Sale of Railways
In 1975 the Labor-controlled Federal Government led by Gough Whitlam proposed a nationalisation program for Australia’s railways. It was recognized at the time that Australia’s system of separate state-controlled railways led to unnecessary duplication of facilities and administration, inefficient operating practices, limited standardization, high costs and the lack of a uniform national approach to railway policy. Whitlam’s proposal aimed to address these issues.
South Australia and Tasmania were the only states which agreed to the nationalization plan (these were the two states controlled by state Labor governments at the time), and in South Australia’s case the transfer agreement only extended to railways outside the Adelaide suburban area.
On 1 July 1975 the Federal Government took over financial responsibility for the non-metropolitan railways in South Australia and reimbursed the South Australian government for operating deficits incurred after this time. After formation of the Rail Division on 8 December 1975, the STA continued to administer and operate all the ex-South Australian Railways (SAR) on behalf of the Federal government. This interim arrangement lasted for over two years while the precise details of the sale of S.A.’s railways were devised, disputed and re-negotiated, and the operating and management structures of the new Federal-controlled railway were put into place.
Eventually, on 1 March 1978 the responsibility for management of all South Australia’s non-metropolitan railways was transferred to the new Australian National Railways Commission. This included much of the former SAR infrastructure, rolling stock and staff.
The STA retained ownership and responsibility for all the suburban railway system around Adelaide, including the centrally-located Adelaide Railway Station, the entire fleet of Redhen railcars and two diesel locomotives. At the same time, March 1978, the separate Rail and Bus & Tram Divisions of the STA were combined into an integrated management structure.
Read more about this topic: State Transport Authority (South Australia)
Famous quotes containing the words sale of, sale and/or railways:
“I hate this shallow Americanism which hopes to get rich by credit, to get knowledge by raps on midnight tables, to learn the economy of the mind by phrenology, or skill without study, or mastery without apprenticeship, or the sale of goods through pretending that they sell, or power through making believe you are powerful, or through a packed jury or caucus, bribery and “repeating” votes, or wealth by fraud.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I keep thinking that what I need
to do is buy my leg back.
Surely it is for sale somewhere,
poor broken tool, poor ornament.
It might be in a store somewhere beside a lady’s scarf.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly. Ugliness is the measure of imperfection.”
—H.G. (Herbert George)