‘Legendary’ train line ready to roll

More than 100 years after it was first planned, “the world’s last great transcontinental rail route” was opened yesterday. The “Ghan” train route runs for 1,900 miles across Australia, from the southern city of Adelaide to the capital of the northern territory, Darwin. The first train to embark on the journey was a 1.2-kilometre freight train, but the first passenger service will depart in a couple of weeks’ time, on 1 February. According to The Independent newspaper’s correspondent Kathy Marks, “excited” rail enthusiasts have paid AUD12,000 to get on board the very first service, and advance sales have already totalled some AUD15 million. The newspaper predicts that the 47-hour journey will soon be classed as one of the world’s “legendary” train rides. The idea of such a railway was first mooted in 1907, and by 1929 it had reached from Adelaide to Alice Springs, roughly half way to Darwin. But, until today, the project was never completed and it became known as the “never-never line”.