Outer Harbor railway line

The Outer Harbor railway line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Adelaide station through the north western suburbs to Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor. It is 21.9 kilometres in length, and shares part of its run with the Grange line. It is operated by Adelaide Metro.

Outer Harbor railway line
3000 class railcar travelling along the Port River bridge
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Glanville (morning peak only) Osborne (peak only) Outer Harbor
Stations	22
Operation
Opened	1856 (to Port Dock) 1908 (to Outer Harbor)
Operator(s)	Adelaide Metro
Rolling stock	3000/3100 class and 2000 class Railcar
Technical
Line length	21.9 km (13.6 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (to Midlunga) 1 (to Outer Harbor)
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map km Balloon loop closed 1980s 21.9 Outer Harbor Golf course entrance Klingberg Drive 20.5 North Haven Osborne Road 19.6 Osborne 18.8 Midlunga Gedville Road 18.2 Taperoo Strathfield Terrace 17.2 Draper Kolapore Avenue 16.4 Largs North Fletcher Road Jetty Road 15.5 Largs Largs Jetty closed 1908 Wills Street Hargrave Street 14.6 Peterhead Harris Street State Route A16 ( Semaphore Road ) Semaphore line 13.8 Glanville Birkenhead Loop to Pelican Point Hart Street 13.1 Ethelton Wirra Drive Port River Old Port Road Church Street 11.7 Port Adelaide over Commercial Road Lipson Street National Railway Museum 12.0 Port Dock State Route A16 ( Grand Jn Road ) Rosewater Loop to Dry Creek 10.2 Alberton Fussell Place 9.2 Cheltenham 8.7 Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham Parade 8.6 St Clair Finsbury line Grange line 7.5 Woodville Woodville Road 7.5 Woodville Park Kilkenny Road/David Terrace 6.0 Kilkenny Private road 5.1 West Croydon over Rosetta street 4.2 Croydon Queen Street/Elizabeth Street State Route A2 ( South Road ) Coglin Street Chief Street East Street 2.7 Bowden (original site) 1956–2017 Adelaide Entertainment Centre Gibson Street 2.4 Bowden State Route A21 ( Park Terrace ) Adelaide-Port Augusta line Gawler line Torrens Bridge River Torrens to Melbourne Belair, Seaford and Tonsley lines Adelaide Depot closed 2011 Royal Adelaide Hospital City West Montefiore Road 0.0 Adelaide Glenelg tram line km Victorian broad gauge standard gauge narrow gauge dual gauge Glenelg tram line

Since 2016, the line has been used as a shuttle for cruise liner passengers heading for Adelaide, with additional services provided.

History

Opening in 1856, the railway between Adelaide and Port Dock railway station was the second railway in the colony of South Australia, and the first government-owned railway in the British Empire. Port Adelaide junction was created when the railway was extended to cross the Port River to Le Fevre Peninsula. As industry developed on the west side of the Port River, and deeper harbour was required. Initially, this was at Semaphore, with the railway extended in 1882 as the now-closed Semaphore railway line to service the overseas shipping jetty there. The Outer Harbor was developed and the railway extended from Glanville railway station to service it.

Renewal

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The line between Port Adelaide Junction and Glanville was dual gauge until early December 2009 when the standard gauge rails were removed. Outer Harbor had a balloon loop railway so that trains could be turned around without shunting or requiring a turntable or triangle. The loop was cut when rail freight moved off the broad gauge Outer Harbor railway to the nearby standard gauge line on the eastern side of the peninsula.

Various plans to modify the line have been proposed. In 2008, the State Government announced a plan to rebuild the Outer Harbour line in preparation for the line to be electrified with the Federal Government also to provide funding.[1] In the 2011 budget, it was announced that electrification of the Outer Harbor line had been deferred until 2016.[2] In June 2012, the project was cancelled.[3]

In May 2016, the State Government announced 1.4 kilometres of the line would be lowered in a grade separation project to pass below the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler lines with a new Bowden station being built as part of the project.[4][5] In December 2016 the contract was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, AECOM and KBR.[6]

As of 2016, the State Government was again considering electrifying the line or converting it to light rail. A 2016 report into potential light rail projects in Adelaide considered two options for the future of the line. The first option would electrify the heavy rail line and provide a short spur-line to central Port Adelaide. The second option would convert the line to light rail and add a new on-street branch to Semaphore. A light rail conversion would also require the conversion or closure of the Grange line - several options for the future of that line were also presented.[7] In 2017, there had also been a proposal by the state government for a spur line into Port Adelaide, which did not go ahead.[8][9]

In January 2017, the line was closed for three weeks alongside the Grange line for the building of an overpass over South Road and the North–South Motorway.[10][11]

Torrens Junction separation

There are a total of five railway tracks on three bridges in parallel across the River Torrens. North of this bridge, the two tracks of the Gawler railway line continues north, as does the standard gauge railway track, while the two tracks of the Outer Harbor line swing away northwest. Until late 2017, the Outer Harbor tracks were the pair between the Gawler tracks on the east and the standard gauge track which was built in 1982 on the west. This meant that Outer Harbor and Grange trains had to cross the track that carries rail freight between Melbourne and the main freight terminals in Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. In 2017, the Torrens Junction project worked to remove this operational conflict. The outcome was to make the Gawler trains use the central pair of tracks, while the Outer Harbor line now uses the eastern pair across the bridge, then descends into a trench and passes underneath the Gawler and standard gauge lines and Park Terrace which had previously been a busy level crossing. The Bowden railway station was also demolished and rebuilt at a new lower level.[12]

The Outer Harbor line was closed (and consequently also Grange services) along with a portion of the Gawler line in April, June, July, and August 2017 to work on the Torrens Rail Junction Project.[13][14][15][16] The entire line was closed on 24 September 2017, and reopened on 15 January 2018, having been delayed from a December 3 opening.[17]

Route

The line is double track from Adelaide to Midlunga, then single for the final three kilometres to Outer Harbour. The northern section of the line runs along the middle of the narrow Lefevre Peninsula with stations at regular intervals.[18] The line's services are operated by 3000 class railcars.

Line guide

Outer Harbor Line
Name	Distance from Adelaide	Year opened	Serving suburbs	Connections
Adelaide	0.0 km	1856	Adelaide	Train transfers to Belair, Gawler, Grange, Seaford & Tonsley lines Tram transfers Bus transfers
Bowden	2.4 km	1856	Bowden
Croydon	4.2 km	1888	Croydon
West Croydon	5.1 km	1915	West Croydon
Kilkenny	6.0 km	1881	Kilkenny, Woodville Park
Woodville Park	7.5 km	1936	Woodville, Woodville Park
Woodville	7.5 km	1856	St Clair, Woodville	Train transfers to Grange Bus transfers
St Clair	8.6 km	2014	St Clair, Woodville
Cheltenham	9.2 km	1959	Cheltenham
Alberton	10.2 km	1856	Alberton
Port Adelaide	11.7 km	1916	Port Adelaide	Bus transfers
Ethelton	13.1 km	1916	Ethelton, New Port
Glanville	13.8 km	1878	Glanville, New Port	Bus transfers
Peterhead	14.6 km	1911	Birkenhead, Exeter, Peterhead
Largs	15.5 km	1907	Largs Bay
Largs North	16.4 km	1916	Largs North
Draper	17.2 km	??	Largs North
Taperoo	18.2 km	1908	Taperoo
Midlunga	18.8 km	1921	Osborne
Osborne	19.6 km	1908	North Haven, Osborne
North Haven	20.5 km	1981	North Haven
Outer Harbor	21.9 km	1926	North Haven, Outer Harbor

Services

The Outer Harbor line shares part of its route with the Grange line. All passenger train services are operated by 3000/3100 class railcars. Trains run every 30 minutes between 5am and 9pm on weekdays and weekends. Until April 21, 2018, trains ran on an hourly schedule after 9pm.[19] There are no frequent express services on the line, with the only exception being the Osborne service which runs express from Adelaide to Woodville then all stations to Osborne during peak periods only.

References

1. 2008/09 State Budget Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine South Australian Department of Treasury & Finance June 2008
2. Martin, Sarah (10 June 2011). "SA State Budget 11 - $200m in rail revitalisation work delayed". Adelaide Advertiser. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
3. South Australia cuts back Adelaide electrification International Railway Journal 8 June 2012
4. Torrens Rail Junction Project Department of Transport, Planning & Infrastructure
5. Adelaide rail upgrade project to separate passenger and freight lines on Outer Harbor line ABC News 6 May 2016
6. Torrens Rail Junction Upgrade Laing O'Rourke 19 December 2016
7. "AdeLINK Multi-Criteria Analysis Summary Report" (PDF). Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure. 2016. pp. 11–13.
8. Kemp, Miles (24 June 2017). "State Budget 2017: Trains return to the heart of Port Adelaide after a 36-year absence". The Advertiser.
9. Adelaide's public transport going back to the future under Stephan Knoll ABC News, 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
10. Major works kick off to remove one of Adelaide’s worst level crossings Archived 13 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine Premier of South Australia 2 January 2017
11. Outer Harbor & Grange line closure January 2 - January 23 2017 Archived 12 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure
12. Kemp, Miles (13 September 2017). "Major disruption to Outer Harbor and Gawler train lines as work starts on Park Tce underpass". The Advertiser. news.com.au. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
13. Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler rail line closures
14. Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler train lines temporary closures June long weekend
15. Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler line July closure
16. SA, Service. "Adelaide Metro - UPDATE : Outer Harbor and Grange rail line reopening Mond..." www.adelaidemetro.com.au. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
17. SA, Service. "Adelaide Metro - UPDATE : Outer Harbor and Grange rail line reopening Mond..." www.adelaidemetro.com.au. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
18. Outer Harbor & Grange timetable Adelaide Metro 23 February 2014
19. More train services, more often from 22 April

• Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. M. Thompson pub. Port Dock Station Railway Museum (1988) ISBN 0-9595073-6-1

External links

• Outer Harbor to City - Adelaide Metro website