Adelaide-Wolseley railway line

Adelaide-Wolseley railway line
Overview
System	Railways in Adelaide
Termini	Adelaide South Australia/Victoria state border
Continues from	Adelaide-Port Augusta line, Mile End
Continues as	Western standard gauge line, Serviceton
Services	Belair Line The Overland
Operation
Opened	1887
Reopened	1995 (standarised)
Operator(s)	Adelaide Metro Aurizon Genesee & Wyoming Australia Great Southern Rail Pacific National SCT Logistics
Technical
Line length	313 km (194 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Old gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map = Broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) = Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) km 0.0 Adelaide to Gawler & Outer Harbor to Crystal Brook & Port Augusta Mile End Loop1,656 m Adelaide Parklands Terminal Belair railway line Goodwood Junction to Seaford & Tonsley Belair Loop1,543 m 21.5 Belair Bridgewater line 37.2 Bridgewater South Eastern Freeway Yantaringa Tunnel Ambleside Loop1,850m Spoehr Road Onkaparinga Valley Road 45.8 Balhannah Loop694m to Mount Pleasant Junction Road Wenzel Road Mattner Road Altmanns Road 50.0 Mount Barker Junction/Loop 1,550m SteamRanger to Victor Harbor Blakiston Road Woodside Road Old Princes Highway Jeffrey Street Bartley Street 62.4 Petwood Loop1,052 m 72.2 Callington Loop1,850 m Strathalbyn Road Woodchester Road 82.2 Monarto South Loop1,550 m Ferries Macdonald Road to Sedan (closed) (GWA) Princes Highway Cyprus Terrace Mannum Road 96.6 Murray BridgeLoop 961 m Monteith Loop1,850 m 120.3 Tailem Bend Loop2,054 m North Terrace Trevena Road to Loxton & Pinnaroo (GWA) Magpie Road Dukes Highway 153.4 Coomandook Loop1,960 m Government Road 183.4 Coonalpyn Loop1,550 m Northcote Road 211.3 Tintinara Loop1,850 m 228.5 Coombe Loop1,550 m Emu Flat Road 249.2 Keith Loop1,871 m 273.0 Wirrega Loop1,550 m Pinnaroo Road Dukes Highway North Terrace 293.9 BordertownLoop 2,180 m Crecoona Terrace 307.0 Wolseley Loop1,005 m West Terrace to Mount Gambier & Portland (DPTI) 313.2 South Australia/Victoria state border to Melbourne (ARTC) Crossing loop lengths[1]

The Adelaide-Wolseley railway line is a 313 kilometre line running from Adelaide to Wolseley on the Australian Rail Track Corporation network.^[2][3] It is the South Australian part of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway.

History

The line opened in stages, on 14 March 1883 from Adelaide to Aldgate, on 28 November 1883 to Nairne, on 1 May 1886 to Bordertown and on 19 January 1887 to Serviceton.^[4]

Until April 1987, TransAdelaide services operated on the first 37 kilometres of the line from Adelaide to Bridgewater, when the service was curtailed to Belair, the terminus of today's Adelaide Metro Belair line.^[5]

The line consisted of double track as far as Belair, where it became single track for the remainder of the journey east. In 1995, the track was converted to standard gauge as part of the gauge conversion of the line to Melbourne. This included one of the lines west of Belair, effectively converting this section to two single lines.

In 2009, the Belair line was relaid with Dual gauge sleepers that will allow it to be converted to standard gauge, resulting in the line again becoming double track.^[6][7]

Originally operated by South Australian Railways, in March 1978 it was transferred to Australian National and in July 1998 to the Australian Rail Track Corporation.

Route

Major towns on the route include Murray Bridge, Tailem Bend, Keith and Bordertown.^[2]

The line is standard gauge and single track throughout its entire 313 length, with 18 crossing loops.^[3]

Services

Today the route is mainly served by interstate freight services operated by Aurizon, Pacific National and SCT Logistics, as well as irregular intrastate grain freight services from the Loxton and Pinnaroo lines operated by Genesee & Wyoming Australia. These branch line trains ceased operating in July 2015, to be replaced by road transport, however it is possible that trains will continue to be used on this line from Tailem Bend to Port Adelaide.^[8]

Great Southern Rail's The Overland is the only scheduled passenger service to traverse the full route, calling at Murray Bridge and Bordertown stations.^[9] Adelaide Metro services operate from Adelaide to Belair.^[5]

References