Re: Papua New Guinea Rail

[Peter Ware <pware@ozemail.com.au>]

rfm wrote:
> > > Has anyone seriously contenplated a railway line from Cairns to Port
> > > Moresby?
> >
> > No - for the very good reason that PNG would be the world's worst place
> > for railway construction. The same reason why the interior of the
> > country was still a question mark on the maps until the 1930s. The
> > mountain barriers were (and still largely are) impassable.
> >
> 
> From Bob McKillop:
> It is often a good idea to examine historical experience in order to find
> out what might possible work in future. With regard to railways in Papua
> New Guinea, my colleague Mike Pearson and myself have done this in our
> recently published book "End of the Line: a history of railways in Papua
> New Guinea" (UPNG Press, Port Moresby, 1997). We have documented 150
> different railways which have been constructed in the country over the
> years, together with the many hair-brained schemes to build grander
> railways.
> 
> In the end, our key conclusion it is not that it is technically difficult
> to build railways in the country, but that the state of political,
> institutional and economic development in the country is such that it
> would not be possible to manage the thing in an efficient and sustainable
> manner. Selection of the book title "end of the line" just about sums it
> all up.
> 
> If anyone is interested in the book, it is currently only available from
> UPNG Press, but we are trying to get stock for ARHS Sales in Sydney and
> LRRSA Sales in Melbourne. Reviews will appear in forthcoming issues of
> "Light Railways" and an ARHS publication.
> 

That amazes me - I don't doubt your scholarship, but I have never seen a
single map of PNG that had a railway line drawn on it. The lines must
have all be short (eg only a few miles in length). 

I agree that political, institutional and economic factors would be
major points against major railway construction in PNG.

Peter Ware