The access road for the Trans Australia Railway runs from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Glendambo in South Australia, a distance of 1385 kilometres.

The Trans Access Road is the service road for pastoral stations between Kalgoorlie and Rawlinna. Western Australian pastoral stations east of Rawlinna are serviced from the south.

In Western Australia it is on the south side of the railway and continues on this alignment until Barton in South Australia. From Kalgoorlie it is about 100 metres distant from the railway. East of Rawlinna it is immediately adjacent to the railway.

Telstra Track

Telstra made an access track when they installed their communication link for the railway. This is about 50-80 metres south of the railway and east of Rawlinna it is only viable option as the Trans Access Road degrades and, more importantly, becomes closely aligned with the railway.

On a few occasions the Telstra Track melds into the Trans Access Road and it is necessary to go cross country to get away from the railway.

The Telstra Track hasn’t been maintained and is in very poor condition. It is very tempting to use the track alongside the railway – don’t do it.

Fuel/Water/Phone

Kalgoorlie
641 km
Forrest (about a 50% premium on Kalgoorlie prices)
718km
Kingoonya (card operated pump behind hotel)

Water is available at Rawlinna and Forrest.

End to end Telstra connectivity.

Use of the Access Road

There is a lot of chatter on various websites, forums and groups about permission to use the Trans Access Road. If only the layout of the two tracks that follow the railway was better explained the answer would be clearer.

From Kalgoorlie to Rawlinna there is no issue in using the gravel road that parallels the railway.

The discussion about using the Trans Access Road only comes into contention east of Rawlinna. Most, if not all, of the discussion is totally irrelevant because it is unwise in the extreme to use the road east of Rawlinna for these reasons:

It is littered with dog spikes and other metal nasties and you WILL get a puncture and/or damage your vehicle/bike.

It is immediately adjacent to the railway and any loose straps from the railway trucks flailing about (happens) could have devastating consequences.

The owners/managers of the Trans Access Road, ARTC, state that they don’t want travellers/tourists driving on it.

Telstra has built a track parallel (sort of) to the south of the railway. It is crap but there is no issue in using it. When you are bouncing around at 10 km/h –  suck it up. Stay on this track.  You will get to your destination.

Sidings of the Trans Australia Railway.

There is more distance and timing information on the Trans Australian Railway Access Road on the Wells and Tracks website.

My Road Trips that used the Trans Access Road:

West of the Nullarbor
Trains, Planes and 4WDs
Into the Great Victoria Desert
Spinifex Range
Red Centre Tour
Boating on the Nullarbor
Caves and Cliffs