The missing link in Australia’s rail network was finished yesterday with the final weld on the 1,420km Alice Springs to Darwin line. It joins up with an existing line to Adelaide, establishing a 3,000km new trade route and completing a national rail network linking all of Australia’s main cities. The US$865 million project included construction of 90 bridges. The first freight services is due to leave Adelaide on 15 January, arriving in Darwin two days later.