Adelaide–Wolseley railway line

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 section of the Melbourne–Adelaide railway.

Adelaide-Wolseley railway line
Overview
Owner	Australian Rail Track Corporation
Termini	Adelaide Wolseley
Continues from	Adelaide-Port Augusta line
Continues as	Western standard gauge line
Service
Services	Belair Line The Overland
Operator(s)	Journey Beyond Aurizon Pacific National SCT Logistics
History
Opened	1887 (broad gauge)
Reopened	1995 (standardised)
Technical
Line length	313 km (194 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Old gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map km to Port Augusta Gawler line Outer Harbor & Grange lines Adelaide 0.0 3.4 Mile End loop, datum point 3.8 Adelaide Parklands Terminal Seaford & Flinders lines Belair line 21.5 Belair loop Bridgewater line closed 1987 37.2 Bridgewater 39.9 Ambleside tunnel 42.6 Ambleside loop 45.8 Balhannah loop Mount Pleasant line closed 1963 50.0 Mount Barker Junction loop SteamRanger to Victor Harbor 62.4 Petwood loop 71.4 Callington loop 82.2 Monarto South loop Sedan line closed 2000s 96.6 Murray Bridge 39.9 Karoonda Highway tunnel River Murray 104.0 Monteith loop 120.9 Tailem Bend loop & Aurizon Yard 120.3 Tailem Bend Loxton line closed 2015 Pinnaroo line closed 2015 153.4 Coomandook loop 183.4 Coonalpyn loop 211.3 Tintinara loop 228.4 Coombe loop 248.5 Keith loop 273.0 Wirrega loop 293.9 Bordertown 307.5 Wolseley loop Mount Gambier line closed 1995 313.2 463.6 South Australia Victoria border, datum point 461.5 Serviceton to Melbourne via North Shore broad gauge standard gauge [1] This diagram: view talk edit

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] The line consisted of double track as far as Belair, where it became single track for the remainder of the journey east. Along its 313 km length, there are 18 crossing loops.^[3] 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 in the future.^[5][6]

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. Until April 1987, the State Transport Authority operated passenger services on the first 37 kilometres of the line from Adelaide to Bridgewater until they were curtailed to Belair, the terminus of today's Adelaide Metro Belair line.^[7] TransAdelaide succeeded the STA in operating the line in 1994.

Route

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

Former branch lines

• Mount Pleasant railway line: opened 1918 (closed in 1963, line has been removed)
• Victor Harbor railway line: opened 1884 (last passenger service in 1984; now a heritage tourist railway)
• Sedan railway line: opened 1919 (closed 2005)
• Loxton railway line: opened 1913 (last train 2015, now mothballed)
• Pinnaroo railway line: opened 1906 (last train 2015, now mothballed)
• Mount Gambier railway line: opened 1887 (isolated by rail gauge in 1995)

Services

Today the route is mainly served by interstate freight services operated by Pacific National and SCT Logistics. Intrastate grain freight services from the Loxton and Pinnaroo lines operated by Genesee & Wyoming Australia ceased operating in July 2015.^[8] Grain services from Tailem Bend and Wolseley run regularly via Aurizon trains.

Journey Beyond'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.^[7]

Prior to December 1990, the Blue Lake passenger to Mount Gambier served some towns along the line till Wolseley. The Blue Lake was withdrawn completely with the cessation of all AN intrastate passenger services on 31 December 1990.^[10]

References

1. East – West Corridor SA Network Diagram ARTC
2. Dry Creek – Victorian border map SA Track & Signal
3. D3 Wolseley to Mile End Archived 2 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Australian Rail Track Corporation
4. Newland, Andrew; Quinlan, Howard (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 – 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 53. ISBN 0-909650-49-7.
5. 2008/09 State Budget Archived 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine South Australian Department of Treasury & Finance June 2008
6. Belair Line Renewal Adelaide Metro
7. Belair timetable Archived 23 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine Adelaide Metro 12 October 2014
8. Strathearn, Peri (21 May 2015). "End of line for Murraylands, Mallee grain trains". The Murray Valley Standard. Fairfax Regional Media. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
9. The Overland Timetables Archived 22 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine Great Southern Rail
10. Masson, Johnny. "MOUNT GAMBIER MARSHALLING YARDS". Trove NLA. Johnny's Pages - Old SAR Shunter. Retrieved 16 August 2024.