Bullocks, Camels and Horses continued

Horses

The use of railways and road transport trucks to carry materials around the State began to replace the use of animals in the first half of the twentieth century.  The construction of railway lines in particular, helped open up large tracts of country for farming between 1900 and 1930.  Other developments during this time included the launch of the first commercial airline passenger and freight service in the 1920s.

During the twentieth century horses and horse-drawn vehicles were replaced by tram and bus networks in the State's cities.  The growth of this public transport  in the first decades of the century was accompanied by a surge in the numbers of private automobiles and motorcycles on the roads.  Wealthy Western Australians maintained automobiles as status symbols, in preference to horses, and as the century progressed they became more affordable to the middle class.  By the 1930s the horse and buggy were a novelty in the cities.