Rolling stock 3000/3100 class Locale Adelaide | Line length 21.9 km (13.6 mi) | |
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Services Every 10-20 mins (peak)
Every 30 mins (weekday)
Every 30 mins (weekend)
Every 60 mins (night) Opened 1856 (to Port Adelaide)
1908 (to Outer Harbor) Re-sleepered (concrete) 2002, November 2009-March 2010 Number of tracks Double track to Midlunga
Single track to Outer Harbor Stations Woodville railway station, Adelaide, Port Adelaide railway station, Glanville railway station Terminis Outer Harbor railway station, Adelaide railway station, Osborne railway station (peak hour only) | ||
The Outer Harbor railway line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia.
Contents
It runs from Adelaide station through the north western suburbs to Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor. It is 21.9 kilometres in length, and shares part of its run with the Grange line. It is operated by Adelaide Metro.
History
The railway between Adelaide and Port Dock railway station was the first railway in Adelaide and the first government-owned railway in the British Empire, opening in 1856.
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, and 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 Outer Harbor was developed and the railway extended from Glanville railway station to service it. The line between Port Adelaide Junction and Glanville was dual gauge until early December 2009 when the standard gauge rails were removed. Outer Harbor had a balloon loop railway so that trains could be turned around without shunting or requiring a turntable or triangle. 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.
In January 2017, the line was closed for three weeks alongside the Grange line for the building of an overpass over South Road.
Route
The line is double track from Adelaide to Midlunga, then single for the final three kilometres to Outer Harbour. The northern section of the line runs along the middle of the narrow Lefevre Peninsula with stations at regular intervals.
Services are operated by 3000 class railcars.
Future
Various plans to modify the line have been proposed in the 21st century.
In 2008, the State Government announced a plan to rebuild the Outer Harbour line in preparation for the line to be electrified with the Federal Government also to provide funding. In the 2011 budget, it was announced that electrification of the Outer Harbor line had been deferred until 2016. In June 2012, the project was cancelled.
In May 2016, the State Government announced 1.4 kilometres of the line would be lowered in a grade separation project to pass below the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Grange lines. A new Bowden station will be built as part of the project. In December 2016 the contract was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, AECOM and KBR.
As of 2016, the State Government is again considering 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 option would electrify the heavy rail line and provide a short spurline to central Port Adelaide. The second 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 - several options for the future of that line were also presented.