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After much discussion in the young colony of New South Wales, the Sydney Railway Company was incorporated on 10 October 1849 with the aim of building a railway from Sydney to Parramatta. Capital was raised, shares were sold, and a route was surveyed. The first sod was turned by Mrs Keith Stewart (daughter of the governor) at Cleveland Paddocks on 20 May 1850.
The original engineer appointed was Francis Webb Shields, an Irishman. He persuaded the New South Wales legislature to pass an Act on 27 July 1852 requiring all railways in the colony to be of 5 feet 3 inch gauge. This was the gauge in use in Ireland and is now referred to as 1600mm gauge. After Shields resigned because of the difficulties, his successor, a Scot named James Wallace was appointed. Wallace persuaded the legislature to repeal the previous act and replace it, on 4 August 1853, with one requiring a gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches - the current Standard gauge of 1435mm. (Unfortunately for Australia, the legislation requiring the broad gauge had been noted in the colonies of Victoria and South Australia and some rolling-stock ordered.)
The Sydney Railway Company encountered many troubles: engineers came and went; real estate required became expensive and difficult to acquire; money, supplies and manpower ran short, partly because of a gold rush. Eventually the property of the Sydney Railway Company was transferred to the government of New South Wales on 3 September 1855.
The "Sydney to Parramatta Railway" was opened on 26 September 1855, although it terminated in neither Sydney nor Parramatta.
From this original 22 km single line, the government railways of New South Wales grew enormously and then waned as new forms of transport became available. The first extension was from the Parramatta terminus (which was close to present day Granville) to Liverpool. This extension opened on the first anniversary of the Sydney-Parramatta line - 26 September 1856. The second extension was from Liverpool to Campbelltown in May 1858.
The current version of the New South Wales Railways includes CityRail, CountryLink and various freight services.
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