Trans Australian Railway Access Road.

Permits to enter the Woomera Prohibited Area are readily available, but ONLY when you have permission to use the roads involved first.
The Stuart Highway is exempt, as are a couple of other roads.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Can the Ghan line north from Tarcoola to where it meets up with the Stuart Highway north of Coober Pedy be driven? I'd love to drive the maintenance track.

The short answer is no. You might get permission to use some of it if it is the only option to get somewhere else that you can go.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

Thanks Peter.. sounds like a plan.

ARTC will not even reply to enquiries on entry to the West or North. I even had a mate who is an ARTC employee enquire and he was told no!

ARTC have nothing to to with the north line from Tarcoola. That's owned by Aurizon.

From memory there is no public access to the trans railway road between the top of the intersection with Googs track and Haigh to the west.
When we enquired years ago we were told that no public access was allowed, one of the reasons given was people in trouble flagging down trains for assistance due to breakdowns.
That being said these days there is Telstra phone access the full length of the trans line.
We were also told that trains would report any vehicles spotted.

All of the trains that passed me spotted my vehicle.. There was much enthusiastic tooting of air horns and warm waves out the driver's window - both returned in kind. So good.

As I said that was years ago so obviously things have changed, maybe different mob responsible for the line these days.
As what happened years ago it only takes a few to flag a train down because of a breakdown and the powers that be will close it again as it is a private road not a public one.

One of the interesting points (legally) - as regards any of the rail line reservations in W.A., anyway - (I can't speak for areas outside W.A.), is that the railway reserve boundaries are plotted precisely on the W.A. Land Titles system (run by Landgate).
You can view the Railway Reserve title boundaries on the Landgate Mapviewer.

If you are on the Railway Reserve without the rail authority authorisation, you are technically trespassing.

However, the Trans Line Access road meanders all over the place, as with many original tracks. This road does not sit 100% within the Railway Reserve boundaries, between Kalgoorlie and the W.A. - S.A. border.

I would not be surprised if the situation is the same in S.A.
So, as a result, for many, many kms of the Trans Access road, you are most certainly NOT trespassing on the Railway Reserve, you are driving on Unallocated Crown Land, or Pastoral Leases.

The Trans Access road is NOT a surveyed and gazetted road, unlike 99% of the roads in W.A. It is a "public" road in legal terms, because the public can easily access it.
It has no gates on it, nor any warning signage to say it is a private road, and no warnings to the public to stop at any point - unlike the heavily patrolled private iron ore lines access roads in the North of W.A.

In fact, Trans Access road signage states the condition of the road for public useage (with regard to weather events).
When the pandemic started, and during several severe bushfire events that closed Highway One, the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council actually pushed for the upgrade and sealing of the Trans Access road to an all-weather highway status.

https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/seal-trans-access-road-to-stop-wa-being-cut-off-from-nation-odonnell-ng-b881430646z

The Trans Access road has been used for many, many years for road haulage of lime from Loongana, Nth of Rawlinna.

As a result, any Rail Authority that has control of the Trans Line, in trying to legally enforce a trespass charge against Trans Access road users, would have to produce a certified copy of the Land Title outlining the Railway Reserve precise boundaries, and also produce a verified precise location and identification of your vehicle at the particular date and time of trespass, to be able to sustain a trespass charge.

And at the the end of the day, you only have to produce a lawful reason for your incursion onto the Railway Reserve to be able to beat the trespass charge.

Besides the previous reasons outlined, as regards a Rail Authority stopping you from using the Rail Reserve, the other simple reason Trans Access road use is discouraged is because of drug trafficking, and if you use the Trans Access line, don't be surprised if you come across a W.A. Police road block carrying out vehicle inspections.

Finally, the MAJOR reason why any Rail Authority is down on the use of their access roads that run alongside rail lines for maintenance purposes, is the problem of idiots with 4WD's TRYING TO CROSS rail lines, at points where there is NO DEDICATED ROAD-RAIL CROSSING point.

These idiots then get stuck on the rail line, and the eventual crash between their stuck vehicle and a rail vehicle is almost inevitable.
I won't even go into the amount an event like that would cost an offender, but I can assure them, they'll lose everything they own, if they're stupid enough to initiate an event like that.

Cheers, Ron.

Superb information Ron.. thank you for taking the time to provide all of that so clearly and well laid out.. Much appreciated.

The rail reserve is up to a kilometer either side of the rail

From Kalgoorlie to Bulong, the Railway Reserve is only 50 metres wide. From Bulong to the W.A. - S.A. border, the regular width of the Railway Reserve is 400 metres.

The Trans line is invariably in the centre of this Reserve. However, there are a number of places along the line where ARTC own blocks of land that can extend quite a distance from the line.

Most of these blocks of ARTC land that adjoin the line, are relatively short in distance along the line, though.

https://map-viewer-plus.app.landgate.wa.gov.au/

If you open the Landgate Mapviewer and zoom in on the Trans line, you will see the land title boundaries delineated. Clicking inside a set of lines brings up the boundaries of that particular land title, in green, with folio and plan number, and the Local Govt body that charges rates on that land title.

You will find the Trans line Railway Reserve is broken up into sections, each with a different title, but with most of the Reserve titles comprising around 3,500 Ha each. There are some variations in title sizes for the Railway Reserve.

Cheers, Ron.

To Ron N... I got quite a bit out of that; many thanks.

But... re "These idiots then get stuck on the rail line, and the eventual crash between their stuck vehicle and a rail vehicle is almost inevitable", I cant recall a single incident of such a thing ever in the press in the context of a TARL 4WD traveler occurence...?.

An example incident please.

Cheers. JB.

Hi John - Correct, there has never been a rail collision of this type on the Trans line, involving a traveller on the access road, that I can recall. It appears that all travelers along the Trans line access road are cluey and well prepared.

However, there have been numerous other examples of this style of collision in other States.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMS5BtEZsUE

It's difficult to find multiple examples of this type of crash, due to news items being deleted from the 'net after a few years, and also because of subscriber blocks. But here's one that happened on the Adelaide-Darwin line.

Train-4WD crash

Cheers, Ron.

Hi Jack,

Thanks for the tip. We intend travelling all the way to Kalgoorlie.

Regards,
Macca.

Hi John S122,

Thank you for your succinct and candid response, I will keep it in mind.

Macca.

So why does the sign in this article state "Trans Access Road - Open to All Vehicles"?

If the Shire of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has enough control over the Trans Access road - to the point where they install a sign advising motorists of road conditions, then that makes it a "public road", under Western Australian legal definitions.

https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/kalgoorlie-miner/seal-trans-access-road-to-stop-wa-being-cut-off-from-nation-odonnell-ng-b881430646z

Cheers, Ron.

"So why does the sign in this article state "Trans Access Road - Open to All Vehicles"?"

John said, "Travel is only permitted in . . . and in WA from Kalgoorlie as far as Haig"

The council may have control of the road as far as Haig. However, they have no authority to allow people to trespass on land owned by others. I suggest you ask the council to answer your question and not the forum members.