Trains of Thought: An Introduction to Australian Mobility

Abstract

The various roles railways played in laying the foundations and ground rules of contemporary mobility are analysed. Rail in leading the shift away from animated mobility, transformed the relationship, as expressed in mobility, between space and time. It led to the re-urbanisation of cities and to new forms of quotidian documentation such as railway timetables and tickets. These impacts were exported across the globe to such European outposts as Australia, where rail assisted national development and the growth of cities and regional centres. As elsewhere in the world, in the second half of the twentieth century rail experienced intense competition from the automobile and from the aeroplane, and almost became obsolete as a mode of transport. In the face of the need to ‘brand’ Sydney and attract global capital, NSW Transport’s programme of renovating rail, especially intra-urban rail, is examined.

Keywords: Automobility, mobile communities, mobility theory, modernisation, railways, Sydney Trains, suburbanisation, public transport.

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