Willunga railway line

The Willunga railway line ran through the southern Adelaide suburbs[2] from Adelaide railway station to Willunga, over 45-kilometre (28 mi) long (longer than the current Gawler line, 42.2 kilometres (26.2 mi)). The line was opened in Willunga by the Governor of South Australia Sir Henry Galway on 20 January 1915,[3] and initially had 16 stopping places between Adelaide and Willunga.[1] It closed beyond Hallett Cove in 1969 and was dismantled in 1972. The Seaford railway line continues from Hallett Cove along a different alignment before rejoining the route of the old line between Seaford Road and Griffiths Drive.

Map of the line

Willunga railway line
Reynella railway station in 1968
Overview
Type	goods and passengers
System	South Australian Railways
Status	closed and removed
Locale	South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Willunga
Operation
Opened	20 January 1915 (1915-01-20)
Closed	1969 (1969)
Technical
Track gauge	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Minimum radius	12 chains (790 ft; 240 m)[1]
Highest elevation	437 ft (133 m) ruling grade: 1 in 45[1]
Route map km to Adelaide 21.4 Hallett Cove Hallett Cove (original site) 1915–74 Seaford line Patpa 26.4 Happy Valley 28.2 Reynella 29.6 Pimpala 30.8 Coorara 32.2 Morphett Vale Yetto 34.5 Hackham Korro 38.9 Noarlunga Seaford Moana Tuni McLaren Vale Pikkara Willunga

The original corridor remains as the 34-kilometre (21 mi) long Coast to Vines Rail Trail. There is some evidence of railway track remaining on this trail, notably near the South Road crossing at Hackham, the top of the Seaford Hill and a small section of track in a paddock adjacent to Victor Harbor Road, McLaren Vale. Occasionally, rails surface through the bitumen at Field Street, McLaren Vale. At Morphett Vale, there is a partially buried platform. There is also some concrete foundations on the platform. These structures are thought to be remains from the Morphett Vale railway station.

At the time of its opening, there was a proposal to extend it to Second Valley to connect with coastal steam shipping to Kangaroo Island for holidays, with the route already approved as far as Normanville and Yankalilla.[1] This extension was never built.

References

1. "WILLUNGA RAILWAY". The Advertiser. LVII (17, 554). South Australia. 19 January 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 29 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
2. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October, 1965 pp181-192
3. "Banquet at Willunga". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2015.