In the late 1940s, the South Australian Government developed the Leigh Creek coalfields, 271 km (168 mi) north of Port Augusta, to provide fuel for a new power station at the port. The infrastructure of the CAR was inadequate for the increased tonnages to be carried, so the federal government funded a new standard gauge line from Stirling North to the coalfields (and on to Marree to provide cattle transport). The northernmost two-thirds followed an alignment generally within 8 km (5 mi) of the narrow-gauge line but the southern third avoided the impediments of the mountainous section near Quorn and Hawker. The new standard-gauge line covered one-third of the distance to Alice Springs, and a Commonwealth Railways booklet mentioned its "special importance to the Northern Territory as it is the first stage in the ultimate conversion of the narrow-gauge railway to Alice Springs to standard 4 ft  in gauge".