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Outer Harbor and Port Dock lines

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Outer Harbor and Port Dock lines
3100 class railcar crossing the Port River
Overview
LocaleAdelaide, South Australia
Termini
Stations23
Service
TypeCommuter rail
Operator(s)Adelaide Metro
Rolling stock3000/3100 class
History
Opened
Technical
Line length21.9 km (13.6 mi)
Number of tracks
Track gauge1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map

Legend
km
21.9
 Outer Harbor
20.5
 North Haven
19.6
 Osborne
18.8
 Midlunga
18.2
 Taperoo
17.2
 Draper
16.4
 Largs North
15.5
 Largs
14.6
 Peterhead
13.8
 Glanville Buses in Adelaide
13.1
 Ethelton
11.7
 Port Adelaide Buses in Adelaide
12.0
 Port Dock Buses in Adelaide
10.2
 Alberton
9.2
 Cheltenham
8.6
 St Clair
Grange line
7.5
 Woodville Buses in Adelaide
6.8
 Woodville Park
6.0
 Kilkenny
5.1
 West Croydon
4.2
 Croydon
2.4
 Bowden
0.0
 Adelaide Buses in Adelaide Trams in Adelaide
All services share the same tracks,
separation is for illustrative purposes
This diagram:

The Outer Harbor line is a suburban commuter service in Adelaide, South Australia, that runs from Adelaide station through the north western suburbs to Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor.

The Port Dock line is a service that shares its route with the Outer Harbor line until north of Alberton, where it branches along a short spur to Port Dock station in Port Adelaide.[1]

History

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Opening in 1856, the inaugural 11.9 kilometres (7.4 miles) railway between Adelaide and Port Dock railway station — named Port Adelaide until 1916 — was the second railway in the colony of South Australia, and the first government-owned railway in the British Empire.[disputed – discuss][citation needed] Port Adelaide junction was created when the railway was extended to cross the Port River to Le Fevre Peninsula. As industry developed on the west side of the Port River, a deeper harbour was required. Initially, this was at Semaphore, with the railway extended in 1882 as the now-closed Semaphore railway line to service the overseas shipping jetty there. The line was subsequently extended 11.2 kilometres (7.0 miles) to Outer Harbor.

The original Port Dock station was closed in 1981, with part of its site later repurposed for the National Railway Museum. Some land was reclaimed for track leading to, and platforms of, a new-build station in 2024.

21st century renewal

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The line between Port Adelaide Junction and Glanville was dual gauge until December 2009, when the standard gauge rails were removed. Outer Harbor was configured as a balloon loop so that trains could make the return journey without shunting, requiring a turntable or triangle, or requiring the driver to change ends. The loop was cut when rail freight moved off the broad-gauge Outer Harbor railway to the nearby standard-gauge line on the eastern side of the peninsula.

Various plans to modify the line have been proposed. In 2008, the state government announced a plan to rebuild the Outer Harbor line in preparation for the line to be electrified with the federal government also to provide funding.[2] In the 2011 budget, it was announced that electrification of the Outer Harbor line had been deferred until 2016.[3] In June 2012, the project was cancelled.[4]

In May 2016, the state government announced that 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) of the line would be lowered in a grade separation project to pass below the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler lines; a new Bowden station was also to be built.[5][6] In 2016 the contract was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, AECOM and KBR.[7]

The state government again considered electrifying the line or converting it to light rail. A 2016 report into potential light rail projects in Adelaide considered two options for the future of the line. The first would electrify the heavy-rail line and provide a short spur-line to central Port Adelaide (Port Dock). The option would convert the line to light rail and add a new on-street branch to Semaphore; a light rail conversion would also require the conversion or closure of the Grange line, and several options for the future of that line were also presented.[8] The spur line and a new Port Dock station, after several delays and costing increases, were opened in September 2024.[9][10]

In January 2017, the line was closed for three weeks alongside the Grange line to building an overpass over South Road and the North–South Motorway.[11][12]

In 2024, transport minister Tom Koutsantonis flagged another possible electrification and an extension of the line to accommodate workers at the Australian Submarine Corporation at Osborne. [13]

Torrens Junction separation

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There are a total of five railway tracks on three bridges in parallel across the River Torrens. North of this bridge, the two tracks of the Gawler line continues north, as does the standard gauge railway track, while the two tracks of the Outer Harbor line swing away northwest. Until late 2017, the Outer Harbor tracks were the pair between the Gawler tracks on the east and the standard gauge track which was built in 1982 on the west. This meant that Outer Harbor and Grange trains had to cross the track that carries rail freight between Melbourne and the main freight terminals in Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. In 2017, the Torrens Junction project worked to remove this operational conflict. The outcome was to make the Gawler trains use the central pair of tracks, while the Outer Harbor line now uses the eastern pair across the bridge, then descends into a trench and passes underneath the Gawler and standard gauge lines and Park Terrace which had previously been a busy level crossing. The Bowden railway station was also demolished and rebuilt at a new lower level.[14]

The Outer Harbor line was closed (and consequently also Grange services) along with a portion of the Gawler line in April, June, July, and August 2017 to work on the Torrens Rail Junction Project.[15][16][17][18] The entire line was closed on 24 September 2017, and reopened on 15 January 2018, having been delayed from a 3 December opening.[19]

Former branch lines

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Route

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The line is double track from Adelaide to Midlunga, then single for the final three kilometres to Outer Harbor; the spur line to Port Dock is single track with a passing loop. The northern section of the line runs along the middle of the narrow Lefevre Peninsula with stations at regular intervals.[20] The line serves 22 stations in 22 kilometres (14 miles).

Line guide

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Outer Harbor and Port Dock Lines
Name Distance from
Adelaide 		Year opened Serving suburbs Connections
Adelaide 0.0 km 1856 Adelaide Belair Flinders Gawler
Seaford

Buses in Adelaide Bus Trams in Adelaide Tram

Bowden 2.4 km 1856 Bowden
Croydon 4.2 km 1888 Croydon
West Croydon 5.1 km 1915 West Croydon
Kilkenny 6.0 km 1881 Kilkenny, Woodville Park
Woodville Park 6.8 km 1936 Woodville, Woodville Park
Woodville 7.5 km 1856 St Clair, Woodville Grange

Buses in Adelaide Bus

St Clair 8.6 km 2014 St Clair, Woodville
Cheltenham 9.2 km 1959 Cheltenham
Alberton 10.2 km 1856 Alberton
Port Dock Line
Port Dock 12.0 km 2024 Port Adelaide Buses in Adelaide Bus Interchange
Outer Harbor Line
Port Adelaide 11.7 km 1916 Port Adelaide Buses in Adelaide Bus
Ethelton 13.1 km 1916 Ethelton, New Port
Glanville 13.8 km 1878 Glanville, New Port Buses in Adelaide Bus
Peterhead 14.6 km 1911 Birkenhead, Exeter, Peterhead
Largs 15.5 km 1907 Largs Bay
Largs North 16.4 km 1916 Largs North
Draper 17.2 km Un­known Largs North
Taperoo 18.2 km 1908 Taperoo
Midlunga 18.8 km 1921 Osborne
Osborne 19.6 km 1908 North Haven, Osborne
North Haven 20.5 km 1981 North Haven
Outer Harbor 21.9 km 1926 North Haven, Outer Harbor

Services

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The Outer Harbor and Port Dock lines shares part of their route with the Grange line. All passenger train services are operated by 3000/3100 class railcars. Trains run every 30 minutes between 5am and midnight on weekdays and weekends.[21][22]

Prior to the reopening of Port Dock railway station, most services on the Outer Harbor line stopped at all stations. From 25 August 2024, Port Dock services stop at all stations, while most Outer Harbor services will run express between Adelaide and Woodville while also skipping Cheltenham.[23]

Additional services

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During special events, such as AFL matches, Adelaide Metro will typically run extra Osborne services. Unlike the regular weekday peak services, these Osborne services stop at all stations.[24]

As Outer Harbor railway station is in close proximity to the Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal, the Outer Harbor line is regularly utilised by cruise ship passengers during the summer cruise season. When larger cruise ships are in port, Adelaide Metro often runs an express train service between Outer Harbor and Adelaide.

References

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  1. ^ Port Dock Railway Line - Adelaide Metro website, 26 July 2024
  2. ^ South Australian Department of Treasury & Finance (June 2008). "2008/09 State Budget". Archived from the original on 27 February 2015.
  3. ^ Martin, Sarah (10 June 2011). "SA State Budget 11 - $200m in rail revitalisation work delayed". Adelaide Advertiser. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  4. ^ Carter, Mark (8 June 2012). "South Australia cuts back Adelaide electrification". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Torrens Rail Junction Project". Department of Transport, Planning & Infrastructure.
  6. ^ Waldhuter, Lauren (6 May 2016). "Adelaide rail upgrade project to separate passenger and freight lines on Outer Harbor line". ABC News.
  7. ^ Laing O'Rourke (19 December 2016). "Torrens Rail Junction Upgrade" (Press release). Archived from the original on 12 March 2017.
  8. ^ "AdeLINK Multi-Criteria Analysis Summary Report" (PDF). Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure. 2016. pp. 11–13.
  9. ^ Kemp, Miles (24 June 2017). "State Budget 2017: Trains return to the heart of Port Adelaide after a 36-year absence". The Advertiser.
  10. ^ Sutton, Malcolm (21 June 2019). "Adelaide's public transport going back to the future under Stephan Knoll". ABC News. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  11. ^ Premier of South Australia (2 January 2017). "Major works kick off to remove one of Adelaide's worst level crossings". Archived from the original on 13 January 2017.
  12. ^ Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure. "Outer Harbor & Grange line closure January 2 - January 23, 2017". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017.
  13. ^ Adelaide is growing beyond its limits — so could a train revival help steam the city's expansion?
  14. ^ Kemp, Miles (13 September 2017). "Major disruption to Outer Harbor and Gawler train lines as work starts on Park Tce underpass". The Advertiser. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler rail line closures". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler train lines temporary closures June long weekend". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler line July closure". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler rail line closures August 2017". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  19. ^ "UPDATE 14 NOVEMBER: Outer Harbor and Grange rail line closures until January 2018". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  20. ^ "Outer Harbor & Grange timetable" (PDF). Adelaide Metro. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2014.
  21. ^ "More train services, more often from 22 April". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018.
  22. ^ "OUTHA - Outer Harbor to City". Adelaide Metro. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  23. ^ Port Dock Railway Line - Adelaide Metro website, 26 July 2024
  24. ^ Metro, Adelaide (16 June 2023). "Transport to Adelaide Oval". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
Four options for the future of the Outer Harbor and Grange lines, presented as part of a 2016 planning document developing the South Australian Government's AdeLINK proposal.
  • Thompson, M. (1988). Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. Port Dock Station Railway Museum. ISBN 0-9595073-6-1.
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