The Ghan the standard gauge Stirling North to Marree line opened, and the Ghan was curtailed to operate only north of Marree. In October 1980 the remainder of the line was replaced by a standard-gauge line built to the west of the original line. An extension north from Alice Springs to Darwin opened in January 2004. Construction of what was then known as the Port Augusta to Government Gums Railway began in 1878 when Premier of South Australia William Jervois broke ground at Port Augusta. The line reached Hawker in June 1880, Beltana in July 1881, Marree in January 1884 and Oodnadatta
Last Train Home (film) in its list of Top Ten Competition Films of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. "Last Train Home" was one of the top five films nominated for the Directors Guild of America Documentary Prize, announced on January 29, 2011 at the 63rd annual DGA Awards Dinner. It lost to Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job." Lixin Fan was interviewed by Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC radio program "The Current", on Jan 19th, 2011 talking about "Last Train Home". "Last Train Home" was released on American screens on September 3, 2010. Last Train Home (film) Last Train Home () is a 2009 documentary