in Macquarie Point was the first mainline diesel-electric locomotive purchased by an Australian government railway system railmotor, operated by the
Tasmanian Transport Museum, approaches New Town station diesel shunting locomotive as used in Tasmania
Routes A railway line was opened between
Deloraine and
Launceston on 10 February 1871 by the private
Launceston & Western Railway, on the basis of debt guarantees from landowners who stood to benefit. The line went bankrupt in 1872 and was taken over by the
Government of Tasmania on 31 October 1873, which then attempted to recover the debt from the guarantors, leading to civil unrest. On 1 March 1876, another private railway, the
Tasmanian Main Line Company, which was guaranteed by the
Government of Tasmania, opened a narrow gauge line from
Hobart to
Evandale, near Launceston. On 15 April 1901 the Devonport line was extended to
Burnie, connecting with the
Emu Bay Railway's
Melba line to
Zeehan, which was completed on 21 December 1900.
Principal branch lines • Mole Creek Line – A branch line was opened from Deloraine (Lemana Junction) to
Mole Creek on 5 April 1890. This line closed on 6 February 1985. •
Bell Bay line, built between Launceston and
Bell Bay opening on 17 May 1974 to access the industries established there, including shipping.
Emu Bay Railway The earlier lines of the
West Coast, Tasmania were independent of the main Tasmanian Railway system when built, but most connected to the
Melba line. The
North Mount Lyell railway line and a few other smaller lines were not connected to the Melba line. The
Emu Bay Railway was purchased by
Australian Transport Network on 22 May 1998, thus merging that line with the remainder of the system that company then operated. Today known as the Melba line, it was excluded from the 2007 lease arrangement.
Operators Historically, all the mainline railways were operated by the
Tasmanian Government Railways, which was absorbed into the
Australian National in March 1978 and renamed
Tasrail. In November 1997, TasRail was sold to the
Australian Transport Network, a partnership of New Zealand-based
Tranz Rail and United States railroad
Wisconsin Central. This sale also included a 50-year lease of the Crown land on which the Tasmanian railway network was situated. Tasrail was granted the exclusive right to use and occupy the land, but owned the infrastructure situated on that land and was obliged to maintain at its own cost. That was alarming, because a shut-down of all rail services would result in thousands more trucks on already busy roads. Initially, neither the federal or state government acted on the issue. Later, the state infrastructure minister
Bryan Green and his federal counterpart, transport minister
Warren Truss, announced a $120 million rescue package, designed to ensure that Pacific National would continue operation in the state. In May 2007, the Tasmanian Government, the Federal Government and Pacific National came to an agreement regarding the funding, ownership and operation of the Tasmanian railway network. The Government of Tasmania would acquire the railway infrastructure previously leased to Pacific National. Pacific National would continue to provide rail services on the network. The Federal Government's
AusLink program provided $78 million in funding for capital works. The Tasmanian Government also agreed to provide $4 million funding each year for maintenance. ==Rolling stock==