Bowden railway station

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 is in marked contrast 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 Café was opened in the station building on northbound platform 1.[2] In late 2016, the station was ranked as one of the better stations in the western suburbs based on 5 criteria.[3]

As part of the Torrens Rail Junction Project, a grade separation project to lower the Outer Harbor and Grange lines below Park Terrace and the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler lines, the original station was demolished and a new one built, however, the heritage station building remains.[4]

In 2017, the original city-bound platform was closed on April 11 and demolished shortly afterwards. The outbound platform was closed in September of the same year. The old 'Down' platform are in use as pedestrian walkway. The underpass was permanently closed in March. The café remains in place.

On January 15, 2018 the new Bowden station opened to the public along with the mostly completed Torrens Rail Junction.

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

Bowden station is also in close proximity to the Entertainment Centre tram station:

Glenelg Entertainment Centre - Moseley Square (peak hour only)
Glenelg Entertainment Centre - Botanic Garden

• 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

Media related to Bowden railway station at Wikimedia Commons