Jubilee Exhibition Railway
The Jubilee Exhibition Railway is a former railway in Adelaide, South Australia. It was built in 1887 from where the Adelaide station currently is to where the former Jubilee Exhibition Building was. The line used an existing tunnel under King William Road which was built in 1854 to transport horses and cattle.[1][2] The tunnel is likely the origin of rumours about rail tunnels located under the city of Adelaide.[3] Much of the land where the line once ran has been constructed over to build parts of Adelaide University and the Adelaide Festival Centre. There were no stations built. No known evidence of the line remains today.
| Jubilee Exhibition Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of the railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | South Australian Railways | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Closed and removed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Adelaide, South Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1887 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1927 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | South Australian Railways | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
The line was built for the Jubilee International Exhibition and used to transport exhibits, and during wartime transport troops from the parade ground to ships at Port Adelaide. It later served the Adelaide Showgrounds which were located on the east side of what is now the grounds of University of Adelaide. In 1927 when the Adelaide Showgrounds moved to Wayville the line was seen as redundant. The line was closed and the tunnel under King William Road filled in.
In 1973, the tunnel was rediscovered when construction on the Adelaide Festival Centre was taking place. The section of the tunnel uncovered was lined with bluestone about 5 metres wide and at least 10 metres long. The Adelaide city council investigated whether it would be worth reopening the tunnel as a pedestrian subway to complement the new festival centre. The state government agreed to contribute $35,000 towards the opening of the tunnel. Subsequently the costing was found to be grossly underestimated at $90,000-$140,000 so the project was abandoned and the excavations refilled.[4]
References
- Barry, P.J. (October 1998). "The Jubilee Exhibition Railway". Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin. pp. 373–386.
- "Jubilee Railway Line Historical Record". Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- "Rail Page Form: South Australia: Old railway tunnel under city". Railpage Australia. 15 January 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.
- Deb Morgan (2006). "Tunnel Visions: Persistent Myths About Adelaide's Underground History" (PDF). Department of Environment and Heritage and History Trust of South Australia, Government of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2010.