Grange railway line

Grange railway line
Overview
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Grange
Stations	Woodville
Services	Every 20-30 mins (peak) Every 30 mins (weekday) Every 60 mins (weekend) Every 60 mins (night)
Operation
Opened	1882
Rolling stock	2000/2100 class 3000/3100 class
Events
Re-sleepered (concrete)	2010
Technical
Line length	13.0 km (8.1 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track to Woodville Single track to Grange
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)

The Grange railway line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia.

History

Grange Line suburban service
Legend
Gauge and interchange key  Broad gauge Standard gauge Adelaide Metro commuter trains Adelaide Metro trams Adelaide Metro buses GSR interstate trains
To Henley Beach Old Grange(closed 1986) Military Road 13.0km 0:22 Grange Charles Sturt Avenue Port River 12.0km 0:20 East Grange Frederick Road Golflinks(closed 1961) Tapleys Hill Road 10.3km 0:18 Seaton Park West Lakes Boulevard Hendon(closed 1980) 9.1km 0:16 Albert Park(junction closed 1980) Port Road Holdens(closed 1992) to Outer Harbor 7.5km 0:14 Woodville Woodville Road 6.8km 0:12 Woodville Park Kilkenny Road 6.0km 0:10 Kilkenny Private Road 5.1km 0:09 West Croydon(over Rosetta Street) 4.2km 0:07 Croydon Elizabeth Street South Road Coglin Street Chief Street East Street 2.7km 0:05 Bowden Gibson Street Gibson Street Proposed tram junction Park Terrace Entertainment Centre To Port Augusta To Gawler Torrens Bridge(closed 1888) River Torrens To Seaford, Tonsley and Belair West Terrace Adelaide Depot City West Montefiore Road 0km 0:00 Adelaide To Glenelg

The old Grange station remnants

East Grange station

Woodville station

The railway line between Woodville and Grange opened in September 1882. This was a private railway, constructed by the Grange Railway and Investment Company. The early railway was not a financial success and was bought out by the South Australian Railways in 1893.^[1]

Modifications to the track layout at Woodville station in 1909 enabled trains from the Grange branch to travel beyond Woodville to Adelaide.^[1]

In November 1940, the Hendon branch line was opened diverging from the Grange line at Albert Park and running 1.1 kilometres to the Hendon munitions works. After the end of World War II, the Hendon trains operated only at shift-change times. In spite of low passenger numbers, the Hendon branch continued operation until 1 February 1980, after which the line was closed and removed.^[1]

The terminus at Grange was relocated in the late 1980s on the eastern side of Military Road to eliminate a level crossing. The old station was formerly a stop on the Henley Beach line, an extension of the Grange line which closed in 1957.

A station named Holdens, located between Woodville and Albert Park stations adjacent to what is now the SA Manufacturing Park, was closed in 1992 and subsequently demolished.

A station called Cheltenham, serving both rail passengers and race-goers to Cheltenham Racecourse opened on the Grange line in 1895 but closed after only a few decades of operation. In 1959, an island-platform station opened 500 metres outbound from the original station and was named Cheltenham. The original station was renamed Cheltenham Racecourse, and was restricted to raceday services only until the early 1970s. On 21 February 2009, Cheltenham Park Racecourse closed to make way for new housing developments. In June 2012, the Racecourse station was demolished, and both platforms were removed.

Route

The line runs from the Adelaide to the seaside suburb of Grange. The route follows the same alignment as the Outer HarborlLine as far as Woodville station, where it diverges south west and across Port Road. The route then travels through Albert Park and bisects the Royal Adelaide Golf Club between Seaton Park and East Grange stations.

The line is single track from Woodville to Grange with no passing loops over its entire length. All stations on the line are unattended and have only very basic passenger waiting facilities. The line is 5.5 kilometres long and broad gauge (1600mm).

Services

Services operate in tandem with Outer Harbor line trains. Weekday off-peak services run every 30 minutes, Weekday peak services run every 20–30 minutes with hourly services on weekends.^[2]

Once every two years services are temporarily cut back to Seaton Park for approximately two weeks for the running of the Jacob's Creek Open golf tournament. Rail replacement buses are used to transport passengers for the remainder of the route.

Until 1996, Grange line services previously operated as a shuttle from Woodville station at night and on weekends, connecting with Outer Harbor line services.

The vast majority of services are operated by 3000 class railcars. 2000 class railcars have not operated on the line since 2006.

Future

The South Australian Government is considering electrifying the Outer Harbor line or converting it to light rail. A light rail conversion would also require the conversion or closure of the Grange line. A 2016 report into potential light rail projects in Adelaide considered four options for the future of the Grange line. The first option would electrify the heavy rail line but make no other changes, the second would convert the line to light rail and add a new on-street branch from Albert Park station to West Lakes, the third would retain the West Lakes route but replace the remaining section of the railway line with light rail along Grange Road and the final option would see the West Lakes line branch from the Grange Road light rail - completely replacing the railway line.^[3]

References

1. Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. M. Thompson pub. Port Dock Station Railway Museum (1988) ISBN 0-9595073-6-1.
2. Outer Harbor & Grange timetable Adelaide Metro 23 February 2014
3. "AdeLINK Multi-Criteria Analysis Summary Report" (PDF). Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure. 2016. pp. 11–13.

External links

• Route map SA Track & Signal