What is The Ghan train?
The Ghan is a famous passenger train that runs between Adelaide and Darwin, crossing the heart of Australia through Alice Springs. The full journey covers about 2,979 kilometres and takes several days.
The train's name comes from Afghan cameleers, who helped open up the outback in the 1800s by carrying supplies and building infrastructure with camels. Many came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The original Ghan ran from Adelaide to Oodnadatta, and later to Alice Springs from 1929, on a narrow-gauge line often disrupted by floods. A new standard-gauge line to Alice Springs opened in 1980, and the extension to Darwin was completed in 2004.
The journey
Today the Ghan is run as a luxury tourist experience by Journey Beyond. Passengers stop for off-train excursions, such as visits to Katherine Gorge, Alice Springs and Coober Pedy.
The train can stretch for more than a kilometre when fully loaded with carriages, restaurant cars and lounges, and passengers sleep in private cabins as it travels through deserts, gorges and tropical woodlands.
For many Australians and overseas visitors, the Ghan is a bucket-list trip, offering a slow way to appreciate the size and variety of the continent. The service usually runs mainly in the cooler months, with fewer departures in the northern wet season.
Did You Know?
The Ghan's emblem shows an Afghan cameleer on a camel.