Transport
In 1878, the town became the southern terminus of a proposed North South transcontinental line, headed for Darwin 2,500 km (1,600 mi) away. This 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge railway was later taken over by the Commonwealth in 1910 and later renamed the Central Australia Railway. In 1929 it was extended to its last terminus at Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
Between 1913 and 1917, a 2,000 km (1,200 mi) long east–west transcontinental railway (the Trans-Australian Railway) was built from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. This was built to standard gauge as part of a long term plan to harmonise gauges between the mainland states, causing a break-of-gauge at Port Augusta until it was extended to Port Pirie in 1937.
The standard gauge Adelaide-Darwin railway was finally completed in 2003. Port Augusta is a stop on the Indian Pacific transcontinental train service on the Sydney–Perth railway and on the Ghan service between Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin. Two services a week for each train in each direction serve the station.
In the 1990s the narrow gauge line between Port Augusta and Quorn was re-opened as the Pichi Richi heritage Railway.
| Preceding station | Great Southern Railway | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pimba towards East Perth | Indian Pacific | Port Pirie towards Sydney | ||
| Pimba towards Darwin | The Ghan | Port Pirie towards Adelaide | ||
Port Augusta is served by Port Augusta Airport. Sharp Airlines connects the city to Adelaide twice daily.
Read more about this topic: Port Augusta, South Australia
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