The Glenelg tram line is a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

/ light rail line in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. Apart from a short

street-running A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as ru ...

section in Glenelg, the line has its own reservation, with minimal interference from road traffic. The service is free in the city centre and along the route to the

Adelaide Entertainment Centre The Adelaide Entertainment Centre (AEC) is an indoor arena located in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is used for sporting and entertainment events. It is the principal venue for concerts, events and attractions for audiences bet ...

in Hindmarsh. The service is also free along the length of

Jetty Road, Glenelg Jetty Road in Glenelg is a major tourism and retail precinct in Adelaide, South Australia. Starting from Brighton Road, it is almost 1 kilometre long. At its western end is Moseley Square Moseley Square is a public square in the City of Ho ...

Moseley Square Moseley Square is a Town square, public square in the City of Holdfast Bay at Glenelg, South Australia, Glenelg, and was named for Henry J. Moseley, the builder and first publican of the Pier Hotel, Glenelg. Located between Jetty Road, Glenelg, ...

. Three routes in total operate on the network: Glenelg to the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

with select peak services that continue to the

; Glenelg to the Adelaide Festival Centre, which operates only on weekends and

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

event days; and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to the

Adelaide Botanic Garden The Adelaide Botanic Garden is a public garden at the north-east corner of the Adelaide city centre, in the Adelaide Park Lands. It encompasses a fenced garden on North Terrace (between Lot Fourteen, the site of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital ...

. A 1.6 kilometre northern extension through the city centre opened in October 2007, extending the line from Victoria Square along King William Street and North Terrace to

Morphett Street Morphett Street is a main street in the west of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia, parallel to King William Street and numbered from north to south. At its northern end it is part of the West End of Adelaide, a thriving cultural and ...

. A further 2.8 kilometre north western extension of the line along Port Road to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre opened in March 2010. A new junction and branch lines along the eastern end of North Terrace and King William Road opened in October 2018.

History

Inception

The line, originally named the Adelaide and Glenelg Railway, was built by a private company, the Adelaide, Glenelg & Suburban Railway Company, opening on 2 August 1873. The single track line was built to the broad gauge, commencing at the

Angas Street Angas Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

King William Street and followed that thoroughfare to

South Terrace South Terrace may refer to: *South Terrace, Adelaide, Australia *South Terrace, Fremantle, Australia {{Road disambiguation ...

, then ran through the South Parklands and the south-western suburbs on its own right of way to Brighton Road, Glenelg where street running recommenced, using

Jetty Road Jetty Road may refer to: * Jetty Road (band) *Jetty Road, Glenelg Jetty Road in Glenelg is a major tourism and retail precinct in Adelaide, South Australia. Starting from Brighton Road, it is almost 1 kilometre long. At its western end is Mose ...

to terminate outside the Pier Hotel on

. A depot was erected in the parklands at South Terrace.Glenelg century of rail transport '' Trolley Wire'' issue 147 August 1973 pages 3-7The Glenelg Line: Australia's First LRT ''Trolley Wide'' issue 185 December 1979 pages 3-11 It was operated by small 2-4-0 tank locomotives, hauling two-axle end loading passenger carriages and open wagons for cargo. Raised platforms were not provided, the carriages being provided with steps for ground level loading. Run round loops were installed at Glenelg and South Terrace, trains being propelled in one direction along King William Street. Special services operated to

Morphettville Racecourse Morphettville Racecourse is the main horse racing course for the Australian state of South Australia, incorporating two separate tracks. It is situated in the Adelaide suburb of Morphettville, and is about 10 km from the Adelaide city cen ...

after it opened in September 1873. Crossing loops were later installed at Goodwood and

South Plympton South Plympton is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Marion. South Plympton is bound by the Glenelg tram line to the north, Marion Road to the west, and Wood Street to the south; and it has a slightly complicated eastern boundary which include ...

. Patronage during the first few years of operation rose from 468,000 in the first year (1873–74) to 727,000 in 1877–88. On 24 May 1880, the Holdfast Railway Company opened the Holdfast Bay line from

Adelaide railway station Adelaide Railway Station is the central terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropolitan network eithe ...

to Glenelg. It used the tracks of the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Aust ...

(SAR) between Adelaide and

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

while a depot was built at St Leonards. Whilst one line was a profitable proposition, two were not, and both lines were almost immediately in financial trouble and merged to form the Glenelg Railway Company on 11 May 1882. A connecting line was laid along Brighton Road and the South Terrace depot closed. In 1882, a horse tramway was laid along King William Street parallel to the railway. Local services between Angas Street and Goodwood were introduced by the railway using a Merryweather tram motor with an unpowered Rowan car as a trailer. In 1883 the SAR's Belair line was extended towards the South Coast and crossed the Glenelg line at Goodwood station via a flat crossing. The Holdfast Bay line was the most unprofitable of the two, this being partly due to excessive charges by the SAR for use of its line. Moves were made to close the line but these met with strong opposition as closure would isolate Glenelg from the rest of the state. To overcome this it was proposed to lay in a connection at Goodwood. In December 1899, the private company was acquired by the SAR, who continued to operate the line as a steam railway. The Glenelg line was duplicated from Goodwood to Brighton Road by 1910. The Holdfast Bay line was also duplicated from Mile End to St Leonards by 1914 with raised platforms being provided at most stations. To help reduce working expenses it was proposed to deviate the Holdfast Bay line to join the other at Morphettville and although a line was built, no connection was made and it was only used for race traffic. The Adelaide tramways had been electrified and to enable the line in King William Street to be duplicated, the railway was cut back to South Terrace in 1914. Railway passengers were carried by tram to Victoria Square.

Municipal Tramways Trust

In 1927, ownership and operation transferred from the SAR to the

Municipal Tramways Trust The Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) was established by the Government of South Australia in December 1906 to purchase all of the horse-drawn tramways in Adelaide, Australia. The Trust subsequently also ran petrol and diesel buses and electric tr ...

(MTT). Steam trains ceased on 2 April 1929 and the line was closed to be rebuilt as a double track standard gauge, electrified at 600 V dc and converted to tramway operation. The

Goodwood Overpass The Goodwood Overpass carries the Glenelg tram line over the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line in Adelaide, Australia. History When originally built, the Glenelg tram line crossed over the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line via a Level junction, flat j ...

was constructed at this time, separating the new tram tracks from the conventional railway. The line was reopened on 14 December 1929 with the city terminus reverting to Victoria Square. The Holdfast Bay line closed on 15 December 1929 for conversion but this was not undertaken due to the onset of the Great Depression. Thirty H type trams were built for the line, with a design influenced by North American

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

streetcars of that era. There were one or two quirks in the earlier years, the most famous being the horse trams operated in the 1930s. These were trams specially constructed to carry race horses from stables located along the line to

.Trams
TransAdelaide This service was a carry-over from the days of the steam railway, which had also performed this function. Another unusual feature was operation of triple sets of H type trams in peak hours, and express trams that ran non-stop over a significant portion of the route. In 2006, only one express service remained. The line was the only route to survive the closure of Adelaide's street tramway network during the 1950s, saved largely by its high proportion of

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for trams (in the US, typically called a "private right-of-way"). Description Unlike street running track embedded in streets and roads, reserved track does not need t ...

, which enables fast journey for passengers and minimal interference with road traffic. In the mid-1970s around 3,000 trips to the city were made "on an average day". The depot was relocated on 19 October 1986 from the corner of

Angas Street Angas Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

Glengowrie Glengowrie () is a suburb of the Australian city of Adelaide, approximately 12 kilometres south west of the city centre. The name Glengowrie means " Glen of Gowrie", so called in honour of Lord Gowrie (formerly, Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ru ...

, close to Glenelg.

Renaissance

In the 21st century, a series of investments were made to improve and extend the line. This began in May 2003 when the South Australian Government announced an upgrade of the Glenelg line infrastructure and the introduction of new trams. Major work to upgrade the line took place between 5 June and 7 August 2005.

Concrete sleeper A concrete sleeper (British English) or concrete tie (American English) is a type of railway sleeper or railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete. History In 1877, Joseph Monier, a French gardener, suggested that concrete reinforced ...

s were installed and much of the track renewed in an intensive nine-week project. Most of the 21 tram stops were reconstructed with higher platforms to allow level access to the new low-floor trams. The overhead electrical supply was upgraded and some minor modifications were made to the H type trams and Glengowrie depot. Tram services were replaced with substitute bus services during this period. Services resumed on 8 August 2005. The terminus at Moseley Square was reconfigured in September 2005 as part of a general redevelopment of the square.

Extension to City West

AdelaideRailwayStationTramStopAdelaide-cropped

The South Australian Government announced a 1.2 kilometre extension from Victoria Square along King William Street to

and the western city campus of the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

in April 2005. An additional two

Bombardier Flexity Classic The Bombardier Flexity Classic is a model of light-rail tram manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Although it is marketed as the most traditionally designed member of the Flexity family, it is still a modern bi-directional articulated t ...

trams were ordered to cater for services on the city centre extension. Construction work on the extension commenced in early 2007. A new Victoria Square stop opened on 6 August 2007. The stop moved from the centre of the square to the western side. Testing of the extension began in September 2007. The extension opened on 14 October 2007. Initially, a shuttle service running between Victoria Square and City West tram stop was provided. Normal services continued to run between Victoria Square and Glenelg. A new timetable began on 15 October 2007 with through services from Glenelg to City West and a free shuttle service between South Terrace and City West.

South Road overpass

An overpass crossing

South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...

was announced in the 2007 South Australian Budget. The project was built in conjunction with the Anzac Highway Underpass. Construction by

McConnell Dowell McConnell Dowell is a major infrastructure construction company founded in New Zealand in 1961. In 2003 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Aveng, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. History McConnell Dowell was ...

commenced in July 2009. On 8 December 2009, the overpass opened to allow trams to pass over it, however the South Road tram stop was not operational until 15 March 2010.

Extension to Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Flexity Classic Light Rail vehicle at the Entertainment Centre

A$100 million extension to the

was announced in the 2008 South Australian Budget. Planning commenced soon after and the state cabinet approved the extension in November 2008. Construction work began on 11 May 2009. Testing began in February 2010 and the extension opened on 22 March 2010.

Extension to East End

After a lobbying campaign from businesses and institutions located in the area, a $50 million project to construct a one-kilometre branch along the eastern section of North Terrace was announced in the 2016 South Australian Budget. The extension enabled the creation of shuttle service between the old

and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Services operate every ten minutes. An expansion of the project was also announced in December 2016. This saw a 100-metre northern spur line constructed from North Terrace on King William Road. The intention was to avoid modifying the North Terrace-King William Road intersection twice - once for the East End extension, then again if future northernbound expansion goes ahead - by combining all the work into a single program. Three new trams were ordered. The changes resulted in an extra $20 million being added to the budget for the project. The eastern branch includes three new stops on North Terrace to service the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and Ayers House, while the northern branch will include a single stop on King William Road to service

Elder Park Elder Park is a public open space in the city of Adelaide, South Australia on the southern bank of the River Torrens and that is bordered by the Adelaide Festival Centre and North Terrace. The park is named after the Elder family who wer ...

and the Riverbank precinct. A tender to design and construct the project was called in December 2016. Preliminary works commenced in July 2017, with major works commencing in October, and are expected to be completed by early 2018. In August 2017, it was revealed that the planned rail junction at the North Terrace-King William Road intersection would be altered, disallowing trams to turn left onto King William Road from North Terrace. Further controversy arose in late 2017 when it was revealed that trams would also not be able to turn right onto North Terrace from King William Street, disallowing future services from Glenelg to continue directly to East End and beyond. Originally expected to be completed in early 2018, electrical faults pushed the opening date back to July 2018, while signalling faults uncovered during testing weeks before the scheduled opening date of 29 July further delayed the project. In addition, the company responsible for construction entered voluntary administration in August 2018. The extension was opened on 13 October 2018, with services running Glenelg to Royal Adelaide Hospital, with limited peak services continuing to Entertainment Centre, and Entertainment Centre to Botanic Gardens. A route running from Glenelg to Festival Plaza runs only on weekends and Adelaide Oval event days.

Routes

On 13 October 2018, following the opening of the Botanic Gardens and Festival Plaza extensions, the network timetable was restructured and new routes opened to service the new stations. The primary route from Glenelg was curtailed to terminate at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and two additional routes were introduced to leave three routes in total: * Glenelg to Royal Adelaide Hospital: typical 5-minute frequency, select peak services continue to Entertainment Centre * Glenelg to Festival Plaza: operates only on weekends and Adelaide Oval event days * Entertainment Centre to Botanic Gardens: typical 10-minute frequency

Controversy

Due to the increased popularity of the service beyond the city after the City West extension, the trams service dramatically exceeded its capacity, with over 100,000 extra trips for the three months from November 2007, compared the same period the previous year. This resulted in intensive overcrowding on board the trams, and many passengers were unable to board trams during peak hours. The extension of the tramway along King William Street and North Terrace was blamed by critics for increased congestion within the centre of Adelaide, but no actual evidence of this occurring was identified. There have been a small number of minor derailments along the tramway, including one on Melbourne Cup Day, 6 November 2007. On several occasions, some Flexity trams experienced breakdown problems.

References

External links

Glenelg tram (Adelaide Metro)Bill's Glenelg tram pages
{{TramsAustralia Transport in Adelaide Light rail in Australia Tram transport in South Australia 5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Australia Standard gauge railways in Australia 1873 establishments in Australia