Mount Pleasant railway line

Mount Pleasant Line
Railway Line Overview
Route
Starting Point Adelaide
Major Stations Goodwood
Mitcham
Blackwood
Belair
Mount Lofty
Aldgate
Bridgewater
Balhannah
Terminus Mount Pleasant
Line Length 79.8 km
Track Quadruple track to Goodwood
Single track to Belair
(formerly double track)
Closed from Belair
(formerly single track)
History
Opened 1918
Closed 1953
Adelaide Railway Lines
Belair Line
Gawler Central Line
Glenelg Tram
Grange Line
Seaford Line
Outer Harbor Line
Tonsley Line

The Mount Pleasant railway line is an abandoned South Australian line. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in 1918 and ran until 1953 as a freight and passenger service.[1] It is proposed to use its trackbed as a very picturesque 27 kilometre long rail trail very near to Adelaide.[2]

History

Around 1918, a railway line was opened between Balhannah, 10 kilometres east of Mount Lofty, and Mount Pleasant. It closed in 1964. The way between Balhannah and Oakbank has mostly returned to private landowners.[2] The line had six stations and a number of halts, typically the halts were located near level crossings.

The six stations were Oakbank, Woodside, Charleston, Mount Torrens, Birdwood, and Mount Pleasant. The seven halts were Mappinga, Riverview, Kayannie, Muralappie, Milkappa Road, Crane Road, and Narcoonah.

Line guide

Mount Pleasant railway line
Legend
To Adelaide
46 Balhannah
Balhanna Junction
Adelaide-Wolseley line
48.1 Oakbank
Mappinga
Riverview
53.4 Woodside
Kayannie
57.8 Charleston
Muralappie
65.4 Mount Torrens
Milkappa Road
71 Birdwood
Crane Road
Narcoonah
79.8 Mount Pleasant

Rail Trail

This former railway is in the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council, which in 2003 commissioned a feasibility study into the best use of the land. The report recommended it be converted to a rail trail, which the council agreed with but considered it beyond their means to do so. However, since that time, the development of a rail trail lead to the opening of the Amy Gillett Rail Trail in 2010, named in honour of the late Amy Gillett, a South Australian born Olympic Cyclist.[2]

References