Port Dock railway station – named Port Adelaide until 1916 – was located in the commercial centre of

Port Adelaide, South Australia Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

at the corner of St Vincent Street and Lipson Street. It was the original terminus of the railway between

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 ...

and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, which opened in 1856. After closure in 1981, the passenger station site was redeveloped as the

Port Adelaide Police Station and Magistrates' Court A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

. The former goods yard, adjacent to Lipson Street, is now occupied by the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

. Several proposals have been advanced to build a new station, including a budgeted project by the

government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

in 2019, but none has proceeded to funding.Adelaide's public transport going back to the future under Stephan Knoll
ABC News, 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.

History

The station was opened with the line from

in April 1856 and for the first sixty years until 1916, it was the only railway station in town and known simply as Port Adelaide. The original station was quite an impressive structure, with a large curved roof over the platforms. Facing St Vincent Street was a two-storey stone building, which also included a tower. The two side platforms were about 120–150 metres in length each, and the platform architecture was the same as the platforms at the

Bowden Bowden may refer to: Places Australia * Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland * Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide * Bowden railway station Canada * Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta England * Bowde ...

and Alberton stations. In February 1868 a direct line was built from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide to allow goods and minerals from the state's mid-north and the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...

to reach the Port directly, without needing to travel via Adelaide. In 1878 a railway was opened from Port Adelaide to

Semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arra ...

. This followed a different route to today's line as far as Glanville. The

Semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

emerged from the western side of Port Adelaide station, travelled down the middle of St Vincent Street and crossed the Port River via the Jervois Bridge before curving to join the current alignment of the Outer Harbor line into Glanville station. Steam trains travelled through Port Adelaide's commercial centre at walking speed, with the locomotive crew ringing a bell. Even at that time this arrangement was unsatisfactory for both local citizens and the railway operators. By the end of the 19th century the goods yard had become very busy with imports and exports and there was a large engine shed and turntable to service the various steam locomotives working in the area. A number of railway lines extended from the station yard via city streets to the wharves and various private sidings. Occasional passenger boat trains also travelled directly to the wharves, transferring passengers to and from ocean-going ships which berthed in the inner harbour at the time. Congestion around Port Adelaide yard resulted in the opening of the Rosewater Loop line in 1915 and construction of the Commercial Road viaduct, which opened in 1916. The viaduct line continued over a new bridge across the Port River and joined the existing line to

and Outer Harbor at Glanville. A high-level station was opened on the viaduct, Port Adelaide Commercial Road. The original Port Adelaide station was renamed Port Dock to differentiate the two. After 1916, the frequent trains to and from Adelaide mostly continued to

or Outer Harbor via the new line and Commercial Road became the main railway station. Port Dock continued to be served by irregular trains from Adelaide and by peak hour workings to Dry Creek via the Rosewater Loop.

Decline

By the second half of the 20th century, the various lines leading through the streets to the wharves were cut back. Wharf access was firstly restricted to the Canal branch, then disconnected completely. Boat train traffic transferred to Outer Harbor and in due course was also eliminated. Port Dock Station then became something of a backwater. The original buildings and remains of the arch roof were removed in 1963 and replaced with new buildings in the utilitarian style of that era. The station platforms were rebuilt to a length of about 70–80 metres to accommodate a maximum of three railcars, although it was very rare for a 3-car set to terminate at Port Dock. The station was finally closed in September 1981. The station platforms were removed in 1987 while the redundant sidings and goods sheds were redeveloped as a Bicentennial Project to house the former Mile End Railway Museum. The

opened on its site in Lipson Street in December 1988.

New station project

In 2017, $16.4 million was allocated in the

state budget A government budget is a document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educat ...

for a new station to be built next to Baker Street, near the original site. It was to be at the end of a new 1.0 km (1100 yard) spur line off the existing Outer Harbor rail line, using the existing corridor beside the

that connects to the

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 ru ...

. However, in June 2019 when some museum track had already been dismantled, the development was "put on hold" while a North West Planning Study was conducted; a forecast cost increase to $40 million was cited.For a double mainline connection and signalling, a 300-metre loop, about 700 metres of new line, a level crossing and basic station. On-ground preparatory work was reversed in January 2020.

Notes

References

External links