Bridgewater railway line

Bridgewater railway line
Overview
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Bridgewater
Stations	Goodwood Mitcham Blackwood Belair Mount Lofty Aldgate
Operation
Opened	1883
Closed	26 July 1987
Technical
Line length	37.3 km (23.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Quadruple Track to Goodwood Single Track to Belair (formerly double track) Closed from Belair (formerly single track)

The Bridgewater railway line is a former passenger railway service on the Adelaide to Wolseley line in the Adelaide Hills. It was served by TransAdelaide suburban services from Adelaide. On 26 July 1987, the service was curtailed to Belair. In 1995, the line was converted to standard gauge as part of the One Nation infrastructure program, disconnecting these stations from the broad gauge suburban railway system.

History

The line from Adelaide to Belair/Bridgewater was opened in 1883, and headed east from Belair parallel to the northern side of Belair National Park. It then turned south through the national park and then turned east again, where the National Park station used to be. It continued east past Long Gully and Nalawort to Upper Sturt, 28.9 km from Adelaide station. Five hundred metres later the track turned north east and continued to Mount Lofty, 31 km from Adelaide. After that it turned south and reached Heathfield (33 km), just after the line turned north east, passing Madurta, then Aldgate (34.5 km). The line continued east, passing Jibilla and Carripook and finally, the line terminated at Bridgewater, 37.3 km by rail from Adelaide.

The Bridgewater line had a fairly steep grade for most of the journey, sometimes resulting in derailments due to the tight bends. Services from Adelaide to Bridgewater usually took an average of one hour (stopping all stations), and about 50 minutes (express). Only one train every two hours operated during off-peak and weekends (most terminating at Belair) and no more than two trains per hour in either direction during peak-hours. This was because the line was single track (which is still the case today) with crossing loops located at Belair, Long Gully, Mount Lofty, Aldgate and Bridgewater.

When the more direct South Eastern Freeway opened in the late 1960s, patronage to Bridgewater declined heavily, as more people had access to cars and the car journey was much quicker and shorter. In 1985, the State Transport Authority sought to have the service withdrawn. The line had 12 services on weekdays, nine on Saturdays and five on Sundays.^[1] On 26 July 1987, passenger services to Bridgewater were withdrawn, attributed to high cost of operation and low passenger numbers. All stations beyond Belair were closed, and all suburban trains now terminate at Belair.^[2][3]

Services

Services on the Bridgewater line were mainly operated by Redhen railcars, with the 2000 class railcars occasionally used in its final years. On special occasions after 1987, such as the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival held every Easter weekend at Oakbank, trains ran further east to terminate at Balhannah. However, this service ceased prior to the standard gauge conversion, due to the expense of operating the line..

Conversion

In 1995, the Adelaide to Wolseley line was converted from broad gauge (1600mm) to standard gauge (1435 mm) ruling out any restoration of local trains to Bridgewater or beyond, and it disconnected a number of the South Australian country broad gauge services from Adelaide. Between Goodwood and Belair, the former double track route became two parallel single lines, one broad gauge for Adelaide Metro suburban services, the other standard gauge freight services.^[4] Along with this conversion, stations on the Belair line at Mile End Goods, Millswood, Hawthorn and Clapham closed. The other Belair line stations each had one platform closed. Millswood reopened on 12 October 2014 for a 12-month trial. The trial was successful, and the station was reopened permanently.

Stations

Bridgewater Line
Broad Gauge, Standard Gauge
0.0 km Adelaide [5] Adelaide Junctionto Gawler, Grange & Outer Harbor Adelaide-Port Augusta line to Crystal Brook Adelaide Parklands Terminal 5.0 km Goodwood Glenelg Tram Goodwood Junctionto Seaford & Tonsley 21.5 km Belair Current terminus of Adelaide Metro Belair line suburban services Crossing loop until 1995 Sir Edwin Avenue No. 6 Tunnel 25.4 km National Park (Closed April 1987) 26.7 km Long Gully (Closed April 1987) – Crossing loop until 1995 No. 7 Tunnel Nalawort (Closed 1950s) 28.9 km Upper Sturt (Closed April 1987) No. 8 Tunnel 31.0 km Mount Lofty (Closed April 1987) – Crossing loop Avenue Road 33.0 km Heathfield (Closed April 1987) Cricklewood Road 33.7 km Madurta (Closed April 1987) 34.5 km Aldgate (Closed April 1987) – Crossing loop until 1995 Mount Barker Road Yatina Road 35.6 km Jibilla (Closed 1987) Kalin Avenue 36.2 km Carripook (Closed April 1987) Bridgewater Road 37.2 km Bridgewater (Closed April 1987) Adelaide-Wolseley line to Melbourne to Victor Harbor & Mount Pleasant lines

Line guide

(Note: dates are those that are indicated in each individual article)

Station	Image	Opened	Additional information
Bridgewater		1880s	Terminus 1857-1987; closed 23 September 1987
Carripook		?	Closed 23 September 1987
Jibilla		?	Originally named Halliday's Crossing; closed 23 September 1987
Aldgate		14 March 1883	Closed 23 September 1987; crossing loop closed 1995
Madurta		?	Closed 23 September 1987
Heathfield		?	Closed 23 September 1987
Mount Lofty		1883	Closed 23 September 1987; crossing loop closed 1995
Upper Sturt		?	Closed 23 September 1987
Nalawort		1920s	Closed 12 December 1945
Long Gully		?	Closed 23 September 1987; crossing loop closed 1995
National Park		?	Closed 23 September 1987
Belair		1883	Terminus of the Belair line (1987–present); crossing loop closed 1995

References