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The Sydney Railway Company started building the first railway track in NSW between Sydney and Parramatta a distance of 22 kilometres. The project ran into finacial difficulty and was taken over by the NSW colonial goverment. The line opened on 26 September 1855.
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In Victoria the first railway line in Australia opened between Melbourne's Flinders Street Station and Port Melbourne, then called Sandridge.
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In 1854 South Australia had horse drawn railway operating at the mouth of the Murray River, the first line carrying steam powered train opened between Adelaide and Port Adelaide on 21 April 1856.
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In Tasmania, a railway line 72 kilometres long opened between the norhthern towns of Launceston and Deloraine.
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The private timber railway from Lockville to Yoganup, south of Perth, was the first operating railway in Western Australia.
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The first railway in Queensland went from Ipswich inland to Grandchester using using the narrow 1067 millimetre gauge. The system was extended further to the Darling Downs before it connected with Brisbane , the capital.
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In 1879 the first goverment railway opened between Geraldton and Northhampton.
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In the Northern Territory, a railway between Darwin and Pine Creek (253 kilometres) became operational on 1 October 1889.
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In the Australian Capital Territory, a 10 kilometre branch line opened between Qucanbeyan, NSW, and Canberra.