be adopted as the standard for Australia; that no mechanical, third rail, or other device would meet the situation, and that uniformity could be secured by one means only, viz., by conversion of the gauges other than 4-ft. 8.5-in." By the 1950s, interstate traffic was suffering from the break-of-gauge at the New South Wales state border, and a parallel standard gauge line was opened from the Melbourne to join the New South Wales system in 1962, along with a bogie exchange depot to allow wagons to operate across the broad and standard gauge networks. The second interstate link from Victoria to Adelaide (the oldest single-gauge inter-capital line dating from 1887) was converted from broad to standard gauge in 1995 enabling rail traffic from Victoria to access the rest of the nation without disruption. Today, the standard gauge network consists of the two main interstate lines, and a number of branch lines in the far west of the state. Gauge conversion of 2000 kilometres of track was announced in May 2001 by the Victorian Government under the Linking Victoria program, but did not proceed due to the difficulty of achieving any agreement with then track manager, Freight Australia. The works would have covered 13 lines, including the Mildura line via Geelong, Ballarat, and Maryborough; the north western Victorian grain network; and the lines centred upon Seymour and Benalla in the north east. Conversion of the regional and suburban passenger networks is not envisioned. In 2008, the conversion of the North East line was announced, with the conversion of of broad gauge track to standard gauge between Seymour and Albury providing double track along the section. The Murray Basin Rail Project, commenced in 2014, aimed to convert the Mildura, Manangatang, and Sea Lake lines to standard gauge, in order to allow the grain traffic in the state's north-west to access the ports of Portland, Geelong, and Melbourne, and to enable other freight on the lines to access the national standard gauge network. The converted Mildura line reopened in 2018, but standardisation of the Sea Lake and Manangatang lines was deferred until 2020 due to the collapse of the major works contract. Loading gauge The Victorian loading gauge for vehicles is sized between that of British and American practices. Wagons may be up to long, wide, and carry loads up to 4.27 metres above the rail height. Double stacking of container wagons is