Mount Lofty railway station, Adelaide

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Mount Lofty Railways in Adelaide - Commuter Railway Station

Station overview
Train Services
Bridgewater (Disused)
Location
Street
Suburb	Stirling
Distance from Adelaide	~31km
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	2 (Not in use)
Platform Layout	Side Platform
Toilets	No
Car Parking	No
Bike Storage	No
Lounge	No
Kiosk	No
Wheelchair access	No
Other facilities	Private Hotel
History
Opened	1883
Rebuilt	unknown
Closed	1987
Transfers
Train transfer	None
Bus transfer	None
Adjacent Stations
« Previous Upper Sturt (Closed)	Next » Heathfield (Closed)

Mount Lofty railway station is a railway station in South Australia, on the former Adelaide-Bridgewater railway line which is located in the Adelaide Hills suburb of Stirling. The station opened in 1883 and it is located 31.0 km (19m41c) by rail from the Adelaide Railway Station. It is the highest railway station between Adelaide and Melbourne.

Two platforms were provided. The north or 'Down' platform is 125.0 metres long and the south or 'Up' platform is 103.6 metres long. Both platforms are still in place, although no longer in use. The wooden steps leading down to the station building is still in place, but has been fenced off and is very fragile. The station signs on both platforms, which were mainly used at stations in the hills and near the beach (eg Belair and Semaphore respectively) from early in the 1900's to the 1980's, are also still in place, and reflects on our railway heritage in some point of view.

Until 1987, Adelaide suburban trains serviced the station and went further east to Bridgewater. The trains were withdrawn in that year because of high cost of operating the trains and low passenger numbers. Mount Lofty railway station was closed to suburban trains and stations beyond closed as well.

In 1995, the main railway line from Adelaide to Melbourne was converted from Broad Gauge (1600mm) to Standard Gauge (1435mm), thus preventing any restoration of local trains to Mount Lofty and beyond, as the Adelaide suburban system remained as broad gauge. At the station, there are three railway tracks, two for interstate freight. The southern track is the main line and the northern track is the crossing loop. The middle track is used to stable track machines. As the length of the crossing loop is 629 metres, the crossing of trains at Mount Lofty is rare.

Today, Mount Lofty railway station is a private hotel. Bookings can be made during most of the year. A substantial number of interstate freight trains pass through the station each day.