The Ghan The Ghan The Ghan is an Australian passenger train service between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin railway. Operated by Great Southern Rail, it takes 54 hours to travel the with a four-hour stopover in Alice Springs. The service's name is an abbreviated version of its previous nickname, "The Afghan Express". The nickname is reputed to have been bestowed in 1923 by one of its crews. Some suggest the train's name honours Afghan camel drivers who arrived in Australia in the late 19th century to help the British colonisers find a way to reach the country's interior. A
The Ghan in January 1891. Work on the extension to Alice Springs began in 1926, and was completed in 1929. Until then, the final leg of the train journey was still made by camel. Although there were plans from the beginning to extend the line to Darwin, by the time the extension to Alice Springs had been completed, "The Ghan" was losing money and the plans for further extension to Darwin were suspended indefinitely. The original Ghan line followed the same track as the overland telegraph, which is believed to be the route taken by John McDouall Stuart during his 1862 crossing