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Rail transport in South Australia

The first railway in colonial South Australia was a line from the port of Goolwa on the River Murray to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot, which first operated in December 1853, before its completion in May 1854. During the following seven decades construction continued, by stops and starts, often to encourage agricultural development or to ameliorate unemployment. Very little additional trackage was built from the 1920s onwards. In 1966, the total was , comprising of and of
Following almost total closure of regional lines in South Australia in the last decades of the twentieth century, today the state's rail network comprises standard gauge links to other states, broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a narrow gauge gypsum haulage line on the Eyre Peninsula, and both copper–gold concentrate and coal on the standard gauge line in the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor north of Tarcoola.

The first railway in colonial South Australia was the horse drawn tramway from Goolwa to Port Elliot opened in 1854, providing a rail link from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot. It was later extended to a safer harbour at Victor Harbor. This line was used to move freight between the shallow draft vessels navigating the Murray, and coastal and ocean going vessels, without either having to traverse the narrow and shallow mouth of the river with unpredictable currents. The first of the Railways in Adelaide was built in 1856 between the city and the port. The Adelaide railways were all built as broad gauge of 1600. Gradually, a network of lines spread out from Adelaide. These were initially built to carry ore, particularly copper, then later freight from the Murray River, and grain from the broadacre lands. In the first half of the 20th century, most of these lines carried passengers as well as freight. The main line to Melbourne was opened after a bridge was built at Murray Bridge in 1886. It was the first railway line between colony capitals to not have a break of gauge. It was also the last of these to be converted to standard gauge in 1995.

In 1847, the Parliament of South Australia passed an act confirming adoption of the newly termed "standard gauge" (originally "Stephenson gauge") of – the first Australian colony to do so. In 1848 the Colonial Secretary in London, Lord Grey, recommended all the Australian colonies adopt that gauge. However, the company building the first railway in New South Wales decided to adopt the "Irish" broad gauge gauge of Soon afterwards, Victoria and South Australia ordered locomotives and rolling stock to the wider gauge. New South Wales changed back to preferring standard gauge, but it was too late for Victoria and South Australia to change yet again. Thus began Australia's "mixed gauge muddle", which persists to this day. The first main line railway in Adelaide was built in 1856 between the city and the port. The main line to Melbourne was opened after a bridge was built at Murray Bridge in 1886. It was the first railway line between Australian capital cities not to have a break of gauge – but it was to be 109 years before it was converted to standard gauge in 1995, the last inter capital line to be converted.

Influenced by Queensland Railways' successful adoption of the narrow gauge for cost reasons (opened 1865), and influenced by the advocacy of people such as Abraham Fitzgibbon, South Australia changed the gauge of the Port Wakefield line in the middle of construction. The Port Wakefield line, opened 1870, was originally horse drawn. Because the narrow gauge lines of 3ft6in started out as isolated lines from independent ports at Port Wakefield, Port Pirie, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Port Broughton, Beachport, Kingston SE and Wallaroo, and a private tramway from Whyalla, the problems of the nascent break of gauge was not immediately apparent. When the broad and narrow systems finally met at Hamley Bridge, Terowie, Wolseley and Mount Gambier endless complaints started. There may have been even more breaks of gauge, as the original bridge at Murray Bridge was designed for narrow gauge. The horse drawn narrow gauge Port Broughton railway line on the Yorke Peninsula was never connected to the main system. The lines on the Eyre Peninsula Railway and throughout the mid north were built to 3ft6in narrow gauge. Once the narrow gauge from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was converted to standard gauge, the narrow gauge from Terowie was converted to broad gauge to Peterborough. Peterborough became the change of gauge station for Broken Hill Adelaide express. The narrow gauge line was retained north from Peterborough to Quorn. The main interstate links from Adelaide to Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, and Sydney are all of impsg standard gauge.

The country railways were initially owned by South Australian Railways. The narrow gauge lines north and west of Quorn were handed over to the Commonwealth Railways in 1926, though the Commonwealth had had financial responsibility for these lines since 1911. The Commonwealth Railways later merged with the SAR to become the Australian National Railways Commission (ANR) in 1978. The metropolitan railway lines are now owned and operated by Adelaide Metro, interstate passenger services operated by Journey Beyond, intrastate freight by One Rail Australia, and interstate freight by a number of companies including Bowmans Rail, One Rail Australia, Pacific National and SCT Logistics.

Passenger services in South Australia have declined since the days of the South Australian Railways, today the only services are the Adelaide Metro suburban services; and the Journey Beyond operated The Overland between Adelaide and Melbourne, the Indian Pacific between Perth and Sydney via Adelaide, the Great Southern between Adelaide and Brisbane, and The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin, via Alice Springs. No country passenger rail services have operated in South Australia since 1990.

Port Adelaide is home to the National Railway Museum, the largest undercover railway museum in Australia. The SteamRanger Heritage Railway in the Adelaide Hills has restored a number of steam and diesel locomotives for tourist services on the Victor Harbor railway line, operating between Mount Barker and Victor Harbor. The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society based in Quorn operates on part of the former Central Australia Railway. The Steamtown Heritage Rail Centre is a static railway museum based in the former railway workshops in Peterborough. Other heritage operations have included the Lions Club of YP Rail (Wallaroo–Kadina), Limestone Coast Railway (on the Mount Gambier railway line from Mount Gambier railway station), Cobdogla Steam Friends, Steamtown Peterborough Railway Preservation Society (Peterborough–Eurelia) and the Australian Society of Section Car Operators (accreditation in SA surrendered in 2010).

The South Line, through the Adelaide Hills, was opened to Aldgate, Nairne in 1883, Murray Bridge in 1884 and Bordertown and Serviceton, Victoria, connecting with Victorian Railways in 1887. This line was standardised in 1995. A branch line was built to Marino in 1913, and extended to Willunga in 1915. The section from Hallett Cove to Willunga was closed in 1969. In the 1970s the line was extended south from Hallett Cove, becoming what is now the Adelaide Metro Seaford railway line. It reached Christie Downs in 1976, Noarlunga Centre in 1978, with a further extension to Seaford in 2014. The beginnings of the Victor Harbor line was a horse drawn broad (1600) gauge tramway built from the port of Goolwa on the Murray River to an ocean harbour at Port Elliot in 1854. This line was used to move freight between the shallow draft vessels navigating the Murray, and coastal and ocean going vessels, without either having to traverse the narrow and shallow mouth of the river with unpredictable currents. It was later extended from Port Elliot to Victor Harbor in 1864 and from Goolwa to Strathalbyn in 1869. It was extended to Mount Barker Junction on the South Line in 1884 and strengthened to carry steam trains. A branch from the South Line between the Mount Lofty Ranges and Murray River was built to Monarto and Cambrai in 1886. It was shortened to Apamurra near Palmer before being converted then closed briefly due to the standardisation of the Adelaide – Melbourne line in 1995. The line was then converted to standard gauge later in 1995 until it then closed again in 2005. In the Murray Mallee, the Pinnaroo line was built from Tailem Bend to Pinnaroo in 1906. This was connected with the Victorian Railways at the Victorian border and Ouyen by 1915. The South Australian part of this line was converted to standard gauge in 1998 to reconnect it with the Adelaide – Melbourne line. This created a break of gauge at Pinnaroo. The last traffic on the line was transporting grain from silos to Port Adelaide. Viterra announced that no more grain would be carried by rail on this line after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road. The Barmera railway line opened from Tailem Bend through Karoonda to Wanbi on 6 January 1913, extended to Paruna on 1 May and Meribah on 7 May 1913 (both in the Brown's Well district). Even while this line was still being built, the Government of South Australia approved several spur lines from it to open up over a million acres of farmland. These were:
Waikerie railway line Karoonda north to Waikerie (opened December 1914)closed 14 March 1990 to Galga, 4 March 1994 to Karoonda but closed in 1971. In 1928 the line was opened from Paringa to Renmark and Barmera; it closed in 1990. The last of these lines was the Loxton railway line which was converted to standard gauge in 1998. It closed with the transfer of the grain traffic to road after July 2015. Viterra announced that no more grain would be carried by rail in the region after 31 July 2015, with the 2015 harvest to be entirely transported by road. The Mount Gambier Heywood railway line, a broad gauge line, was opened between Mount Gambier and Heywood near Portland in 1917. From 1953 to 1956, the southeastern lines were converted to broad gauge, with the exception of the Beachport – Millicent and the Wandilo – Glencoe line, which were closed down in 1957. The Kingston – Naracoorte was closed on 28 November 1987. The other southeastern lines, including the line to Heywood, have been out of use since the standardisation of the Adelaide – Melbourne and Maroona – Portland lines on 12 April 1995. There are regular calls for their standardisation.

In 1857 the Gawler line was built to Gawler station, which was rural at the time, and extended to Roseworthy, Kapunda in 1860. The main line left the Kapunda branch at Roseworthy and proceeded to Hamley Bridge, Riverton, Burra in 1870. The Kapunda branch was extended to Morgan in 1878. The Burra line was extended to Terowie in 1880. The Barossa Valley railway line was built from Gawler Junction, north of Gawler station, through what is now Gawler Central station, to Nuriootpa and Angaston in the Barossa Valley in 1911. A further branch was constructed from Nuriootpa to Stockwell and Truro. The Penrice branch to the quarry from near Stockwell was the last destination to operate beyond Gawler Central. A branch line was built from Riverton to Clare in 1919 and Spalding in 1922. This line was lifted in the early 80s and parts of it have been restored as the Rattler Trail (Riverton to Auburn) and Riesling Trail (Auburn to Clare), a bicycle and walking trail through the Clare Valley. In 1925, a broad gauge line was built from Salisbury to Redhill and in 1937, it was extended to Port Pirie to meet the extension of the standard gauge from Port Augusta. This line was converted to standard gauge in 1982, including a deviation at the northern end to move the rail junction from Port Pirie to Crystal Brook.

The lines in the Mid North (generally north of Goyder's Line, which is the limit of 10" annual rainfall) were built to narrow gauge 1067.

The first narrow gauge line ran from Port Wakefield to Hoyleton, opened in 1870 and branched from Balaklava to Hamley Bridge in 1878, creating Australia's first break of gauge on the government railways. A horse drawn tramway was built by the Kadina and Wallaroo Railway and Pier Company between Wallaroo and Kadina in 1862 and extended to Moonta in 1866. This was acquired by the South Australian Railways in 1877 and a new narrow gauge line was built along its route and connected to Port Wakefield in about 1878. A line was built from Brinkworth to Snowtown, Bute and Kadina in 1879. These lines were converted to broad gauge in 1927. All the lines west of the Adelaide–Crystal Brook standard gauge line and the line from Snowtown to Brinkworth were closed after the Adelaide – Crystal Brook line was opened in 1982, despite proposals to convert some of them to standard gauge. There are calls to convert the Wolseley to Mount Gambier line to standard gauge. This partly reflects the lifting of restriction on the road transportation of grain Australia wide that followed recommendations of the 1986 88 Royal Commission into grain storage, handling and transport. This particularly affected South Australian railways because of the short distances between the growing areas and its various wheat exporting ports. The Snowtown to Wallaroo Broad Gauge was converted to Dual Gauge (Standard/Broad) during the late 1980s.

A line was built from Balaklava to Brinkworth and Gladstone by 1880 and later extended to Wilmington. The Hamley Bridge – Balaklava – Brinkworth – Gladstone line was converted to broad gauge in 1927, making Gladstone a break of gauge junction. In 1969, when the line from Port Pirie to Broken Hill was converted to standard gauge, Gladstone became a three gauge break of gauge junction (together with Peterborough and succeeding Port Pirie, which had been reduced to two gauges). In the 1980s, the broad gauge line north of Balaklava and the narrow gauge line were closed, leaving Gladstone as a purely standard gauge station. A narrow gauge line was built from Terowie to Peterborough in 1881, creating a break of gauge at Terowie, although the enforced train change created an opportunity for General Douglas MacArthur to deliver his famous line "I shall return" at Terowie station on 20 March 1942. The break of gauge was not overcome until the Terowie – Peterborough line was converted to broad (1600) gauge in 1970, to meet new the standard gauge from Port Pirie to Broken Hill, but it was abandoned by 1988. The narrow gauge line was extended to Orroroo also in 1881 and Quorn in 1882, connecting with the new line from Port Augusta. This line has now been abandoned. A narrow gauge railway was built from Port Pirie to Gladstone, Peterborough and Broken Hill, in 1888 to serve the Broken Hill silver and lead mine, which was becoming the largest and richest of its kind in the world. Since the New South Wales Government would not allow the South Australia railway to cross the border, the last was built by a private company as a tramway, the Silverton Tramway from Cockburn to Silverton and Broken Hill. In 1970 the line was converted to standard gauge, completing the standard transcontinental gauge line from Sydney to Perth.

The Great Northern Railway was completed from Port Augusta across the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn in 1879, Hergott Springs (now known as Marree) in 1883 and Oodnadatta in 1891. It was extended to Alice Springs by the Commonwealth Railways in 1929, when it was renamed the Central Australia Railway. In 1957, the new standard gauge line was built from Stirling North (near Port Augusta) to Marree on a new alignment west of the Flinders Ranges and the narrow gauge line between Hawker and Marree was abandoned. The remainder of the narrow gauge line between Stirling North, Quorn and Hawker was abandoned in 1972, although the Stirling North – Quorn section has been taken over by the Pichi Richi tourist railway (with a more recent extension into the town of Port Augusta completed in 2001). The narrow gauge line from Marree to Alice Springs was abandoned with the opening of the new standard gauge railway from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980. The standard gauge line from Stirling North has since been abandoned north of the Leigh Creek Coalfield.

The isolated SAR Port Lincoln Division was built to narrow gauge, all of it lightly built since its purpose was to promote agricultural development of the area. Construction started with a railway between Port Lincoln and Cummins, opened in 1907. The network grew until 1950, when its length was It was vitally important in its early days since roads were few and unmade; communities throughout the Eyre Peninsula relied totally on the SAR for transport of their produce to port, supplies for their everyday needs, and passenger transport. As roads improved, however, "roadside goods" traffic declined, usually to one train a week, and passenger services ceased in 1968. Meanwhile, from the mid 1960s, a transition took place from bagged grain traffic in open wagons to bulk grain hopper wagons in point to point unit trains, vastly improving efficiency. as of 2023, the only remaining operational part of the original Port Lincoln Division was the long Lake Macdonnell–Thevenard railway, on which Aurizon ran three gypsum unit trains a day. The steel industry company, BHP, developed two separate systems on the peninsula. The so called BHP Whyalla Tramway, a long heavy haul iron ore line from the Middleback Range to the Whyalla Steelworks, opened in 1901 and is still operational. The Coffin Bay Tramway, also a heavy haul line but built to , opened in 1966 and closed in 1989. It conveyed mineral sand from Coffin Bay to Proper Bay on the outskirts of Port Lincoln. However, not all lines have finished electrification, and at this stage, the Belair line will not be electrified.