The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a railway on the Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula

Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...

 of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. The system is isolated from the rest of the South Australian railway network.

Overview

The network consists of about 600km of route and carries mainly wheat and gypsum

Gypsum

Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...

. The railway is separated from the main system, and there has never been any justification for a connection to the main system.

Iron ore

With the prospective development of iron ore traffic, a new port at Sheep Hill

Sheep Hill, South Australia

Sheep Hill is a proposed port in South Australia for the export of iron ore. The port would be built by Centrex Metals.- Transport :It is located about 20km northeast of Tumby Bay and would be served by a 27km narrow gauge branchline from Ungarra on the Eyre Peninsular Railway. The port would...

 north of Tumby Bay has been mooted. This would require a 27km branchline from Ungarra and upgrading of the remaining track.