was now isolated. On the occasions that a narrow gauge train needed to travel to Port Augusta or to Marree, the train would need to utilise a piggy back system. This arrangement saw the entire narrow gauge train loaded on top of a standard gauge train of flatcars and transported via standard gauge, then unloaded at the destination on to the existing narrow gauge. The first stage of returning narrow gauge train services to Port Augusta was the completion of of track rehabilitation between Woolshed Flat and Stirling North. This work included the complete replacement of sleepers and rail, re-timbering of several bridges and the construction of a turning triangle at Stirling North. Part of the $1.35 million Pichi Richi Railway Development Plan project, it was completed in 1999. The extension was opened on 24 October 1999 by former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Tim Fischer. It was announced in 2000 that funding was available through the State Government of South Australia, and the Port Augusta City Council to extend the train line from Stirling North in to Port Augusta railway station. However, there were significant works required for to complete this project. Crossing the standard gauge Because the existing narrow gauge between Stirling North and Port Augusta had been removed many years earlier, the challenge for the PRRPS was to develop an effective means of reinstating the narrow gauge in to Port Augusta. The greatest aspect to this challenge was how to cross over what remained of the standard gauge line to Marree, which had since been truncated at Telford Cut coal mine near Leigh Creek with the opening of the newer standard gauge line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980. This line to Leigh Creek was exclusively used for transporting coal from Leigh Creek to Northern Power Station, and branched off the main standard gauge network at Stirling North. Many options for crossing this line were investigated, including a draw bridge arrangement, diamond crossovers and an underpass. The final decision was an underpass, passing below the Leigh Creek coal train line, which greatly reduced the amount of safe working interfacing with the standard gauge line. Diagram. Project completion The remainder of the narrow gauge line was constructed parallel to the standard gauge into Port Augusta, arriving at Platform 2 at Port Augusta station. The rail for this project was sourced from the dismantled Cambrai to Apamurra railway