Mount Barker railway station, South Australia

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Mount Barker Railways in Adelaide - Commuter Railway Station

Station overview
Train Services
Victor Harbor (Disused)
Location
Street	Druids Avenue
Suburb	Mount Barker
Distance from Adelaide	km
Access by	n/a (Station closed)
Frequency
Hi-Frequency Station	n/a
Peak Frequency	n/a
Weekday Frequency	n/a
Weekend Frequency	n/a
Night Frequency	n/a
Facilities
Real Rail Time Display	No
Real Rail Time Speaker	No
Number of Platforms	1
Platform Layout	Side Platform
Toilets	No
Car Parking	No
Bike Storage	No
Lounge	No
Kiosk	No
Wheelchair access	No
Other facilities
History
Opened	1883
Rebuilt	unknown
Closed	1984
Transfers
Train transfer	None
Bus transfer	835 to Lobethal via Hahndorf 837 to Nairne 840 to City via Freeway 852 to Strathalbyn via Wistow 853 to Strathalbyn via Macclesfield 864 to City via Aldgate
Adjacent Stations
« Previous Littlehampton (Closed)	Next » Strathalbyn (Closed)

Mount Barker railway station is a disused railway station in South Australia on the Victor Harbor branch line, formerly operated by South Australian Railways and it successor, Australian National. With only broad gauge track running through the station, it has been disconnected from the Adelaide metropolitan network since the standardisation of the Adelaide-Melbourne line in 1995. It is still used by Steamranger, a non-for-profit organisation that runs heritage trains between Mount Barker and Victor Harbor.

[edit] History

The first railway link between two colonial capital cities, Adelaide and Melbourne, was completed in 1886. Three years earlier construction on a branch line from Mount Barker Junction to Victor Harbor, with stations at Mount Barker, Strathalbyn, and Goolwa, was begun, and completed in 1884. The Mount Barker railway station was built out of Aldgate freestone, and housed a stationmaster's quarters and a ticketing office. It was opened by the Governor on November 27, 1883.

Regular services operated until passenger numbers declined in the late 20th century with the dominance of the motor car, and were terminated in April 1984. Community support saw the establishment of the non-for-profit organisation Steamranger in 1989, which ran heritage trains from Adelaide to Victor Harbor through the station. As part of Paul Keating's 'One Nation' public works programme in 1995, the main line between Adelaide to Melbourne was standardised, leaving Streamranger's depot in metropolitan Adelaide isolated and defunct. Mount Barker railway station became its new base, and all its locomotives and facilities were transferred there. As part of the move, the railway station itself, at the time derelict, was renovated by the District Council of Mount Barker.

With the growth of Mount Barker as a city, public transport services, provided by bus, are being progressively upgraded, with a large 'Park 'n ride' facility scheduled for completion alongside the station in 2008.