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Rail transport in the Australian state of South Australia is provided by a number of railway operators who operate over the government-owned railway lines. The network consists of 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge links to other states, the 1600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge suburban railways in Adelaide, a freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point, 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 Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), an agency of the Federal Government, owns standard gauge interstate lines heading north and south, together with the dual gauge freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point. The ARTC lines bypass the city to the west and do not enter the CBD. The ARTC network extends from Adelaide towards Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Darwin and is used by substantial interstate freight traffic. Journey Beyond is a private company operating long-distance interstate passenger trains on the ARTC's standard gauge lines, and run from the Adelaide Parklands Terminal, just west of the CBD. Journey Beyond's trains are the Indian Pacific to Sydney and Perth, The Ghan to Alice Springs and Darwin, The Overland to Melbourne and the seasonal Great Southern to Brisbane.
South Australia does not have broad gauge freight and regional passenger services as with other states, and has traditionally been more dependent on agriculture for road transport. The last broad gauge freight service was the Penrice Stone Train which operated from November 1950 until it abruptly ceased operating in June 2014.[1]