Railways in Adelaide
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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 ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, consists of four lines (six including two short spurs) and 89 stations, totalling 132 km. It is operated by
Keolis Downer Keolis Downer is a joint venture between Keolis, the largest private sector French transport group, and Downer Rail, an Australian railway engineering company, that operates bus and tram services in Australia. History In June 2009, the Victor ...
under contract from 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 ...
, and is part of the citywide
Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...
public transport system. All lines around Adelaide were originally broad gauge. The main interstate lines out of Adelaide towards
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and Darwin have been progressively converted to , but the suburban system and a few freight-only branch lines to the north remain broad gauge.


Operators

Rail services around Adelaide are provided by a mixture of private and government-owned organisations. The
Department for Infrastructure & Transport The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT), formerly the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), is a large department of the government of South Australia. The website was renamed , but without a formal announce ...
(DIT) owns the suburban passenger rail network, comprising six lines originating 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 ...
on North Terrace in the CBD. Since January 2021, operation of the network has been contracted to
Keolis Downer Keolis Downer is a joint venture between Keolis, the largest private sector French transport group, and Downer Rail, an Australian railway engineering company, that operates bus and tram services in Australia. History In June 2009, the Victor ...
. The
Australian Rail Track Corporation The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is an Australian Government-owned statutory corporation. It operates one of the largest rail networks in the nation spanning 8,500km across five states, 39 worksites and more than 50 First Nations. ...
(ARTC), an agency of the
Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
, owns standard gauge interstate lines heading north and south, together with the
dual gauge In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...
freight-only branch from Dry Creek to Port Adelaide and Pelican Point. The ARTC lines bypass the city to the west and do not enter the CBD. The ARTC network extends from Adelaide towards Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Darwin and is used by substantial interstate freight traffic. Freight trains are operated by a number of private operators, which have access agreements with rail network owners such as the ARTC. The largest of these is
Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...
, which handles the majority of interstate traffic and has the largest locomotive fleet. Other logistics companies also operate freight trains to and from interstate destinations and within South Australia.
One Rail Australia One Rail Australia is an Australian rail freight operator company. Founded by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 1997 as Australian Southern Railroad, and later renamed Genesee & Wyoming Australia, it was renamed One Rail Australia in February 2020 af ...
owns the remaining broad-gauge lines beyond the Adelaide suburban network. These are a handful of lines used mainly to move bulk grain and stone from the Barossa Valley and mid-north region of the state to the Port Adelaide area.
Journey Beyond Journey Beyond is the business name (together with more than a dozen other related names) of Experience Australia Group Pty Ltd, a private equity-owned company known mainly for operating Australian interstate experiential tourism trains (''The ...
is a private company operating long-distance passenger trains on ARTCs standard gauge lines, and run from the
Adelaide Parklands Terminal Adelaide Parklands Terminal, formerly known as Keswick Terminal, is the interstate passenger railway station in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the only station in the world where passengers can board trains on both north-south and east-west ...
, just west of the CBD. Journey Beyond's trains are the ''
Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, like ...
'' to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, ''
The Ghan ''The Ghan'' is an experiential tourism oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor. O ...
'' to
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
and Darwin, ''
The Overland ''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...
'' to
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and the seasonal '' Great Southern'' to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
. There have been no intrastate regional passenger services in South Australia since 1990. There are presently two heritage railways in South Australia run by volunteers, but none of these are in the Adelaide area.
SteamRanger The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is a long broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line, South Australia, Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South ...
is based at Mount Barker and runs services through to Victor Harbor. The
Pichi Richi Railway The Pichi Richi Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia between Quorn and Port Augusta. For much of its length the line lies in the picturesque Pichi Richi Pass, where the line was complete ...
is considerably more distant from Adelaide, based at
Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...
, and runs services through to
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...
.


History


Early days

In 1856, the first steam train ran between Adelaide 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 ...
, stopping at
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 ...
, Woodville and Alberton. Soon after, a 40 km line was built from the
Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...
to
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 ...
to cater for the agricultural and mining industries. The South Line, through the Adelaide Hills, opened to
Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...
, then Nairne in 1883, and extended to Bordertown in 1886. The first through train between Adelaide and
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
– '' The Intercolonial Express'' – ran on 19 January 1887, and was the first intercapital rail journey in Australia without changing trains at a
break-of-gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...
station. Most of the lines around Adelaide were built before 1900.


The Webb Era

Despite the earlier geographic expansion, by 1920 the infrastructure and rolling stock of
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 Austr ...
(SAR) had become run down, inadequate and outdated. Many of the operating practices, such as train control and signalling, were backward by the standards of the time. However the 1920s saw substantial and expensive improvements in most facets of the SAR's operations under the leadership of Railways Commissioner William Webb. Webb was an American who had substantial operational experience with US railroads, and served as Commissioner between 1922 and 1930. During his reign, track, bridges, railway workshops, rolling stock and especially steam locomotives were all modernised and upgraded along essentially American lines. Adelaide station was rebuilt with a handsome sandstone building as a showpiece of the city on North Terrace. The building still stands; the lower level remains as the railway station, but the upper levels have been converted into a casino. In 1929, one of the original broad-gauge steam railways to the beach-side suburb of Glenelg was transferred 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 t ...
, electrified and converted to a tramway. The
Glenelg tram line The Glenelg tram line is a tram/ light rail line in Adelaide. Apart from a short street-running section in Glenelg, the line has its own reservation, with minimal interference from road traffic. The service is free in the city centre and a ...
is still in operation.


SAR, STA and AN

From early colonial days up until 1978 the SAR had built and operated most of the railway system within the state. The
Commonwealth Railways The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975. O ...
(CR), owned by the Federal Government, also had a significant role in the northern part of SA, with lines from Port Augusta across the
Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...
to
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
, and to Marree and
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
. None of its lines came close to Adelaide. During the early 1970s the Whitlam Federal Government proposed a strategy to nationalise and standardise the various state rail systems around Australia. South Australia and
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
were the only states to participate in this initiative and negotiations were long and drawn out. The result was that in March 1978 the SAR became defunct and South Australia's railways were split between Commonwealth and State Government ownership. A new Commonwealth Government organisation,
Australian National Railways Commission The Australian National Railways Commission was an agency of the Government of Australia that was a railway operator between 1975 and 1998. It traded as Australian National Railways (ANR) in its early years, before being rebranded as Australian ...
(ANR), took over all the former SAR and CR track in South Australia outside the metropolitan area. Other rail facilities such as property and workshops were also transferred to ANR. ANR become Australian National (AN) as it refined its corporate identity. The State Government retained ownership and control of tracks and trains in the Adelaide suburban area under the auspices of the State Transport Authority (STA). The STA had been created in 1974 to co-ordinate all public transport in South Australia. In 1994 the STA was abolished and reformed as the government-owned corporate body
TransAdelaide TransAdelaide was a publicly owned corporation established on 4 July 1994 which provided suburban train, tram and bus services in Adelaide, South Australia, under contract to the Government of South Australia. It took over these responsibilitie ...
as a prelude to competitive tendering for operation of bus and rail services in metropolitan Adelaide. TransAdelaide subsequently lost all its bus services to private operators, but has retained the contracts to operate train and tram services. In November 1997, AN was broken up and sold as part of a Federal Government privatisation agenda. Track, workshops, depots and passenger and freight operations were sold to various private organisations, which has led to today's operational structure described in an earlier section.


Electrification projects


Seaford and Belair Line electrification

In 2008, the South Australian government announced, in collaboration with the Federal government, a plan to upgrade and electrify the Seaford line and Belair line. Work on electrification of both of the lines began in January 2013. Works on the Belair line completed in mid-July 2013, and electric train services began in February 2014 on the Seaford Line.


Gawler Line electrification

Previously cancelled in 2013, electrification of the Gawler railway line was announced in 2018. Though Stage 1 electrification as far as Salisbury was initially planned, a $220 million grant from the Federal Government also allowed for Stage 2 electrification on the remainder of the line to proceed. Works commenced in November 2019, and after many delays electric train services began on 12 June 2022.


Future projects


Seaford Line extension to Aldinga Beach

In 2019,
Renewal SA The Treasurer of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for the financial management of that state's budget sector. The Urban Renewal Authority, trading as Renewal SA, lies within the T ...
delivered a Draft Structure Plan of a 94 hectare area of land in Aldinga which is set to include a new school and a railway station as an extension of the
Seaford railway line The Seaford railway line is a suburban commuter line in Adelaide, South Australia. History Before the extension of the line to Noarlunga Centre in 1978, the Willunga line ran from Hallett Cove station on a different route through Reynella, ...
.


Underground city centre link

Infrastructure SA intends to complete electrification of the Gawler line, and analyse feasibility of an underground rail link in the CBD between the northern and southern railway lines.


Railway lines


Closed lines

Adelaide's passenger rail network has decreased in size since the 1950s, with the closure of several lines and branches, including: * Dry Creek–Port Adelaide line: built in 1868 (last passenger service in 1988; now freight only) * Finsbury line: Woodville to Finsbury Stores built in 1940 (closed in 1978) * Northfield line:
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 ...
to
Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...
built in 1857 (closed in 1987) * Penfield line:
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
to Penfield 3 built in 1941 (closed and dismantled in 1991) *
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 ...
:
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 ...
to Semaphore built in 1878 (closed and dismantled in 1978) * Willunga line: Hallett Cove to Willunga built in 1915 (closed in 1969; now the
Coast to Vines Rail Trail The Coast to Vines rail trail is a rail trail in the Australian state of South Australia following the course of the disused Willunga railway line in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. It is open to pedestrians and cyclists, and runs for 34 k ...
)


Rolling stock


See also

*
List of Adelaide railway stations This is a list of the 89 currently operating suburban railway stations in Adelaide, South Australia, in addition to active proposals. The stations comprise six railway lines, of which two are branch lines. Stations See also * List of closed A ...
*
List of closed Adelaide railway stations This lists closed, demolished or otherwise defunct railway stations, lines or branches in Adelaide and South Australia. Adelaide suburban network Closed stations There are two closed stations on the passenger railway network in the city of Adel ...
* List of public transport routes in Adelaide *
Trams in Adelaide Until 1958, trams formed a network spanning most of Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since the mid-20t ...
*
Transport in Adelaide The metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia is served by a wide variety of transport. Being centrally located on the Australian mainland, it forms a hub for east–west and north–south routes. The road network includes major expressway ...


References and notes


External links


South Australia CentralOffice of Public TransportAdelaide MetroNational Railway Museum, Port AdelaideSteamRangerSA railway track and signalling
{{Australian rail Regional rail in Australia Rail transport in South Australia 5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Australia