Belair railway line

Belair Line
Railways in Adelaide - Trams in Adelaide
Railway Line Overview
Route
Starting Point Adelaide
Major Stations Goodwood
Mitcham
Blackwood
Terminus Belair
Line Length 21.5 km
Track Quadruple Track to Goodwood
Single Track to Belair
Frequency
Peak Frequency Every 20-30 Mins
Weekday Frequency Every 30-40 Mins
Weekend Frequency Every 60 Mins
Night Frequency Every 60 Mins
Rolling Stock
3000/3100 class Yes
History
Opened 1883
Re-sleepered (Concrete) August 2009[1]
Adelaide Railway Lines
Belair Line
Gawler Central Line
Glenelg Tram
Grange Line
Noarlunga Centre Line
Outer Harbor Line
Showground Central Line
Tonsley Line

The Belair railway line is a suburban rail commuter route within the City of Adelaide, South Australia, that runs from the Adelaide Railway Station to Belair in the Adelaide Hills.

Contents

History

The Bridgewater railway line from Adelaide to Belair / Bridgewater opened in 1883. In 1987, passenger services to Bridgewater ceased, mainly due to low patronage, the terminus becoming Belair.

In 1995, one track of the double track main line from Adelaide to Belair was converted from Broad Gauge (1600mm) to Standard Gauge (1435mm) as part of the Adelaide to Melbourne standardisation project. The broad gauge passenger services were thus restricted to a single track with crossing loops located at Mitcham Station, Blackwood Station, Eden Hills and Sleeps Hill. At the same time, the stations at Millswood, Hawthorn and Clapham were closed despite criticism from local residents.

Operations

The motive power used for suburban passenger trains is now exclusively 3000 and 3100 class railcars. Until June 2007, on weekends some services were run with a 2000 class railcar modified to incorporate increased bike capacity. In 2005, trains ran the route every 30 minutes on weekdays (hourly after 7pm) and every 60 minutes on weekends and public holidays. From 2006, because of the single line, this was downgraded to every 36/24 minutes on weekdays.

On weekends, the route is popular with downhill mountain bike riders who catch the train up the hill and returned via one of the many downhill mountain biking trails and roads, hence the use of a modified 2000 class railcar. However, since downhill mountain biking has been prohibited on some trails in the Belair area, (such as Anderson's Reserve, Lynton Dump Reserve and Sleeps Hill reserve), the Adelaide mountain biking community's patronage has slightly declined.

The standard gauge track is used by The Overland passenger train to Melbourne, which runs three times a week, and a number of freight trains.

Resleepering

In the 2008/09 State Budget, re-sleepering of the line was announced. Electrification is not planned for the line in the near future due to extra engineering work and complications with the Standard Gauge line. However, the new concrete sleepers and rail will provide a smoother and faster trip for commuters using the line.

The project has been named "the Belair Line Renewal".[1] The rail line closed on 26 April 2009 and reopened on 23 August 2009.[1] During this shutdown, the following works occurred:

A substitute bus service, B1 operated during the closure, covering all railway stations between Goodwood and Belair, then express between Greenhill Road and Government House.[2][3][4]

According to the Belair Line Renewal web page, "The substitute bus service is unable to cater for bicycles. A separate arrangement has been made in collaboration with Bicycle SA for a temporary bicycle trailer service to be offered on a trial basis for the first month. Continuation of the service beyond this time will be based on the demand and benefits of the service. The dedicated trailer service for cyclists will be operated by Bicycle SA and will use a bicycle trailer capable of holding up to 11 bikes at any one time. It will transport bicycles (and their riders) up the hill from Mitcham station to the Belair triangle each week night from 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm and on weekends between 10 am and 4 pm." Cyclists will need to make their own way south from the city to Mitcham, and again south from Belair. There is no service for northbound cyclists.[1]

Line guide

 Belair Line suburban service 
Legend
Broad gauge
Standard gauge
TransAdelaide commuter trains
TransAdelaide trams
GSR interstate trains
To Glenelg
0km
0:00
Adelaide Station
Morphett Street
City West
To Gawler, Grange and Port Adelaide
To Port Augusta (ARTC)
West Terrace1
Adelaide Depot
Port Road
To Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Glover Avenue
To Glenelg via Plympton
2.0km
0:03
Mile End
Sir Donald Bradman Drive
Mile End Goods
Adelaide Parklands Terminal
3.8km
0:07
Keswick
Anzac Highway
4.4km
0:08
Showground Central (Royal Show only)
Leeder Street
5.0km
0:09
Goodwood
Glenelg Tram
Victoria Street
To Noarlunga and Tonsley
Goodwood Road
Millswood
Cross Road
7.0km
0:12
Unley Park (Western platform demolished 1995)
Sussex Terrace
Hawthorn
Angas Road
Grange Road
8.5km
0:14
Mitcham (Crossing loop)
Wattlebury Road
9.3km
0:16
Torrens Park (Western platform demolished 2008)
Old Clapham (Closed 1917)
Clapham (Closed 1995)
Springbank Road
Barretts Road
10.7km
0:18
Lynton
Sleeps Hill loop
Sleeps Hill (Closed 1946, later demolished)
Original alignment (Closed 1920)
Sleeps Hill Tunnel
Sleeps Hill Viaduct
14.2km
0:23
Eden Hills
Willunga Street
Eden Hills Tunnels
Eden Hills loop
17.2km
0:28
Coromandel
Brighton Parade
Coromandel Parade
Main Road
18.1km
0:31
Blackwood (Crossing loop)
19.3km
0:33
Glenalta
Main Road
Main Road
20.2km
0:35
Pinera
Upper Sturt Road
21.5km
0:37
Belair
End of broad gauge
Belair Depot
Bridgewater Line (Closed 1987)
37.2km
1:00
Bridgewater (Closed 1987)
To Bordertown and Melbourne

^1 West Terrace tram stop will become
Royal Adelaide Hospitalwhen Hospital is constructed

^1 West Terrace tram stop will become Royal Adelaide Hospital when Hospital is constructed.

Interchange Key:

Image Service Operator(s) Where
Suburban Trains Transfers TransAdelaide Adelaide, Goodwood
Lightrail Transfers TransAdelaide Adelaide
Suburban Bus Transfers Torrens Transit
Southlink		 see Bus Routes
Interstate Trains Transfers GSR Keswick
Bus or Rail Interchange n/a Adelaide, Goodwood, Blackwood

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Belair Line Renewal, adelaidemetro.com.au Retrieved on 2009-03-29.
  2. ^ Substitute Bus routemap (pdf), adelaidemetro.com.au. Retrieved on 2009-04-25.
  3. ^ Substitute Bus timetables (html), adelaidemetro.com.au. Retrieved on 2009-04-25.
  4. ^ Substitute Bus timetables (pdf), adelaidemetro.com.au. Retrieved on 2009-04-25.

External links

Railway lines of Adelaide