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The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. It includes a 478 kilometre stretch of dead-straight track, the world's longest, between the 797 km post west of Ooldea and the 1275 km post west of Loongana.〔(Longest Straight Section of Railway Line in the World ) Australian Book of Records〕 The line forms an important freight route between Western Australia and the eastern states. Currently two passenger services also use the line, the ''Indian Pacific'' for its entire length and ''The Ghan'' between Port Augusta and Tarcoola. Earlier passenger services on the route were known as the ''Great Western Express''. ==History== In 1901, the six Australian colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. At that time, Perth, the capital of Western Australia, was isolated from the remaining Australian States by thousands of miles of desert terrain and the only practicable method of transport was by sea, a time-consuming, inconvenient and often uncomfortable voyage across the Great Australian Bight, a stretch of water known for rough seas. One of the inducements held out to Western Australians to join the new federation was the promise of a federally funded railway line linking Western Australia with the rest of the continent. In 1907 legislation was passed, allowing for the route to be surveyed. The survey was completed in 1909 and proposed a route from Port Augusta (the existing railhead at the head of Spencer Gulf in South Australia's wheatfields) via Tarcoola to the gold mining centre of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, a distance of 1063 miles (1711 km). The line was to be to the standard gauge of , even though the state railway systems at both ends were narrow gauge at the time. Its cost was estimated at £4,045,000. Legislation authorising the construction was passed in December 1911 by the Andrew Fisher Government and Commonwealth Railways was established in 1912 to build the line. Work commenced in September 1912 in Port Augusta. Work proceeded eastwards from Kalgoorlie and westwards from Port Augusta through the years of the First World War. By 1915, the two ends of the line were just over apart with materials being delivered daily. Construction progressed steadily as the line was extended through dry and desolate regions until the two halves of the line met on 17 October 1917.〔Chambers, T.F. (1968) ''The Golden Jubilee of the Trans Australian Railway'' Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin November, 1968 pp267-275〕 The entire intercity route was not converted to standard gauge until 1970. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Trans-Australian Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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