Editing Port Augusta (section)

==Transport==
Port Augusta is at the head of Spencer Gulf, a natural barrier to land transport, leading to the city being considered to be the "crossroads of Australia", the junction of major road and rail links.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.portaugusta.sa.gov.au/attractions/attractions |title=Attractions |date=24 September 2019 |publisher=Port Augusta City Council |access-date=7 July 2023}}</ref>

===Road===
Port Augusta is located at the eastern end of the [[Eyre Highway]] to [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]] and at the northern end of the [[Augusta Highway]] to [[Adelaide]]. It is situated at the southern end of the [[Stuart Highway]] to [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]. Virtually all road traffic across southern Australia passes through Port Augusta across the top of [[Spencer Gulf]].

Twice-daily coach services operate between Port Augusta, other country centres and Adelaide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stateliner.com.au/wp-content/uploads/whyalla-200223.pdf |title=Whyalla - Port Augusta - Port Pirie - Adelaide Timetable |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |website=Stateliner |access-date=7 July 2023 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Rail===
[[File:Port Augusta railway station, 2017 (06).jpg|thumb|Port Augusta railway station|alt=Port Augusta railway station]]
In 1878, the town became the southern terminus of a proposed north–south transcontinental line headed for [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] {{convert|2500|km|abbr=on|comma=off}} away. As part of its commitments undertaken at [[Federation of Australia|Federation]], the [[Government of Australia|federal government]] took over this {{Track gauge|1067mm|comma=off}} [[narrow-gauge railway]] in 1911 and named it the "[[Central Australia Railway]]" in 1926. In 1929, it was extended to its last terminus at [[Alice Springs]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Babbage |first1=Jack |last2=Barrington  |first2=Rodney|date=1984 |title=The history of Pichi Richi Railway |location=Quorn, South Australia |publisher= Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society Inc. |isbn=0959850961 |page= 11}}</ref>

Between 1913 and 1917, a {{convert|2000|km|adj=on|abbr=on|comma=off}} long, east–west transcontinental railway, the [[Trans-Australian Railway]], was built from Port Augusta to [[Kalgoorlie railway station|Kalgoorlie]] in [[Western Australia]]. It was built to {{Track gauge|1435mm|comma=off}} standard gauge as part of a long-term plan to harmonise gauges between the mainland states. The choice created a [[break-of-gauge|break of gauge]] at Port Augusta until the standard gauge track was extended to [[Port Pirie, South Australia|Port Pirie]] in 1937. The last component of the all-through standard gauge [[Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor|line from Adelaide to Darwin]] was only completed in 2003.

[[Port Augusta railway station|Port Augusta]] is a stopping place of two long-distance [[Experiential travel|"experiential"]] train services: the [[East-West rail corridor|east-west]] ''[[Indian Pacific]]'' transcontinental service and ''[[The Ghan]]'' service between Adelaide and Darwin.

The not-for-profit [[Pichi Richi Railway]], established in the 1970s on the southernmost section of the Central Australia Railway (CAR) at [[Quorn railway station|Quorn]], was not connected to Port Augusta after the CAR closed in 1980. An ambitious project to build a line from [[Stirling North railway station|Stirling North]] to the centre of Port Augusta was completed in 2001 and now provides half-day and full-day heritage railway journeys on selected dates from March to November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pichirichirailway.org.au/ |title=Heritage railway operating since 1878 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |website=Pichi Richi Railway |access-date=7 July 2023 }}</ref>

===Aviation===
[[Port Augusta Airport]], {{convert|6|km|mi|abbr=off|0}} from the city, handles about 16,000 "[[fly-in fly-out]]" passengers a year who work at many mines in the north of [[South Australia]]. {{As of|2023}}, no other flights were available at the airport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.portaugusta.sa.gov.au/services/airport |title=Port Augusta Airport |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2023 |website=Port Augusta City Council |access-date=7 July 2023 }}</ref>