The Ghan

The Ghan

The Ghan at Alice Springs in July 2015
Overview
Service type	Transcontinental passenger rail
Status	Operating
Locale	Australia
First service	1929
Current operator(s)	Great Southern Rail
Former operator(s)	Commonwealth Railways Australian National
Route
Start	Adelaide
End	Darwin
Distance travelled	2,979 km (1,851 mi)
Service frequency	1 per week 2 per week (May–Aug)
Line used	Adelaide–Darwin railway
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Yes
Sleeping arrangements	Yes
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Route map

Route map

The Ghan
Darwin Katherine Tennant Creek Alice Springs Kulgera Northern Territory South Australia border Chandler Marla Coober Pedy (Manguri) Indian Pacific from Perth Indian Pacific to Perth Tarcoola Kingoonya Pimba Port Augusta Indian Pacific to Sydney Coonamia near Port Pirie Adelaide

The Ghan is an Australian passenger train service between Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin railway. Operated by Great Southern Rail, it takes 54 hours to travel the 2,979 kilometres (1,851 mi) with a four-hour stopover in Alice Springs.

The service's name is an abbreviated version of its previous nickname The Afghan Express. This nickname is reputed to have been bestowed in 1923 by one of its crews. The train's name honours Afghan camel drivers who arrived in Australia in the late 19th century to help find a way to reach the country's unexplored interior.

A contrary view is that the name was a veiled insult. In 1891, the railway from Quorn reached remote Oodnadatta where an itinerant population of around 150 cameleers were based, generically called 'Afghans'. 'The Ghan Express' name originated with train crews in the 1890s as a taunt to officialdom because, when an expensive sleeping car was put on from Quorn to Oodnadatta, 'on the first return journey the only passenger was an Afghan', mocking its commercial viability. By as early as 1924, because of the notorious unreliability of this fortnightly steam train, European pastoralists commonly called it 'in ribald fashion The Afghan Express'. By 1951, when steam engines were replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, this disparaging derivation, like the cameleers, had faded away. Modern marketing has completed the name turnabout.

The Ghan was privatised in 1997 and is operated by Great Southern Rail, initially as part of the Serco Group. GSR was sold to Allegro Funds, a Sydney investment fund, in March 2015.

The Ghan normally runs weekly year-round. During December 2012 and January 2013 it ran only once every two weeks. Until 2016, a second service operated between June and September. In addition to Adelaide, Alice Springs, and Darwin, the train also makes a stop at Katherine. The stops at Katherine and Alice Springs allow time for optional tours.