Albert Park railway station, Adelaide

Albert Park railway station is located on the Grange line.^[1] Situated in the western Adelaide suburb of Albert Park, it is 9.1 kilometres from Adelaide station.

History

The railway line between Woodville and Grange opened in September 1882. This was a private railway, constructed by the Grange Railway and Investment Company. The railway was not a financial success and was bought out by the South Australian Railways in 1893. Albert Park at this time was a simple request stop on the line.

Modifications to the track layout at Woodville station in 1909 enabled trains from the Grange branch to travel beyond Woodville into Adelaide.

For most of its lifetime, Albert Park has been an unattended single platform station on a single track branch line. However, from World War II until the early 1980s, facilities were expanded and Albert Park station had a more important role.

In November 1940, a short branch line was opened diverging from the Grange line at Albert Park and running 1.1 kilometres to the Hendon munitions works. In connection with this, Albert Park was rebuilt as a junction station with a crossing loop, an island platform, ticket office and signal cabin. Trains to and from the Hendon line invariably ran through to Woodville or Adelaide, and after the end of World War II, the Hendon trains only operated at industrial shift-change times.

In spite of low passenger numbers the Hendon line continued operation until 1 February 1980, after which the line was closed and removed. The ticket office and signal cabin at Albert Park were closed on 15 November 1981 and the crossing loop was taken out of service. The mechanically-operated lower quadrant semaphore signals at Albert Park were the last such installation on the State Transport Authority suburban passenger system (although other lower-quadrant signals on Australian National track at Gillman Yard, Port Adelaide survived until the early 1990s).

The layout at Albert Park was rationalised, resulting in the simple layout and basic facilities provided today. The trackbed of the Hendon branch now forms part of West Lakes Boulevard, a main approach road to Football Park.

References

• Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. M. Thompson pub. Port Dock Station Railway Museum (1988) ISBN 0-9595073-6-1

Coordinates: 34°52′56″S 138°31′22″E / 34.8822°S 138.5227°E / -34.8822; 138.5227