Bowden railway station

Bowden
The original Bowden railway station in 2005. The platform to the left has since been demolished, while the one to the right will remain open until September 2017.
Location	Gibson Street, Bowden
Coordinates	34°54′22″S 138°34′33″E / 34.9061°S 138.5757°E / -34.9061; 138.5757Coordinates: 34°54′22″S 138°34′33″E / 34.9061°S 138.5757°E / -34.9061; 138.5757
Owned by	Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure
Operated by	Adelaide Metro
Line(s)	Grange Line Outer Harbor
Distance	2.7 kilometres from Adelaide
Platforms	1 side (Outer Harbor/Grange bound only)
Tracks	2
Bus routes	150 155 157
Connections	Glenelg
Construction
Structure type	Ground
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	Partly demolished; under reconstruction
Station code	16496
History
Opened	1856
Services
Preceding station   Adelaide Metro   Following station Adelaide Terminus Grange line Croydon toward Grange Outer Harbor line Croydon toward Outer Harbor

Bowden railway station is located on the Grange and Outer Harbor lines.^[1] Situated in the inner-city Adelaide suburb of Bowden, it is 2.7 kilometres from Adelaide station. The station only services trains bound for Outer Harbor and Grange.

The station retains its original 1856 brick and stone station building on the northbound platform, which now runs as the Loose Caboose café. The station's southbound platform was closed and demolished in 2017.

History

Bowden was one of the original stations on the Adelaide to Port Adelaide railway when the line opened in April 1856.

In 1871, sidings were constructed at the Woodville end of the station for delivery of coal from Port Adelaide to the adjacent gas works. With increasing traffic, the single track Adelaide to Port Adelaide line was duplicated in 1881, and the sidings at Bowden were extended as the gas works grew.

Two signal cabins were in operation at Bowden between 1884 and 1930, one at East Street (at the Woodville end), the second at Gibson Street (at the Adelaide end). The East Street cabin was closed when colour light signalling was introduced on the Port line in the 1930s.

The SA Gas Company sidings were closed in June 1973 and Bowden’s goods yard was closed completely from September 1977 along with the Gibson Street signal cabin. The site of the gas works sidings is still visible on the north side of the line near the Chief Street underpass.

With falling passenger numbers, the station has been unattended since November 1979, which was a far cry from the middle years of the 20th century when usage was high enough to justify staffed ticket offices on both platforms.

In 2012, The Loose Caboose cafe opened in the station building on platform 1.^[2]

Redevelopment

As part of a grade separation project to lower the Outer Harbor and Grange lines below Park Terrace and the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler Central lines, the existing station will be demolished and a new one built, however, the heritage station building will remain after the project is complete.^[3]

In 2017, the original city-bound platform was closed on April 11 and demolished shortly afterwards; a replacement is set to open in late October. The outbound platform is scheduled to be closed and demolished in September of the same year. The underpass was permanently closed on March.^[4]

Loose Caboose Café

A café was opened in the original station's shelter on the northbound platform. It will remain in place when the platform closes and gets demolished in September.

Services by platform

Bus Connections

The closest bus stop to Bowden station is Stop 6 on Port Road:^[5][6]
150 City - Osborne
155 City - Westfield West Lakes
157 City - Largs Bay

References

• 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

External links

Media related to Bowden railway station at Wikimedia Commons