Belair railway line, Adelaide

TransAdelaideRailLine
line_name=Belair Line
colour=#009900

---

start=Adelaide
terminus=Belair
majorstops=Goodwood
Mitcham
Blackwood
length=21.5
track=Quadruple Track to Goodwood
Single Track to Belair
peakfreq=Every 20-30 Mins
weekdayfreq=Every 30-40 Mins
weekendfreq=Every 60 Mins
nightfreq=Every 60 Mins
3000-class=Yes
opened=1883
re-sleepered=2009 [Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure, Rail Revitalisation Schedule, [http://www.dtei.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/RR/rail_revitalisation/schedule] , accessed 19 August 2008]
electrified=N/A
closed=N/A

The Belair railway line is a suburban rail commuter route within the City of Adelaide, South Australia, that runs from the Adelaide Railway Station to Belair in the Adelaide Hills.

History

The Bridgewater railway line from Adelaide to Belair / Bridgewater opened in 1883. In 1987, passenger services to Bridgewater ceased, mainly due to low patronage, the terminus becoming Belair.

In 1995, one track of the double track main line from Adelaide to Belair was converted from Broad Gauge (1600mm) to Standard Gauge (1435mm) as part of the Adelaide to Melbourne standardisation project. The broad gauge passenger services were thus restricted to a single track with crossing loops located at Mitcham Station, Blackwood Station, Eden Hills and Sleeps Hill. At the same time, the stations at Millswood, Hawthorn and Clapham were closed despite criticism from local residents.

Operations

The motive power used for suburban passenger trains is now exclusively 3000 and 3100 class railcars. Until June 2007, on weekends some services were run with 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.

On weekends, the route was popular with downhill mountain bike riders who caught the train up the hill and returned via one of the many downhill mountain biking trails. (Hence the use of the modified 2000 class railcar.) However, since downhill mountain biking has been prohibited on some trails in the Belair area, (such as Anderson's Reserve, Lynton Dump Reserve and Sleeps Hill reserve), the Adelaide mountain biking community's patronage has been reduced.

The standard gauge track is used by "The Overland" passenger train to Melbourne, which runs three times a week, and a number of freight trains.

Line guide

ee also

*List of Adelaide railway stations
*List of suburban and commuter rail systems
*Railways in Adelaide
*Rail transport in South Australia

External links

* [http://www.sa.gov.au/ South Australia Central]
* [http://www.opt.dtup.sa.gov.au/ Office of Public Transport]
* [http://www.transadelaide.com.au/ TransAdelaide]
* [http://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/ Adelaide Metro]
* [http://www.railpage.org.au/events/belair.html#LinesideDesc Line Side description]