terminus at Alice Springs to the Northern Territory capital of Darwin. By comparison the original train known as the Ghan consisted of a single steam locomotive and 6 to 12 wooden carriages.

The train historically operated on a narrow gauge alignment between Port Augusta and Alice Springs, and until 1929 the final leg of the journey between Oodnadatta and Alice Springs was completed by Afghan Camel, earning it the nicknames “The Afghan Express” and “The Ghan”, the latter of which stuck and came to be synonymous with the route itself.

The route followed the tracks of explorer John McDouall Stuart, but was particularly unreliable. Subject to the harsh conditions of outback South Australia, the track was prone to flooding in the wet and buckling in the heat. As a result of this, trains would still be considered on time as long as they arrived in the same week as they departed, the often mysterious delays providing opportunity for the Ghan train to enter local legend. The most famous legend is still told by Great Southern Rail today, and tells the story of a driver stranded in the outback who shot feral goats to feed his passengers through a two week delay. By 1957 the route was split in two, operating as a standard gauge service until Marree before passengers transferred to the narrow gauge train for the rest of the journey to Alice Springs.

The Commonwealth Railways ceased to exist in 1975 and operations were handed over to Australian National Railways, who by 1980 had opened a new standard gauge alignment to replace the unreliable narrow gauge route. The new line was laid well west of the original line, branching off of the Trans-Australian Railway at Tarcoola before taking a more direct route to Alice Springs. The train also now operated from Port Pirie, then the southern-most point of the standard gauge network in South Australia. Passengers were transferred from Adelaide by a broad gauge train until the mid-80s, when the standard gauge line between Redhill and Port Pirie was completed. The cars from the broad gauge trains were then converted to standard gauge and became sitting cars for the Ghan trains.

The Ghan (by this time marketed as “The Legendary Ghan”) was operated by Australian National from Keswick Terminal, just outside of the Adelaide CBD, to Alice Springs skipping the previous terminus in Port Pirie altogether. When AN was split up in 1997, the service was taken over by Great Southern Rail, becoming one of the first passenger trains to be privatised in Australia along with the other routes still operated by AN at the time. The train now offered two levels of service, Red Kangaroo (economy seating and sleeping) and Gold Kangaroo (a higher level of sleeping, with restaurant service). The service has since been extended to Darwin with the opening of the Alice Springs – Darwin rail link in 2004.

In 2008 Platinum service was also introduced in refurbished BRG type cars, offering passengers the opportunity to sleep in double or twin beds rather than the previous bunk arrangement – a striking contrast to the original cars of the 1929 train, which can thankfully still be experienced on the Port Augusta to Quorn leg of the original journey thanks to the Pichi Richi Railway. Using an NM class steam locomotive from the old Ghan, and wooden cars (some of which travelled on the first service 80 years ago) Pichi Richi operate a train they call the ‘Afghan Express’ along the narrow gauge tracks through the Pichi Richi Pass in the Flinders Ranges.

Issue 8 of Great Southern Rail’s Platform magazine celebrates the long and colourful history of the Ghan, including the popular joke of the pregnant woman close to delivery, who claimed to have not been pregnant when she boarded – indicative of the original train’s poor reliability. Great Southern Rail have introduced a booking special to celebrate the milestone of the train that opened up the heart of Australia.

RailSA

The company shelved a $30 million underground carpark development last year – a plan which would have cost the company $75,000 per parking space.

Adelaide general manager David Christian said relocation talks were yet to start with the site’s owner, the State Government, but plans would take 18 months to two years to realise.

“That’s something we may look at but it’s nothing more than conceptual at this stage . . . to move we would need to have government approval and have to work very closely with them,” Mr Christian said.

“As our chief executive (Nigel Morrison) has said, Adelaide should deserve a bigger casino.”

He said Adelaide was the only capital city casino without a hotel as part of the complex, another reason to relocate.

“Of course we’ve got the Hyatt next door which is fantastic,” he said.

Mr Christian gave no hints on any potential new home for the casino because the talks were only at the conceptual stage.

Plans for 400 car parks off Station Place cleared their final hurdle with Adelaide City Council in April, 2008, but the project was canned soon after – one of Mr Morrison’s first major decisions after his March, 2008 appointment.

The company already had decided to turn around Adelaide’s poor performing operations when it took down the “for sale” sign in late 2007 – despite three offers.

The casino was a star performer of the Skycity group in the December half, lifting group earnings by 18.3 per cent to $14.2 million.

Property Council executive director Nathan Paine said the iconic building would have “no problem” attracting another tenant if the casino relocated.

Skycity owns Skycity Darwin and three casino/hotels in NZ.

AdelaideNow