and
830 class at
Mount Gambier in April 1995
GM class in Australian National livery in April 2008
AN class in Australian National livery in
Newport in May 2008 The commission was established following an election commitment made during the
1972 federal election by the
Whitlam federal government. The Whitlam government invited the state governments to hand over their railway systems to the federal government. On 1 July 1975, the Australian National Railways Commission took over responsibility for the operations of the federal government owned
Commonwealth Railways and branded itself Australian National Railways. The state governments of
South Australia and
Tasmania, whose railway systems were deeply in debt, accepted. During the next two years, following discussions between the two states and the federal government new staffing and operating agreements enabled the transfer in March 1978 of all
South Australian Railways services (except the
Adelaide metropolitan passenger network) and all
Tasmanian Government Railways services to Australian National Railways, the latter being branded
AN Tasrail. Overnight, Australian National Railways went from an organisation with 4000 employees operating routes of just over – 20 per cent of Australia's rail network – to just over 12,000 employees operating . Reflecting the persistence of three mainline gauges that had afflicted Australia since 1865, the total comprised of
broad gauge, of
standard gauge and of
narrow gauge track. Australian National Railways was a federal government owned corporation and in 1978, the
Fraser government made it clear it was expected to achieve a financial break-even point during the next 10 years. This decision was unique in Australia's railway history because with the exception of
Commonwealth Railways, all the state systems were running at a loss, being financially supported by their respective governments. The commission appointed a professional engineer with overseas experience as General Manager in a break from the traditional railway practice of making such appointments from within the organisations. The commission's first corporate plan in 1979 set out six ways that the commission was to pursue if it was to survive. These were: • concentrating its marketing drive on bulk traffic, inter-capital freight and major city freight • seeking agreement to cease services where there is little or no demand for the services • rationalisation of services and withdrawal of services not effectively demanded • implement technological changes in all areas of railway operation particularly track maintenance • acquire larger and more efficient locomotives and rolling stock to operate trains at maximum capacity • pursue a vigorous policy directed towards staff reductions and more efficient use of manpower In 1980, a delegation of senior staff and led by the General Manager visited North America to examine current railway practices. In Canada, the delegation had talks with
Canadian National Railway (which like Australian National was government-owned) and
Canadian Pacific Railway. In the United States, contact was made with
Chessie System and
Southern Pacific Railroad. The areas looked at included marketing and pricing, finance and planning, engineering and staff training. On 12 March 1980, a new green and yellow corporate identity was launched with
GM1 the first locomotive painted. In October 1980, a new standard gauge line from
Tarcoola to
Alice Springs opened replacing the narrow gauge
Central Australia Railway which closed in December 1980. In December 1982, the
Adelaide to Crystal Brook line was converted to standard gauge. Ownership of the
Queanbeyan to
Canberra railway line was transferred to the
State Rail Authority in May 1985. ==Locomotives==