North Terrace-Glenelg railway line, Adelaide

The North Terrace to Glenelg railway line is a closed railway in western Adelaide. It started in the north west of the city centre from the Adelaide Railway Station headed west and from approximately where Henley Beach Road currently is then followed an almost direct route to the seaside town of Glenelg. Much of the corridor in which the line ran remains as a rail trail for cyclists, which is known as the West Side cycleway. [ [http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/personal_transport/bike_direct/bikemap8.pdf Transport SA: Bike Map ] ] Part of the north section of the corridor has been built over as James Congdon Road. A railway platform remains in the suburb of Plympton from the original line. [ [http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1016595.htm Railpage Forms South Australia: Abandoned Plympton Railway Station] ] The line was closed in 1929, after which remnants remained for some time including rails across Marion road in the 1950’s. [ [http://143.216.21.253/mpcimg/46528/B46528_207.htm State Library SA: Plympton Railway Station Rails Remanets Photo] ]

History

The line was constructed to compete with the existing Glenelg railway line which ran from South Terrace. Customer satisfaction on the existing line was becoming low. In response a group which had been attempting to improve conditions on the existing service decided to establish a company and construct a new railway in competition with the existing one. The Holdfast Bay Railway Company was established and the new line was opened on May 24, 1880. The line proved to be popular due to the convenience of using the existing Adelaide Railway Station, and trips taking only 20 minutes to Glenelg which was 5 minutes shorter then the existing line. There were two trains that ran in the morning from Glenelg to Adelaide, and two from Adelaide to Glenelg in the afternoon. [ [http://webcat.wtcc.sa.gov.au/hipres/images/lhimages/407-1.pdf West Torrens Library Service, History, "NESFIELD', 353 Marion Road, North Plympton"] ] Two years after the lines opening is was realised that there was not enough business to support both companies and on May 11, 1882 the two merged to form the Glenelg Railway Company Limited. Both lines continued to run and business assets such as maintenance facilities were shared to reduce costs.

In 1924 William A. Webb, the railways commissioner proposed that the two Glenelg railways be given to the Municipal Tramways Trust and to be converted from steam railways into electric railways. The government following Mr Webb's recommendation acquired both Glenelg railways and Electrification of the South Terrace line which now in known as the Glenelg Tramline began in 1929 and took nine months to finish. On the day when the South Terrace line was opened on December 1929, South Australian Railways stopped running trains from North Terrace. After the closure, the M.T.T began the operation of bus services from the city to Plympton. The line was originally intended to become electrified with the Glenelg line and small scale works on its conversion had began, including drilling holes for power lines. However work was halted and the future became uncertain for years. Parts of the remaining corridor were sold to private holders in 1938 and the rest to the South Australian Government in 1940. The M.A.T.S Plan in the 1960’s proposed a expressway be constructed in the corridor.

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Notes

References

J.C. Radcliff. C.J.M. Steele, " Adelaide Road Passenger Transport 1836 - 1958 ", Libraries Board of South Australia, Adelaide, 1974

See also

* Railways in Adelaide
* List of Adelaide railway stations
* List of closed Adelaide railway stations