For anyone wanting more information on rail travel in various parts of the world, there's always The Man In Seat Sixty-One, a (somewhat UK-centric) one-stop information shop for rail buffs and travellers with an aversion to air travel.
I'm sure it does have to do with mining. Though wasn't cheaper transport for imported goods (ship to Darwin then train, rather than ship to Sydney/Melbourne) another economic rationale?
The passenger rationale was obviously an afterthought, given that there aren't any stations other than the termini and Alice Springs. (I wonder if it has the longest uninterrupted stretch of track used by passenger trains in the world.) Having said that, I would like to travel on this line at some stage.
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<rant> I guess they don't think about the adelaide darwin like we do. It was quite obvious from the start to 'those in the know' that it was actually built as a freight train - the reason it exists is to make the middle of Australia more attractive to mining interests - in particular Uranium miners.
Carting all that ore or even refined product by truck is annoying, whereas shipping it straight to Darwin port, as opposed to the significantly further away Adelaide, Perth, etc makes it cheaper. Also, less time on the boat as well.
Of course, it also makes the centre more a attractive place to dump other country's old used uranium waste as well, cos 'no one lives there anyway', and it's now cheap to get to.
It's similar to the concept of the newspaper - the consumer thinks it's there for them, but really it's there for big business.
Might I point you to the http://www.iratiwanti.org/ site. </rant>