serve coal mines, steel works, notably the Port Kembla steel works, formerly operated by BHP (now BlueScope) and quarries, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Though both networks are publicly owned, services on Sydney's light rail network are operated by Transdev Sydney and Sydney Metro services are operated by Metro Trains Sydney. Foreign railways Because parts of New South Wales are closer to adjacent states than the state owned railway, foreign lines of different gauges have extended short distances into New South Wales. These include: Silverton Tramway from South Australia to Broken Hill via Silverton – gauge Queensland Railways' South Coast line from Queensland to Tweed Heads – gauge. This line operated from 1903 to 1961 when the Qld Government closed the line Several hundred metres of gauge from the break-of-gauge station at Wallangarra, Queensland into yards in Jennings, NSW which remains in place The Deniliquin line was the first gauge line to be extended into the state. Permission was granted to the Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company by the New South Wales Government in 1874 to construct a line long line from Moama to Deniliquin, connecting with the Victorian Railways system at the Murray Bridge, near Echuca and the line was opened in 1876. This was followed in 1906 when an agreement was made between both states for the Victorian Railways Goulburn Valley line to be extended north into Tocumwal. Opened in 1908, both states shared construction costs for the line but the profit (or loss) would be Victoria's. The final stage was in 1917 when the Border Railway Commission (made up be representatives of both states) recommended favourably on the construction of four additional Victorian lines into New South Wales, culminating in the 1922 Border Railways Acts of both states. The Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company was taken in 1923 at a cost of £165,000. New construction included the Balranald, Oaklands, Stony Crossing, and Lette lines. Only the Deniliquin and Oaklands lines are still open for traffic. Balranald was closed in stages from 1986 to 2008. Stony Crossing line was closed beyond the Victorian border in 1943. The Lette line was never opened. Construction, which began in 1926, reached Koorakee before further work was abandoned in 1943. See also History of rail transport in Australia John Whitton (1820–1898), the engineer-in-charge for the New South Wales Government Railways, serving between 1856 and 1899, considered the father