History of Transport in Australia Timeline

By -Zoe Fong - 7 AR

Train

Plane

Car

Walking - Pre 1788

Before colonisation, Aboriginal Australians used to walk around barefoot whilst hunting, gathering and doing other everyday activities. Archaeologists have found around five different footwear types/foot protection. Emu feathers or hairstring kadaitcha were the materials used to make most of these shoes by Aboriginal Australians. Other than having shoes most aboriginal people walked barefooted as they were very nomadic and would travel a lot. Walking with shoes however would have helped them whilst doing these every day activities as there would have been many dangerous things such as sharp rocks, sticks and animals and incects.

Canoe - Pre 1788

Prior to the colonisation Australian Aboriginals used to use the bark or skin from the trees in the area to make canoes in order the fish and travel. Some of the trees used were paper bark trees and eucalyptus trees. In order to choose the right type of bark and the most buoyant they would use different types of bark and test which ones would float better this let them choose the right types of trees to make the canoes.

Horse back & Carriage - 1803

The first horse to arrive in Australia was in 1803, and soon after carriages were made to transport mainly people to different areas and served as a faster way to travel. However there weren't many roads back then therefore it was harder to move around without the risk of knocking something or someone over.

Steam Trains - Sep 12th 1854

On September 12th 1854 the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay rail way company opened Australia's first steam railway line in Melbourne. The railway would help move people and goods between the port and the city quickly. The steam engine was made by Melbourne’s Robertson, Martin and Smith Engineering Works this was

Car - 1896

The First Australian made car was made in 1896 by Herbet Thamson and Edward Holmes of Aranadale, Melbourne it was called the Phaeton. The car were mainly used to carry people and served as a form of transport. The materials of the exterior were mainly wood and the seats were red in colour.

Plane - July 16th 1910

On July the 16th 1910 Jhon Duigan made a short first flight of the Australian built plane at Mia Mia, Victoria in his very own designed and built plane. It was proposed for military purposes, however the true use wasn't stated.

Metro Train - May 26th 2019

On May the 26th 2019 metro trains were rolled out in Australia which is Australia's most technologically advanced railway, and is Australia's only full accessible, driverless train service.

EV Cars - 2008

Australia's first EV (electric vehicle) was on the roads in 2008 however it didn't gain much attention till 2011 when more different models were released.

The first plane flying in the sky - Australia

Antonov An - 225 - May 16th 2016

Since the first plane in Australia which could only carry 1 person it has changed in order to suit various needs, one of these was to carry heavy loads and to seat more passengers. The Antonov An - 225 is Australia's largest plane which can carry 444 people however it's used for transporting large cargo and heavy shipsments world wide.

Driverless cars - 2030 (ZOE2)

It's predicted that Australia will get an automated car by about 2030 however it hasn't been made clear whether Australia will be taking part in the production of these cars. Even so, Australia currently has 1 fully automated car which was made in France.

Trains and rails

Although the set date isn;t stated, the australian government wants so make a high speed rail way which would connect Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and regional communities across south east Australia.

The Ghost Bat - Work in progress

The ghost bat is currently a work in progress running under the royal wingman program, in the Australian Air force, they are testing a fully automotive plane in hopes that this will help the air force when carrying out specific tasks.