AN Tasrail was an Australian railway company that operated the Tasmanian rail network from March 1978 until November 2004. Originally a subsidiary of the federal government-owned Australian National, it was sold to Australian Transport Network (ATN) in November 1997. ATN was acquired by Pacific National in 2004 and the AN Tasrail subsidiary was later acquired by the Tasmanian Government in 2009 to become TasRail.
History
Until March 1978, the Tasmanian Government Railways had operated the state mainline railways since 1890, and had amassed a large and prosperous network over that time, albeit ahead of continued financial losses and the dwindling of freight and passenger workings up into the 1970s.
The Tasmanian and Federal Governments entered into an agreement for the transfer of the Tasmanian railways to Australian National on 1 July 1975, but the Tasmanian Transport Commission's Railways Branch retained responsibility for administering and operating the system as an agent for Australian National, until the latter assumed full control on 1 March 1978.
In November 1997, as part of the privatisation of Australian National, AN Tasrail was sold to Australian Transport Network, a partnership of New Zealand-based Tranz Rail and United States railroad Wisconsin Central.[1]