Northern Territory southwards to Mataranka. This was in keeping with a changed Commonwealth viewpoint – that the start of the transcontinental railway was to be in the Northern Territory, not South Australia. The committee's report, completed in late 1922, recommended that the Port Darwin to Katherine River railway be extended to Daly Waters and eventually be extended further south to Newcastle Waters before heading to the Queensland border, and that a light line be built from Oodnadatta to Alice Springs. Further, when the time arrived for construction of a transcontinental railway, the route that would be in the best interests of Australia should be selected. When the report had been accepted, further delays occurred and it was not until 1926 – 14 years after assuming ownership – that the federal government assumed actual control of the line and named it the North Australia Railway; it also took over the Central Australia Railway. In 1929, the Commonwealth Railways extended the North Australia Railway southwards to what was to be its final terminus, Birdum, and extended the Central Australia Railway northwards to its final terminus at Alice Springs. There remained a gap of more than 800 km (500 mi) to be bridged before Australia's ambitions could be fulfilled. Operation In the early years of its operation under Commonwealth control, traffic was light, which, given its light engineering, was for the best. In 1930, a mixed (i.e., freight and passenger) train, which Territorians had nicknamed Leaping Lena, ran to an established timetable: depart Darwin at 08:00 on Wednesdays arrive at Pine Creek at 16:46 depart Pine Creek at 08:00 on Thursdays arrive at Katherine at 11:00 on Fridays depart Katherine at 12:00 arrive at Birdum at 17:51 on Fridays. The leisurely pace was to vanish in 1942. World War II On the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Australian Army surveyed a rail route for the gap between Birdum and Alice Springs, on which freight had to be carried by road vehicles, but a line was not constructed. The railway experienced very heavy traffic since it was a strategic route to operations north of Australia. In 1944, as many as 147 trains ran per week. Larrimah, kilometres north of Birdum, was used as the railhead because, unlike Birdum, it was on the Stuart Highway. Some wartime improvements were made, however, including new locomotive depots, expanded workshops and additional locomotive water supplies. However, personnel,