Victorian broad gauge
Encyclopedia
Rail gauge in Australia displays significant variation, which has been an ongoing problem for transportation on the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n continent, for over a hundred years.

Track gauges and route km

The most used gauges are

Main gauges:
  • Standard gauge
    Standard gauge
    The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

    — 17,678 km—mainly New South Wales
    Rail transport in New South Wales
    The Australian state of New South Wales has an extensive network of railways, which were integral to the growth and development of the state. The vast majority of railway lines were government built and operated, but there were also several private railways, some of which operate to this...

     and the interstate rail network.
  • Narrow gauge (Cape gauge
    Cape gauge
    Cape gauge is a track gauge of between the inside of the rail heads and is classified as narrow gauge. It has installations of around .The gauge was first used by Norwegian engineer Carl Abraham Pihl and the first line was opened in 1862.- Nomenclature :...

    )— 15,160 km—mainly Queensland
    Rail transport in Queensland
    Rail transport in Queensland began in 1865. Today it is one of the largest narrow gauge railway network in the world.-Public float:On 2 June 2009 the Queensland Government announced the 'Renewing Queensland Plan', with Queensland Rail's commercial activities to be separated from the Government's...

    , Western Australia
    Rail transport in Western Australia
    Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and by a number of private companies...

     and Tasmania
    Rail transport in Tasmania
    Rail transport in Tasmania consists of a network of narrow gauge track of reaching virtually all cities and major towns in the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Today, rail services are focussed primarily on bulk freight, with no commercial passenger services being operated...

     as well as some of South Australia
    Rail transport in South Australia
    The first railway in colonial South Australia was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854...

  • Broad gauge
    Broad gauge
    Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

     (Irish gauge
    Irish gauge
    Irish gauge railways use a track gauge of . It is used in* Ireland * Australia where it is also known as Victorian Broad Gauge* Brazil where it is also known as Bitola larga no Brasil....

    )— 4,017 km—mainly Victoria
    Rail transport in Victoria
    Rail transport in Victoria, Australia, is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. Victorian lines use broad gauge, with the exception of a number of standard gauge freight and interstate lines, a few experimental narrow gauge lines, and...

    , some South Australia
    Rail transport in South Australia
    The first railway in colonial South Australia was a horse-drawn tramway from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854...

    , some New South Wales


Other gauges:
  • Narrow gauge— 28 km (Victorian Railways narrow gauge
    Narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways
    The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia built a number of experimental narrow gauge railway lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have been reopened as heritage railways.- Background :A...

    )
  • Narrow gauge— 4,150 km (sugar cane tramways)
  • Dual gauge
    Dual gauge
    A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...

    —281 km
  • Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2002)


While English gauge was the gauge agreed to by the then three colonies, an Irish Engineer Sheilds persuaded a change to the Irish broad gauge. The other two colonies agreed to follow suit; however Sheilds resigned when his pay was cut, and the new Scottish engineer Wallace persuaded New South Wales to revert to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

. The two other states with rolling stock on order refused to follow suit a second time and the disastrous break of gauge was started.

Of the networks constructed by the various government railways, there have been a variety of rail gauges:
  • Cane tramways, mainly in Queensland are , but these carry very little through traffic so that the break-of-gauge
    Break-of-gauge
    With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...

     is not a problem.
  • Victoria had four short lines for general traffic
  • Private timber tramways used a variety of gauges
  • Private, isolated and heavy duty iron ore mining railways all use the standard gauge of
  • Temporary lines at construction sites, such as the gauge railways used for the development of the national capital at Canberra
    Canberra
    Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

     between 1913 and 1927, including the original Parliament House
    Old Parliament House, Canberra
    Old Parliament House, known formerly as the Provisional Parliament House, was the house of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 as a temporary base for the Commonwealth Parliament after its relocation from Melbourne to the new capital, Canberra,...


First lines

In 1848 NSW Governor Charles Fitzroy
Charles FitzRoy
Charles FitzRoy may refer to:*Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland , 18th century nobleman*Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton , nobleman who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland...

 was advised by Secretary of State for the Colonies
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies....

 in London, Earl Grey
Earl Grey
Earl Grey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. He had already been created Baron Grey, of Howick in the County of Northumberland, in 1801, and was made Viscount Howick, in the County of Northumberland, at the same time as...

, that one uniform gauge should be adopted in Australia, this being standard gauge . This was adopted by the then three colonies.

At the time the private Sydney Railway Company was building their railway line to Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

. The chief engineer of the company was Irish-born Francis Webb Sheilds
Francis Webb Sheilds
Francis Webb Sheilds was an early civil engineer on the Sydney Railway Company during its construction but before its opening.In England, Shields worked on a number of railway projecrs, including the then Dublin and Kingstown Railway. He considered himself to be a born railway engineer...

, who persuaded the company and the NSW legislature to change to the Irish standard gauge instead. This decision was endorsed by the NSW Governor and Secretary Earl Grey in London agreed in 1851. The other two colonies also adopted this gauge, with the Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 opening a line in 1854, and the South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

ns using it on their first steam hauled railway in 1856.

However, the Sydney Railway Company gained a new Scottish engineer, James Wallace, who preferred standard gauge. He convinced the NSW legislature to make the change. Despite a request by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to reconsider, the NSW Governor William Denison
William Denison
Sir William Thomas Denison, KCB was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1847 to 1855, Governor of New South Wales from 20 January 1855 to 22 January 1861, and Governor of Madras from 1861 to 1866....

 gave the go ahead in 1855, with the Sydney to Parramatta railway opening in September 1855.

As early as 1857, the NSW railway engineer John Whitton
John Whitton
John Whitton was appointed Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Railways, Australia, in January 1867. Over the next 32 years he completed 2811 miles of railway around NSW and Victoria...

 suggested that the short railway then operating in New South Wales be altered from 1435 mm gauge to 1600 mm to conform with Victoria, but despite being supported by the NSW Railway Administration, he was ignored. At that time there was only 37 km of track, 4 engines and assorted cars and wagons on the railway, but by 1889, New South Wales under engineer Whitton had built almost 3500 km of standard gauge line.

Narrow gauge was introduced to Australia in 1865, when Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 opened their first railway from Ipswich to Grandchester. South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 also adopted this gauge in 1870 with their lines to Port Wakefield
Port Wakefield, South Australia
Port Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway...

, Hoyleton
Hoyleton, South Australia
Hoyleton is a former railway town in South Australia, west of the Clare Valley, halfway between Leasingham and Halbury. At the 2006 census, Hoyleton had a population of 283....

, Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

 and Oodnadatta
Oodnadatta, South Australia
Oodnadatta, South Australia, is a small town surrounded by an area of with cattle stations in arid pastoral rangelands close to the Simpson Desert, north of Adelaide and 112 m above sea level. It can be reached by an unsealed road from Coober Pedy or via the unsealed Oodnadatta Track from...

. Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 adopted it in 1879 with their lines from Geraldton to Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

.

The island state of Tasmania opened their first railway from Launceston to Deloraine in 1871 using broad gauge, but converted to narrow gauge in 1888.

Towards a network

Until this time the gauge issue was no major problem, as there were no connections between the separate systems. The governments of the 1850s did not visualise the need for either inter-city passenger or freight services. It was not until 1883 when the broad and standard gauge lines from Melbourne and Sydney met at Albury, and in 1888 narrow and standard gauge from Brisbane and Sydney met at Wallangarra. The issue of rail gauge was mentioned in an 1889 military defence report authored by English army officer Major General James Bevan Edwards
James Bevan Edwards
Lieutenant General Sir James Bevan Edwards KCB KCMG was a senior British Army officer and politician.-Military career:Edwards was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1852...

, who said that the full benefit of the railways would not be attained until a uniform gauge was established. It needs to be remembered, however, that until federation the benefits of a uniform gauge were not immediately apparent, as passengers would have to pass through customs and immigration at the intercolonial border, meaning that all goods would have to be removed for customs inspection. It was only with federation, and free trade between the states, that the impediment of different gauges became apparent.

By the time of Federation, standard gauge was used in only NSW, but was favoured for further work. Work on gauge conversion was assisted by section 51 (xxxiii) of the Constitution of Australia
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...

, which made specific provisions for the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws with respect to railway acquisition and construction. An agreement was made with the South Australian and Western Australian governments for the Trans-Australian Railway
Trans-Australian Railway
The Trans-Australian Railway crosses the Nullarbor Plain of Australia from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia...

 from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, with work started in 1911 and completed in 1917.

In 1921 a Royal Commission into rail gauge was delivered, recommending gauge conversion of large areas of the country. It stated "that the gauge of 4-ft. 8.5-in. be adopted as the standard for Australia; that no mechanical, third rail, or other device would meet the situation, and that uniformity could be secured by one means only, viz., by conversion of the gauges other than 4-ft. 8.5-in." Following the Royal Commission, agreements were made for a standard gauge line from Kyogle to South Brisbane (completed in 1930) and from Port Augusta to Port Pirie in 1937.

By World War II there were 12 breaks of gauge
Break-of-gauge
With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...

, with upwards of 1,600 service personnel and many more civilians employed to move 1.8 million tonnes of freight during the period. The break of gauge (BG=Broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

, NG=Narrow gauge, SG=Standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

) were at:
  • Kalgoorlie—SG, NG
  • Port Augusta—SG, NG
  • Port Pirie—SG, NG, BG
  • Gladstone—NG, BG
  • Terowie—NG, BG
  • Wolseley—NG, BG
  • Mount Gambier—NG, BG
  • Broken Hill—SG, NG
  • Tocumwal—SG, BG
  • Oaklands—SG, BG
  • Albury—SG, BG
  • Wallangarra—NG, SG
  • Roma Street (Brisbane South), Fishermans Island (Sea Port)—NG, SG

  • Hamley Bridge had ceased to be a break of gauge in the 1920s, NG, BG.

  • Acacia Ridge—SG, NG—was developed as a break-of-gauge in the 1970s to relieve overcrowding at Clapham.
  • Bromelton—SG, NG—is being developed in 2010 to relieve overcrowding at Acacia Ridge.

No compensation

The best time to achieve gauge uniformity is to re-gauge when the mileage of the different gauges is small. When this was done in Ireland, compensation
Rail gauge in Ireland
The track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in Ireland is . This unusual gauge is currently otherwise found only in the Australian states of Victoria, southern New South Wales and South Australia , and in Brazil...

 was asked for and received by the gauges that missed out. Compensation does not appear to have been asked for or offered in Australia.

Break Of Gauge Devices

By 1933, as many as 140 devices were proposed by inventors to solve the break of gauge problem, none of which were adopted.

Even dual gauge with a third rail for combining Irish Gauge
Irish gauge
Irish gauge railways use a track gauge of . It is used in* Ireland * Australia where it is also known as Victorian Broad Gauge* Brazil where it is also known as Bitola larga no Brasil....

 and Standard Gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 was rejected as too reckless as the gap between these gauges of 6.5" was too small. Dual gauge combining Irish gauge
Irish gauge
Irish gauge railways use a track gauge of . It is used in* Ireland * Australia where it is also known as Victorian Broad Gauge* Brazil where it is also known as Bitola larga no Brasil....

 and Narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 where the gap was 21" was also rejected.

Clapp Report

After the wartime experience, a report into the Standardisation of Australia's rail gauges was completed by former Victorian Railways
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways operated railways in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companies failed or defaulted, the Victorian Railways was established to take over their operations...

 Chief Commissioner Sir Harold Winthrop Clapp
Harold Winthrop Clapp
Sir Harold Winthrop Clapp KBE was a transport administrator who over the course of thirty years had a profound effect on Australia's railway network...

 for the Commonwealth Land Transport Board in March 1945. It included three main proposals:
  • Gauge standardisation
    Gauge conversion
    In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

     from Fremantle and Perth to Kalgoorlie, all of South Australian and Victorian broad gauge lines, all of the South Australian south east and Peterborough division narrow gauge lines, and acquisition and conversion of the Silverton Tramway
    Silverton Tramway
    The Silverton Tramway was an Australian long narrow gauge railway running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970 it served the mines of Broken Hill, and formed the link between the standard gauge New South Wales...

    . Costed at £
    Australian pound
    The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

    44.318 million pounds.

  • New standard gauge "strategic and developmental railway" from Bourke, New South Wales
    Bourke, New South Wales
    -Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...

     to Townsville, Queensland
    Townsville, Queensland
    Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

     and Dajarra
    Dajarra, Queensland
    Dajarra is a town in the far north-west of Outback Queensland, Australia, near the border with the Northern Territory. It is about 150 km south of Mount Isa on the Diamantina Developmental Road...

     (near Mount Isa
    Mount Isa, Queensland
    -Culture and sport:The local theatre group, the Mount Isa Theatrical Society, or MITS, often holds plays and musicals, at least once every few months or so....

    ) with new branch lines from Bourke via Barringun, Cunnamulla, Charleville, Blackall to Longreach. Existing narrow gauge lines Queensland would also be gauge converted, including Longreach – Linton – Hughenden – Townsville Dajarra and associated branches. The overall cost was £
    Australian pound
    The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

    21.565 million pounds.

  • New standard gauge line to Darwin, including new line from Dajarra, Queensland
    Dajarra, Queensland
    Dajarra is a town in the far north-west of Outback Queensland, Australia, near the border with the Northern Territory. It is about 150 km south of Mount Isa on the Diamantina Developmental Road...

     to Birdum, Northern Territory
    Birdum, Northern Territory
    Birdum was a railway settlement in the Northern Territory and the terminus of the North Australia Railway from 1929 until the outbreak of World War II....

    , and gauge conversion
    Gauge conversion
    In rail transport, gauge conversion is the process of converting a railway from one rail gauge to another, through the alteration of the railway tracks...

     of the Birdum to Darwin narrow gauge line. Cost of £
    Australian pound
    The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

    10.868 million pounds.


The report wrote that if only main trunk lines were converted, it would introduce a multitude of break of gauge terminals and result in greatly increased costs. It also recommended abandoning part of the existing Perth – Kalgoorlie narrow gauge line, and build a flatter and straighter route using 3rd rail dual gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...

, as modernisation was just important as standardisation.

South Australia was unhappy with the report, as the link to the Northern Territory would not run though its state. Western Australia and Queensland both saw no advantage in the report, as they already had a common gauge in their states, and only one main break of gauge. NSW entered into the agreement to advance gauge standardisation in Victoria and South Australia, but did not ratify it.

Gauge conversion did continue, with the South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 to the incorporation of its non-urban railways into the Australian National Railways Commission in 1975, together with the former Commonwealth Railways and the former Tasmanian Government Railways...

 south east division from Wolseley to Mount Gambier and associated branches converted to broad gauge in the 1950s, on the understanding it would again to standard gauge at a later date. Standard gauge lines were also built, with the line between Stirling North and Maree opened in July 1957.

Wentworth Committee

In 1956 a Government Members Rail Standardisation Committee as established, chaired by William Wentworth.
It found that while there was still considerable doubt as to the justification for large scale gauge conversion, there was no doubt that work on some main trunk lines was long overdue. Both the committee and the Liberal party then in power strongly supported three standardisation projects at a cost of 41.5 million pounds:
  • Wodonga to Melbourne. (priority 1)
  • Broken Hill to Adelaide via Port Pirie. (priority 2—built 3)
  • Kalgoorlie to Perth and Fremantle (priority 3—built 2)


The Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian governments were first to start work, with the first goods train to Melbourne operating on January 1962 and the first through passenger train in April 1962. Over the next 12 months net freight tonnage was up 32.5% and to 1973 there was an average increase of 8.6%.

The work in Western Australia was done in conjunction with a new iron ore mine at Koolyanobbing
Koolyanobbing, Western Australia
Koolyanobbing is located 54 km NNE of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia.Iron ore is mined here by a subsidiary of Cliffs Natural Resources of Cleveland, Ohio. Ore is railed to port at Esperance for export...

 and an accompanying steel mill at Kwinana
Kwinana, Western Australia
The Town of Kwinana is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth's central business district, via the Kwinana Freeway...

. A new dual gauge line was built through the Avon Valley from Midland
Midland, Western Australia
Midland is a suburb in the Perth, Western Australia metropolitan area, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of Great Eastern Highway and Great Northern...

 to Northam
Northam, Western Australia
Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...

 on 1 in 200 grades instead of 1 in 40; and a new line was built from Southern Cross
Southern Cross, Western Australia
Southern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn...

 to Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Kalgoorlie, known as Kalgoorlie-Boulder, is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and is located east-northeast of state capital Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway...

 though Koolyanobbing. Officially opened in August 1969, Kalgoolie - Perth freight train times were reduced from 31 hours to 13 hours, and passenger trains from 14 hours to 8 hours.

In South Australia work on Port Pirie
Port Pirie, South Australia
-Transport:Port Pirie is located off National Highway One. It is serviced by an airport five minutes out of the city.- Railways :The first railways in Port Pirie were of the narrow [3' 6"] gauge....

 to Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

 did not start until 1963. The narrow gauge lines from Gladstone
Gladstone, South Australia
Gladstone is a small rural town in the Mid North of South Australia in the approach to the lower Flinders Ranges. At the 2006 census, Gladstone had a population of 629....

 and Peterborough
Peterborough, South Australia
Peterborough is a town in the mid north of South Australia, in wheat country, just off the Barrier Highway. At the 2006 census, Peterborough had a population of 1,689....

 were not converted, with triple gauge yards provided. Standard gauge access to Adelaide was not provided. From Cockburn
Cockburn, South Australia
Cockburn is a town on the border of South Australia and New South Wales near Broken Hill. The town population consists of roughly 25 people with a greater regional community of 180 as of 2005.-Town history:...

 to Broken Hill a new railway was built on an improved alignment, avoiding the private Silverton Tramway
Silverton Tramway
The Silverton Tramway was an Australian long narrow gauge railway running from Cockburn on the South Australian state border to Broken Hill in New South Wales. Operating between 1888 and 1970 it served the mines of Broken Hill, and formed the link between the standard gauge New South Wales...

 route. The completion of this link enabled the first Indian Pacific to run across the nation in March 1970 from Sydney to Perth.

Whitlam Government

A new line between Tarcoola
Tarcoola, South Australia
Tarcoola is a town in the Far North of South Australia 416 km north-northwest of Port Augusta.Tarcoola is taken from a non-local aboriginal language from an area around Tarcoola Station in NSW; it means river bend.-History:Tarcoola Post Office opened on 18 August 1900 and the town was...

 and Alice Springs
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...

 was given the go ahead by the Whitlam Government in 1974. Built to replace the narrow gauge Central Australia Railway the 831 kilometre long line was completed by 1980, see Adelaide-Darwin Railway
Adelaide-Darwin railway
The Adelaide–Darwin railway is a north-south transcontinental railway in Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, South Australia and Darwin, Northern Territory...

.

Work on standard gauge access to Adelaide started in 1982, with a new line from Crystal Brook
Crystal Brook, South Australia
Crystal Brook is a town in South Australia, named after the spring-fed creek next to which it was founded. It is north of Adelaide and in 2006 had a population of 1,185.Crystal Brook is situated on Goyder's Line near the border of two climate systems...

 near Port Pirie. Freight trains begun using the line in 1983 with passenger trains following the next year. With benefits exceeding the cost by 2.8 times over 25 years, the Australian National Railways Commission
Australian National Railways Commission
The Australian National Railways Commission was a government owned railway operator in Australia. ANRC was also known as Australian National Railways in its early years and was later rebranded as Australian National .-History:...

 was able to obtain a loan for the funding of the work.

One Nation project

The One Nation
One Nation (Infrastructure)
One Nation was an Australian Government program of infrastructure development carried out under the Keating Government from 1991 to 1996. Much of the program was implemented as a means of stimulating the economy in the aftermath of the Early 1990s recession....

 project was carried out under the Keating Government from 1991 to 1996. The Melbourne-Adelaide railway line was converted to standard gauge in 1995, at a cost of $167 million. A few broad gauge lines such as the one to Portland
Portland, Victoria
The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

 were also converted. A standard gauge/dual gauge link was also opened to the Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. It is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on reclaimed land that was once called Fisherman Islands at the mouth of the river. It currently is the third busiest port in Australia and the nation's...

 in 1997.

Recent projects

Gauge conversion of 2000 kilometres of track in Victoria was announced by the State Government in May 2001 but did not proceed due to the difficulty of achieving any agreement with then track manager, Freight Australia
Freight Australia
Freight Australia was a railway company in Australia. Initially known as Freight Victoria, it operated rail freight services and controlled non-urban rail track in the state of Victoria, later expanding into freight haulage in other states. Freight Australia was taken over by Pacific National in...

. In 2008 the conversion of the North East line in Victoria was announced, covering 200 kilometres (124.3 mi) of track between Seymour and Albury to provide double track along the section. In the same year standard gauge access was provided to the Port of Geelong
Port of Geelong
The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The port is the sixth-largest in Australia by tonnage....

, 13 years after conversion of the line running to the city.

The Oaklands branch line is also being converted.

To allow the creation of a new multimodal centre at Bromelton, Queensland
Bromelton, Queensland
Bromelton is a small village in southern Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bromelton and the surrounding area had a population of 536.- Transport :The town has a crossing loop on the national standard gauge railway network...

, the Acacia Ridge to Bromelton section is being converted to dual gauge.

External links

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