Editing Nullarbor Plain (section)

== Communications and transport ==

===Telegraph===
The need for a communications link across the continent was the spur for the development of an east–west crossing. Once Eyre had proved that a link between South Australia and Western Australia was possible, efforts to connect them via [[telegraphy|telegraph]] began. In 1877, after two years of labour, the first messages were sent on the new telegraph line, boosted by eight [[repeater]] stations along the way. The line operated for about 50 years before being superseded, and remnants of it remain visible.

===Railway line===
The [[Trans-Australian Railway]] railway line crosses the Nullarbor Plain from [[Kalgoorlie railway station|Kalgoorlie]] to [[Port Augusta railway station|Port Augusta]]. Construction of the line began in 1917, when two teams set out from Kalgoorlie and Port Augusta, meeting in the centre of the plain at [[Ooldea]], an uninhabited area noted for a water supply. This original line suffered severe problems with track flexing and settling in the desert sands, and journeys across the Plain were slow and arduous. The line was entirely rebuilt in 1969, as part of a project to standardise the previously disparate [[rail gauge]]s in the various states, and the first crossing of the Nullarbor on the new line reached Perth on 27 February 1970. The ''[[Indian Pacific]]'' is a weekly passenger train crossing the Nullarbor from [[East Perth railway station|Perth]] to [[Central railway station, Sydney|Sydney]] via [[Adelaide Parklands Terminal|Adelaide]].

The railway line has the longest straight section of railway in the world ({{convert|478|km|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}),<ref>{{cite news | first=Peter | last=Vincent | title=Railroaded into Fun | date=27 September 2006 | url =http://www.theage.com.au/news/peter-vincent/railroaded-into-fun/2006/09/25/1159036475813.html?page=2 | work =[[The Age]]| access-date = 25 January 2008 }}</ref> while the [[Eyre Highway]] (refer below) contains the longest straight section of tarred road in Australia ({{convert|146|km|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}).

Most of the inhabited areas of the Nullarbor Plain can be found in a series of small settlements located along the railway, and in small settlements along the Eyre Highway that provide services to travellers, mostly spaced between one and two hundred kilometres apart. The town of [[Cook, South Australia]], was formerly a moderately thriving settlement of about 40 people, with a school and a golf course. The reduction of railway operations at the town resulted in its virtual desertion, and it now has a permanent population of four. The ''[[Tea & Sugar]]'' operated until 1996, supplying provisions to the town along the railway line.

===Road===
[[File:90mile video gn.mov.webm|thumb|travelling east across Australia's longest stretch of straight road at dusk]]
The [[Eyre Highway]], which connects [[Norseman, Western Australia|Norseman]] in Western Australia to Port Augusta, was carved across the continent in 1941. At first it was little more than a rough track but was gradually sealed over the next thirty years. The last unsealed section of the Eyre Highway was finally sealed in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/federation/iss/078_road.htm|title=Road links to the East
|publisher=State Library of Western Australia|access-date=2008-09-27}}</ref> Unlike the railway, though, it crosses the plain at its southernmost edge rather than through the centre.

The unsealed Trans Access Road closely follows the [[Trans-Australian Railway]], running all the way from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta and onward. It services the numerous cattle and sheep stations that populate the Western side of the Nullarbor and affords access to rail maintenance teams. It is a brutally rough road and—despite the amount of traffic it carries—is poorly maintained.