starting in august 1929, "the ghan" first ran on the central australian railway. this was a narrow-gauge railway that went to alice springs. in 1957, the standard gauge stirling north to marree line opened, so the train only ran north of marree. in october 1980 a new standard gauge line was built to the west of the original line. this was later extended north from alice springs to darwin, opening in january 2004.