Railways of Australia


Railways of Australia was an association of railways operators. It was established in November 1963 when the government railway operators of Australia and New Zealand decided to unite to promote the industry on a national scale.
The initial members were the Commonwealth Railways, New South Wales Government Railways, New Zealand Railways Department, Queensland Railways, South Australian Railways, Tasmanian Government Railways, Victorian Railways and Western Australian Government Railways. Headquartered in Melbourne, it also maintained a sales office in London, England.
With most of the government operators privatised in the 1990s, it morphed into the Australasian Railway Association.
When the Indian Pacific passenger train that was jointly operated by four operators was launched in 1970, its carriages carried ROA branding.

Publication

Beginning in June 1964, the ROA published Network. Initially published monthly, in the 1980s it became quarterly. In January 1997 it was renamed Network Rail, becoming a bi-monthly publication. Publication ended in June 1999.