[10] Australian transport

In Australia railways were constructed in all colonies between 1854, when a line was built between Melbourne and Port Melbourne, and 1871. Trivial disagreements among the self-protecting colonies blocked the creation of any master plan and saddled Australia with three different rail gauges: the standard gauge of 4 feet 81/2 inches (144 centimeters) in New South Wales; the broad gauge of 5 feet 3 inches (160 centimeters) in Victoria and South Australia; and the narrow gauge of 3 feet 6 inches (107 centimeters) in Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and the northern extremities of South Australia. It took until 1970 to standardize one continuous line between Perth and Brisbane, along which the India-Pacific train now travels. It crosses the Nullarbor Plain on the longest straight stretch of rail track in the world – 300 miles (480 kilometers).

State governments control most of the railways, including the profitable electrified commuter lines in the cities. These help offset the losses* on run-down rural services. The Commonwealth government controls the railways of Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and parts of the transcontinental line. Private freight lines convey iron ore, sugar, coal, and other goods to the nearest ports. Trams served the larger cities until buses replaced them by the 1960s – except in Melbourne, where trains still run along broad streets laid out in a grid pattern.

Australia's busiest ports are Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Hay Point, Dampier, and Port Hedland. The last three of these are occupied primarily with carrying mineral exports.

Australia originally depended on shipping for all contact with England, Europe, and other trading partners. In 1787–88, the fleet bringing the original convict settlers arrived after being eight months at sea. The travel time from England to Australia was cut to 60 days – a time set in 1871 by the Thermopylae, after clipper ships, including the famous Cutty Sark, had entered the Australian run. They mainly carried wool to Europe.

The airplane made connections with other countries much swifter. Qantas and Imperial Airways flew their first passengers to Britain in 1935. By the 1960s, ships to Southampton, Genoa, and San Francisco had carried their last passengers, though fleets of cruise ships** still ply*** the Australian waters.

Mercantile shipping is now dominated by the Australian National Line, established by the federal government in 1956. River transport is negligible in a land beset by droughts, sand-clogged channels, and the scarcity of navigable rivers.

Aviation solved the problem of Australia's vast internal distances and remoteness from overseas centers. In 1919, Keith and Ross Smith flew from England to Darwin in 28 days. The first flight across the Pacific, from California to Brisbane, was completed in 1928 by Charles Kingsford-Smith, after whom Sydney's airport is named. Such exploits made Australians air-conscious and promoted the domestic market. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (Qantas) was founded in 1920. It became the nation's flagship carrier after being nationalized by the federal government in 1947. Its safety record is unmatched.

Thirty overseas carriers now serve Australia, mostly under bilateral agreements which give Qantas reciprocal landing rights. Domestic airline services were controlled between 1952 and 1987 by a two-airline policy. This maintained a regulated monopoly on interstate routes, with the government airline (Australian Airlines) in sole direct competition with one private airline (Ansett). Remote outposts have been served by the Royal Flying Doctor Service since 1928, using aerial ambulances, radio and landline networks, and mobile clinics. The School of the Air for outback children began in 1951 by using the same two-way radio transmitters.

Notes: *to offset the losses – возмещать убытки

**cruise ship – круизное судно

***to ply – курсировать