OUTCOMES: RAILWAYS

Although the issue of a uniform railway gauge was very important at the time, it was not immediately achieved after Federation.

Prior to Federation, all mainland State capitals except Perth had already been linked by rail even though there were breaks in gauge. (Sydney and Melbourne were linked in 1883, Adelaide and Melbourne in 1887, Sydney and Brisbane in 1888.) One of the major incentives for Western Australia to join the Australian Federation was the promise of a transcontinental railway. Work on the transcontinental railway from Port Augusta, SA, to Kalgoorlie, WA, began in September 1912, and was completed in October 1917.

As for the issue of uniform gauge: the Sydney-Perth standard-gauge railway line was not completed until November 1969.