AN Tasrail was an Australian railway operator that operated the Tasmanian rail network from March 1978 until November 2004. Originally a subsidiary of the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

's Australian National, it was sold to

Australian Transport Network Australian Transport Network (ATN) was a freight railway operator in Australia that commenced operating in November 1997. The company operated narrow gauge trains in Tasmania and standard gauge trains in New South Wales and Victoria. It was for ...

(ATN) in November 1997. ATN was acquired by

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Federal, New South Wales and Victorian Governments) were combined with Freig ...

in 2004 and the AN Tasrail subsidiary was later acquired by the Tasmanian Government in 2009 to become TasRail.

History

Until March 1978, the

Tasmanian Government Railways The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the Rail transport in Tasmania, mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorp ...

had operated the state mainline railways since 1890, and had amassed a large and prosperous network over that time, albeit ahead of continued financial losses and the dwindling of freight and passenger workings up into the 1970s. The

Tasmanian ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Federal Governments entered into an agreement for the transfer of the Tasmanian railways to Australian National on 1 July 1975, but the Tasmanian Transport Commission's Railways Branch retained responsibility for administering and operating the system as an agent for Australian National, until the latter assumed full control on 1 March 1978. In November 1997, as part of the privatisation of Australian National, AN Tasrail was sold to

, a partnership of New Zealand-based

Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main Rail transport in New Zealand, rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. History The New Zealand ...

and United States railroad Wisconsin Central.Background – Organisation of Australia's Railways
Department of Infrastructure & Regional DevelopmentAustralian Transport Network/Pacific National
Tasmanian Government Archives In April 1998 Tasrail purchased Tasmania's only other rail operator, the

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount L ...

in the state's north-west from

Pasminco Pasminco was an Australian mining company founded in 1988. It was placed in voluntary administration in September 2001 with its assets sold in stages until 2004 when the remaining assets were spun-off to Zinifex. History Pasminco was establish ...

. In February 2004, the company was purchased by

, owned by

Patrick Corporation Patrick Corporation is an Australian seaport operator with operations in Brisbane, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, it is owned by Brookfield Asset Management and Qube Holdings. History ...

and Tranz Rail owner Toll Holdings. In 2009 the operations were taken over by TasRail.

Operations

The main cargo carried by AN Tasrail was cement, which is carried from Railton to the port at Devonport. Other major commodities carried were coal, logs, containers and newsprint. Passenger services ceased in June 1978. The Australian National green and yellow livery was adopted in 1980. Upon privatisation, the Wisconsin Central's maroon and yellow livery was adopted. This was retained during the period of Pacific National ownership.

Rolling Stock

AN Tasrail inherited all of the

rolling stock. No new locomotives were ordered, but second-hand locomotives purchased, some of which were for parts only.

Former Tasmanian Government Railways locomotives

* V class * X class * Y class *4 Z class *6 Za class

Australian National purchases

*20 830 class transferred from Australian National from 1980 *16 ZB class former

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

2350/ 2370 class English Electric locomotives purchased in 1987 *45 ZC class former

1300 class English Electric locomotives purchased in 1988

Australian Transport Network purchases

*12 rebuilt

1460 Year 1460 (Roman numerals, MCDLX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1460th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 460th year of the 2nd millennium ...

/ 1502 class DQ class locomotives *3 rebuilt

1460 QR class locomotives *2 rebuilt

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respons ...

D class locomotives with cabs similar to the New Zealand DXR class *1 New Zealand DC class locomotive

Former Emu Bay Railway locomotives

*4 10 class *7 11 class11 Class
Rail Tasmania

References

{{s-end Defunct railway companies of Australia Former government-owned companies of Australia Rail transport in Tasmania History of transport in Tasmania