Opened 1857 Line length 14.3 km (8.9 mi) 12.1 Cavan | Closed 1987 10.6 Dry Creek Locale Adelaide | |
 | ||
Number of tracks Quadruple track to Torrens Junction
Double track to Dry Creek
Closed from Dry Creek
(formerly single track) Terminis Northfield railway station, Adelaide railway station | ||
The Northfield railway line was a railway in northern Adelaide. The line branched east from the Gawler line just north of Dry Creek station. In its later years, it was operated as part of the metropolitan passenger rail network and served three stations: Cavan, Pooraka, and Northfield. In earlier years, it saw mixed freight including livestock in and meat out of the Gepps Cross abattoirs and sale yards.
History
The Stockade line was opened in 1857 at the same time as the Adelaide-Smithfield section of what is now the Gawler Central railway line, making it one of South Australia's oldest rail lines. It was built to carry stone from the quarries behind Yatala Labour Prison. In the 19th century the line was a mixed use line, as the line was originally designed for cargo. The line functioned in the late 20th century primarily as a commuter rail line, with cattle delivered by rail to the saleyards until 1995.
When the Metropolitan and Export Abbattoirs Board (MEAB) was formed in 1933, it transferred more slaughter work to Gepps Cross, and a new siding named Export Siding was built in 1937 to deliver sheep and lambs direct to the abbattoirs.
The State Transport Authority decided that passenger services on the line was uneconomic and patron numbers were low, and the last passenger trains ran on 24 July 1987. However cattle trains still used some of the line up to Cavan station until 1995. The stations were mostly demolished and the track lifted.
The triangle junction where the track joined to the Gawler line remained in place until late 2009 and was used as a storage area for rails, sleepers and Maintenance of Way equipment by TransAdelaide. With the decision to replace the Adelaide Railcar depot (located on the southern side of Adelaide station yard), the triangle was removed and the site prepared for the new Dry Creek railcar depot. This project also took over the site of the former Australian Railway Historical Society depot which was vacated in 1995.
The dual gauge track from the triangle junction north to Dry Creek North Yard, which ran through former sheep loading facilities, was leased by TransAdelaide to Genesee & Wyoming Australia for storage of some standard gauge rolling stock before construction of the new railcar depot. The former siding and sheep loading facilities are also part of the new depot complex.
After the line was closed, services which previously operated from Adelaide to Northfield were cut back to terminate at Dry Creek, known by local railway enthusiasts as "Dry Creek squirts". These continued to operate until April 2008.
Today, only 150 meters of track from Churchill Road North going southeast, and the overgrown remains of Pooraka railway station, remain.