page_title: History of rail transport in Australia
section_title: Creating a standard gauge network
hierarchical_section_title: History of rail transport in Australia / Development of the national network / Creating a standard gauge network
caption_attribution_description: Grafton Bridge over Clarence River showing Bascule span lifted to let shipping through. "Southern Cross" aeroplane has been added to the photograph. State Library of NSW Call no.&#160;: BCP 06934
context_page_description: Australians generally assumed in the 1850s that railways would be built by the private sector. Private companies built railways in the then colonies of Victoria, opened in 1854, and New South Wales, where the company was taken over by the government before completion in 1855, due to bankruptcy. South Australia's railways were government owned from the beginning, including a horse-drawn line opened in 1854 and a steam-powered line opened in 1856. In Victoria, the private railways were soon found not to be financially viable, and existing rail networks and their expansion was taken over by the colony. Government ownership also enabled railways to be built to promote development, even if not apparently viable in strictly financial terms. The railway systems spread from the colonial capitals, except in cases where geography dictated a choice of an alternate port.
  Railways in Australia date from the 10 December 1831 when the Australian Agricultural Company officially opened Australia's first railway, located at the intersection of Brown and Church Streets, Newcastle, New South Wales.
context_section_description: In the 20th century, the different state rail systems became more integrated, initially creating more breaks of gauge. In 1917, the Federal Government's standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway was completed between Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta.  However, this required a break of gauge at Kalgoorlie to reach Perth and breaks of gauge at both Port Augusta and Terowie to reach Adelaide. In 1927, the last section of the Sydney–Broken Hill line was completed between Trida and Menindee meeting the South Australian Railways line at a break of gauge and requiring a further break of gauge at Terowie to reach Adelaide.
  In 1932 the first progress in reducing the gauge conflict was made with the completion of the standard gauge Sydney–Brisbane railway with the opening of a bridge at Grafton. The first standard gauge line in South Australia, Trans-Australian Railway, was completed in 1917 between Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie, requiring break-of-gauges at Terowie, Port Augusta and Kalgoorlie to reach Perth. This line was extended to Port Pirie Junction in 1937 and the broad gauge line from Adelaide to Redhill was extended to Port Pirie, removing one break-of gauge.
  In the 1950s, a parliamentary committee chaired by William Wentworth recommended a much more modest and affordable plan to gauge convert the three main missing links:
  Albury to Melbourne standard gauge track added parallel to broad gauge to complete the Sydney–Melbourne railway.
  Kalgoorlie to Perth – narrow gauge converted to standard gauge.
  Broken Hill to Port Pirie – narrow gauge converted to standard.
  In 1962 the Albury to Melbourne standard gauge line was opened, completing the Sydney–Melbourne railway. In 1966, a new mixed standard and narrow gauge Eastern Railway route was completed through the Avon Valley, east of Perth. In 1968 the Kalgoorlie to Perth line was completed and in 1969 the Broken Hill to Port Pirie standard gauge railway were opened, completing Sydney–Perth railway.
  The Whyalla line was opened between Port Augusta and Whyalla in 1972. In October 1980, a new standard gauge railway was completed from Tarcoola to Alice Springs, replacing the former narrow gauge railway. Adelaide was connected to the standard gauge network with the opening of the line to Crystal Brook in 1982 and the Melbourne–Adelaide railway was converted to standard gauge in 1995.  Meanwhile, the Tarcoola to Alice Springs railway was extended to Darwin in 2004 to complete the Adelaide–Darwin railway.
caption: The Grafton Bridge over the Clarence River showing Bascule span lifted to let shipping through. (Postcard from about 1932; The "Southern Cross" aeroplane has been added to the photograph.)
exif: {}