History of rail transport in Australia
South Australia
### South Australia

In 1854, [South Australia](/wiki/South_Australia "South Australia") opened a horse\-drawn tramway from the port of [Goolwa](/wiki/Goolwa%2C_South_Australia "Goolwa, South Australia") on the [Murray River](/wiki/Murray_River "Murray River") to an ocean harbour at [Port Elliot](/wiki/Port_Elliot "Port Elliot") to transfer freight between shallow\-draft vessels and coastal and ocean\-going vessels, which later became part of the steam\-powered network. The South Australia line was later extended to a safer harbour at [Victor Harbor](/wiki/Victor_Harbor%2C_South_Australia "Victor Harbor, South Australia").

The first South Australian steam\-operated line was built as a [broad gauge](/wiki/Victorian_broad_gauge "Victorian broad gauge")  line in 1856 between the city and [Port Adelaide](/wiki/Port_Adelaide_railway_station "Port Adelaide railway station") stopping at Bowden, Woodville and Alberton, followed by a broad gauge line to [Gawler](/wiki/Gawler_railway_station "Gawler railway station") the next year 1857\. This line was extended to [Kapunda](/wiki/Kapunda "Kapunda"), a copper mining town in 1860 and then to [Burra](/wiki/Burra%2C_South_Australia "Burra, South Australia") the great copper centre in 1870\. Gradually, a network of lines spread out from [Adelaide](/wiki/Adelaide "Adelaide"), [Port Wakefield](/wiki/Port_Wakefield%2C_South_Australia "Port Wakefield, South Australia"), [Wallaroo](/wiki/Wallaroo%2C_South_Australia "Wallaroo, South Australia"), [Port Broughton](/wiki/Port_Broughton "Port Broughton"), [Port Augusta](/wiki/Port_Augusta_railway_station "Port Augusta railway station"), [Kingston SE](/wiki/Kingston_SE "Kingston SE"), [Beachport](/wiki/Beachport "Beachport"), [Whyalla](/wiki/Whyalla_railway_station "Whyalla railway station"), [Port Pirie](/wiki/Port_Pirie_%28Ellen_Street%29_railway_station "Port Pirie (Ellen Street) railway station") and [Port Lincoln](/wiki/Port_Lincoln "Port Lincoln"). Some of these were built initially to carry ore, particularly copper. Some lines later carried freight from the Murray River and grain from the broadacre lands. All but the lines radiating from Adelaide were initially narrow  gauge lines. The first narrow gauge line was completed in 1870 from [Port Wakefield](/wiki/Port_Wakefield%2C_South_Australia "Port Wakefield, South Australia") to [Hoyleton](/wiki/Hoyleton%2C_South_Australia "Hoyleton, South Australia") but was soon upgraded to broad gauge and extended to [Blyth](/wiki/Blyth%2C_South_Australia "Blyth, South Australia"), the station nearest the township of [Clare](/wiki/Clare%2C_South_Australia "Clare, South Australia").

The first interstate connection was completed in 1887, when the South Australian and Victorian broad gauge railways met at [Serviceton](/wiki/Serviceton_railway_station "Serviceton railway station"). In 1888 a narrow gauge line was opened from [Port Pirie](/wiki/Port_Pirie_%28Ellen_Street%29_railway_station "Port Pirie (Ellen Street) railway station") to [Broken Hill](/wiki/Broken_Hill_railway_station "Broken Hill railway station"), with a connection at [Peterborough](/wiki/Peterborough_railway_station%2C_South_Australia "Peterborough railway station, South Australia") to [Adelaide](/wiki/Adelaide_railway_station "Adelaide railway station"). The broad gauge line was completed from Adelaide to [Terowie](/wiki/Terowie_railway_station "Terowie railway station") in 1880\. The line north of Terowie was built as a narrow gauge line in stages to Peterborough and [Quorn](/wiki/Quorn_railway_station "Quorn railway station") in 1882 and [Oodnadatta](/wiki/Oodnadatta "Oodnadatta") in 1891\. This was extended to [Alice Springs](/wiki/Alice_Springs "Alice Springs") by the [Commonwealth Railways](/wiki/Commonwealth_Railways "Commonwealth Railways") in 1929, when it was renamed the [Central Australia Railway](/wiki/Central_Australia_Railway "Central Australia Railway").


Was the introduction of broad gauge lines widely adopted across South Australia, or were narrow gauge lines more prevalent?