Belair line

34°59′33″S 138°37′56″E / 34.992597°S 138.632355°E / -34.992597; 138.632355

Belair line
A 3000 class railcar exiting Sleeps Hill Tunnel.
Overview
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Belair
Stations	15
Service
Type	Commuter rail
Operator(s)	Adelaide Metro
Rolling stock	3000/3100 class
History
Opened	1883
Re-sleepered (concrete)	April–August 2009
partly Electrified (Adelaide–Goodwood)	January–July 2013
Technical
Line length	21.5 km (13.4 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (to Adelaide Showground) 1 (to Belair)
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	only partial: 25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead catenary (Adelaide–Goodwood)
Route map Legend km 0 Adelaide Gawler, Grange & Outer Harbor lines to Port Augusta Adelaide Depot closed 2011 Port Road Glover Avenue Holdfast Bay line 2.0 Mile End Sir Donald Bradman Drive 2.9 Mile End Goods closed 1994 Adelaide Parklands Terminal Keswick closed 2013 Anzac Highway (Keswick Bridge) 4.0 Adelaide Showground Showground Central 2003–2013 Leader Street 5.0 Goodwood Glenelg tram line (Goodwood Overpass) Victoria Street Seaford and Flinders lines Goodwood loop Goodwood Road 5.9 Millswood Cross Road 7.0 Unley Park Hilda Terrace/Sussex Terrace 7.5 Hawthorn closed 1995 Angas Road Grange Road 8.5 Mitcham (passing loop) Wattlebury Road 9.3 Torrens Park Clapham (original site) 1908–15 10 Clapham closed 1995 Springbank Road Barretts Road 10.7 Lynton Sleeps Hill loop Sleeps Hill closed 1950s Original alignment closed 1920 Sleeps Hill tunnels Sleeps Hill viaduct 14.2 Eden Hills Willunga Street Shepherds Hill Road tunnel Eden Hills loop 17.2 Coromandel Brighton Parade Coromandel Parade Main Road 18.1 Blackwood (passing loop) 19.3 Glenalta Main Road Main Road 20.2 Pinera Upper Sturt Road 21.5 Belair Belair Depot Bridgewater line closed 1987 37.2 Bridgewater to Bordertown & Melbourne (ARTC) broad gauge standard gauge This diagram: view talk edit

The Belair line is a suburban rail commuter route in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, that runs from the Adelaide station to Belair in the Adelaide Hills via the Adelaide-Wolseley line using diesel 3000/3100 class railcars. Prior to 1995, this part of Adelaide-Wolseley was a two-track broad gauge line. In 1995, Adelaide-Wolseley was converted to standard gauge meaning Adelaide to Belair is now effectively two separate single-track lines running in parallel: the Belair commuter line (still broad gauge) and the Adelaide-Wolseley standard gauge freight line.

History

The Adelaide-Wolseley line from Adelaide to Belair and Bridgewater opened in 1883. In 1919, a new alignment was built around Sleeps Hill as part of the duplication of the line. This involved a new double track tunnel being built to replace two tunnels and two viaducts.^[1] The new alignment was also 400 metres (1,300 ft) shorter. On 18 June 1928, the line was duplicated from Eden Hills to Blackwood and on to Belair on 24 June 1928.^[2]

Passenger services stopped beyond Belair on 23 September 1987.^[2] In 1995, the track used by Adelaide bound services was converted to standard gauge as part of the Adelaide to Melbourne standardisation project. The broad gauge passenger services south of Goodwood were thus restricted to one track with crossing loops located at Mitcham, Sleeps Hill, Eden Hills and Blackwood. At the same time, the stations at Millswood, Hawthorn and Clapham were closed to speed up services. Millswood was later reopened on 12 October 2014.^[3]

Re-sleepering and electrification

In 2008, the State Government announced a plan to rebuild the Belair line.^[4] The line closed on 26 April 2009 with buses replacing trains. This work saw the track removed, with the track bed and track renewed. Dual gauge sleepers were laid to allow for the line to be converted to standard gauge at a future date. Unlike the other lines this is not planned in the immediate future due to extra engineering work and complications with the standard gauge line. The line reopened on 23 August 2009.^[5]

The Belair line was closed from 1 January 2013 to 14 July 2013 to allow electrification of the line from Adelaide to Goodwood (built concurrently with electrification of the adjacent Seaford line) and construction of a grade separation at Goodwood Junction with relatively little work performed on the Belair line itself.^[6][7] The Belair line does not run electric services, though the electrified section of track is used by Seaford and Flinders line trains. In 2021 the new operator of the line, Keolis, enforced the limit on bicycles per carriage, constricting the local Mitcham Hills mountain bike circuit.^[8]

Route

All services are operated by Adelaide Metro's 3000 class railcars. Until June 2007, some services on weekends were operated by a 2000 class railcar modified to incorporate increased bike capacity. In 2005, trains ran the route every 30 minutes on weekdays (hourly after 7pm) and every 60 minutes on weekends and public holidays. From 2006, because of the single line, this was downgraded to every 36/24 minutes on weekdays. In 2018 trains depart at least twice every hour on weekdays, with as little as 10 minutes waiting time during rush hour.^[9]

The standard gauge track is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and continues beyond Belair as the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line. The track is used by freight trains operated by One Rail Australia, Pacific National and SCT Logistics, and by the twice-weekly Overland service to Melbourne operated by Journey Beyond.

Line guide

Belair Line
Name	Distance from Adelaide	Year opened	Serving suburbs	Connections
Adelaide	0.0 km	1856	Adelaide	Flinders Gawler Grange Outer Harbor Seaford   Bus   Tram
Mile End	2.0 km	1898	Mile End
Adelaide Showground	4.0 km	2014	Keswick, Wayville
Goodwood	5.0 km	1883	Forestville, Goodwood	Flinders Seaford
Millswood	5.9 km	c. 1910	Millswood
Unley Park	7.0 km	c. 1910	Hawthorn, Unley Park, Westborne Park	Bus
Mitcham	8.5 km	1883	Lower Mitcham	Bus
Torrens Park	9.3 km	1914	Lower Mitcham, Torrens Park	Bus
Lynton	10.7 km	1946	Clapham, Lynton
Eden Hills	14.2 km	1912	Eden Hills
Coromandel	17.2 km	1883	Blackwood
Blackwood	18.1 km	1883	Blackwood	Bus
Glenalta	19.3 km	1921	Blackwood, Glenalta
Pinera	20.2 km	c. 1920	Belair	Bus
Belair	21.5 km	1883	Belair	Bus

Former stations

• Clapham – opened 1910s, relocated 1917, closed 1995.
• Hawthorn – opened 1910s, closed 1995.
• Keswick – opened 1913, closed 2013.
• Mile End Goods – closed 1994.
• Showground Central – opened 2005 for seasonal use, closed 2013.
• Sleeps Hill – opened 1909, closed 1946.

Gallery

•  
  Mitcham station
•  
  Two Redhen railcars working a Belair to Adelaide local train during the late 1980s approaching Lynton
•  
  Eden Hills station
•  
  Blackwood station in 2007; bus Interchange can be seen on the left
•  
  Belair station, services to Bridgewater once departed from these platforms. (Now the Australian Rail Track Corporation's Melbourne line tracks)
•  
  Pacific National freight train passing through Belair

References

1. Sleep's Hill Reserve 15 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine City of Mitcham
2. Callaghan, WH (1992). The Overland Railway. Sydney: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 124, 217, 239. ISBN 0-909650-29-2.
3. Adelaide's Millswood Station reopens after almost 20 years ABC News 13 October 2014
4. 2008/09 State Budget 27 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine South Australian Department of Treasury & Finance June 2008
5. Adelaide Metro
6. Goodwood Junction upgrade 13 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure
7. Goodwood Junction Rail Grade Separation 22 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine York Civil
8. "Carriage limits squeezing mountain bikers off popular Adelaide foothills line". ABC News. 14 March 2021.
9. "Belair Train Timetable" (PDF). Adelaide Metro. April 2018. pp. 2, 5. Retrieved 17 July 2022.

External links

• Belair to City – Adelaide Metro website