I have a long-held and controversial opinion for someone from the eastern states: I love Adelaide.

Ever since I began my frequent visits in 2010, this beautiful, quiet and oft-maligned city has grown on me immensly.

It also has a large passenger rail network for an Australian city of its size (six lines and 89 stations).

However, when South Australia gave control of its non-metropolitan rail network to the Commonwealth Government in 1978, this triggered a steady decline in the number of freight and passenger operations across the state.

Today, there are no revenue passenger rail trains in operation in South Australia other than Adelaide Metro and four of Australia’s five interstate services.

This map assumes that all of that changes over the next few decades. I am not saying that any of this is necessarily likely or desireable – just a random thought experiment.