Belair railway line | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Locale | Adelaide, South Australia |
Termini |
Adelaide Belair |
Stations | |
Services |
|
Operation | |
Opened | 1883 |
Rolling stock | |
Events | |
Re-sleepered (concrete) | April–August 2009 |
Technical | |
Line length | 21.5 km (13.4 mi) |
Number of tracks | Quadruple track to Goodwood Single track to Belair |
Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) |
Coordinates: 34°59′33″S 138°37′56″E / 34.992597°S 138.632355°E
The Belair railway 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.
The Adelaide-Wolseley 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. The new alignment was also 400 metres shorter. On 18 June 1928, the line was duplicated from Eden Hills to Blackwood and on to Belair on 24 June 1928.
Passenger services were curtailed beyond Belair on 23 September 1987.
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 were thus restricted to one track with crossing loops located at Mitcham, Blackwood, Eden Hills and Sleeps Hill. At the same time, the stations at Millswood, Hawthorn and Clapham were closed to speed up services. Millswood reopened on 12 October 2014.