The railways of Australasia are almost without exception government-owned systems, a feature of many newly developed countries where private capital is not easily available to construct new railways, which must be built before the hinterland is settled and brought into agricultural production. The first line was, however, opened as a result of private enterprise in 1854 in the vicinity of Melbourne, Victoria ; almost all the private lines in Victoria were taken over by the government in 1878 and form the nucleus of the Victorian Govern ment system centring on Melbourne. By 1910 the State possessed nearly
route miles of 5ft. 3in. gauge acquired or constructed at an average cost of 112,550 per mile. The Victorian Railways connect at Albury with the New South Wales 4ft. 81in. gauge system, dating back to 1855, from which date practically all rail way mileage in this State has been government owned ; thus all goods by rail between Melbourne and Sydney or the North must be transhipped. In 1910 the New South Wales system consisted of 3,65o route miles, having cost 113,430 per mile on the average. The N.S.W. railway network is based on Sydney; besides serving Newcastle and Canberra, it also makes contact with the South Australia system at Broken Hill, and in the north runs through Queensland territory into Brisbane. The mileage of the 3ft. 6in. Queensland Govt. railways is very great per head of population and consists of a long coast line route between Brisbane and Cairns, with long westward branches to Cloncurry, Winton and Quilpie. The first line was opened in Queensland in 1865. Ex change traffic with the New South Wales system is transhipped either at Brisbane or at Wallangarra. The Queensland route mileage in 1920 was 3,66o and had cost 16,648 per mile, but the mileage has since been extended to over 6,600. The South Australian Government railways possess mileages of line built to the 5ft. Sin. and the 3ft. 6in. gauges, and in 1910 the former extended to over 600 and the latter to over 1,300 route miles; as illustrating the difference in cost created by the variation in gauge, the former cost 111,136 per mile and the latter only 15,892 per mile. The earliest line in South Australia was opened in 1856 at Adelaide, in the neighbourhood of which city the lines are of the broader gauge, while the northern lines are of the nar row gauge. The main tranship point between the two gauges is at Terowie and at Broken Hill with the New South Wales lines,— there being no break of gauge between Adelaide and Melbourne.
From Port Augusta in South Australia the 4ft. 81in. standard gauge Transaustralian line, built and operated by the Common wealth, runs westwards to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, through traffic being operated in 1917 over this I,050 mile line, which possesses a stretch of zoo miles without a curve. At both termini there is a break of gauge, for Kalgoorlie is on the 3ft. 6in. Western Australian system, the first line of which was opened in 1871 at Locksville. Perth did not obtain railway facilities until 1881. The early railways due to private enterprise were acquired by the Government in 1896, although there remain two private company railways, namely the Jarrah Belt and the Midland Rail way Companies' lines, also of 3ft. 6in. gauge in Western Aus tralia. By 1910 the Western Australian Govt. owned and operated 2,144 route miles which had cost 15,305 per mile, but since then the mileage has increased to over 5,000. In North Australia exists
a 3ft. 6in. gauge railway running southwards from Darwin towards Daly Waters, constructed for development purposes and owned and operated by the Commonwealth. Presumably this line will gradually be extended in the form of a north to south trans continental track to join the 3ft. 6in. Oodnadatta Railway already owned by the Commonwealth, which now runs from Port Augusta to Alice Springs. The problem of the Australian railways is pri marily one of a difference of gauges, for transhipment of pas sengers and freight is expensive, not only in money but in time.
Tasmania possesses a Govt. owned 3ft. 6in. gauge system of 65o route miles centred on Hobart, though this city obtained its first railway in 1876, five years after Launceston, the other Tasmanian port. The Government acquired the Launceston and Western Railway in 1872 and by 1910 the system had grown to 445 miles and had cost 18,86o per mile. There also exists in Tasmania the small Emu Bay Railway. The New Zealand Government Railway system, which adopted the 3ft. 6in. gauge in 1869, extends to 3,500m. divided between the North and South Islands, in both of which the first railways were opened in the '6os. It was not until 1895 that the policy of State ownership became pro nounced; since then the State system has absorbed all railways of importance in New Zealand. The New Zealand railways prove a difficult operating problem in that many of their lines are un connected and heavy expenditure and difficult construction work will be required to weld the system together, although much prog ress has been made since the war period 1914-18. Having to trav erse mountain ranges, the railways have had to construct long tunnels and to operate over very heavy gradients.
In Great Britain and many other coun tries statistics are regularly published concerning the number of accidents occurring from the operation of railways. In general the casualties are divided into those suffered by passengers or employees and fatal or non-fatal accidents. Additionally, in Great Britain legislation (see Section D) has been passed ordering the railways to report accidents occurring to trains, but not necessarily resulting in injury to persons; and enquiries are held by Govern ment Inspecting Officers, primarily in order to make recommenda tions to the railways so that similar occurrences may, so far as is possible, be avoided in the future. Great care must be exercised in any comparison between the railway accident statistics of vari ous countries, the basis of compilation being different in almost every case, while frequently accidents which are reportable in one country would not be reportable in another. Difficulties also arise as to whether accidents between road vehicles and railway trains, as for instance at level crossings, should be included in the statistics of railway accidents or not. In certain countries figures are also available which show the casualties incurred not as a result of railway operation but which have taken place on rail way property. In dealing with statistics of railway accidents the number of casualties should also be studied in relation to the amount of work done in the movement of passengers or freight, taking as an index the number of passengers or tons of goods carried in any one year, or the number of train miles operated by the railway.