Tonsley railway line

Tonsley railway line
Overview
Locale	Adelaide, South Australia
Termini	Adelaide Tonsley
Stations	Goodwood
Services	30 mins (peak) 30 mins (weekday) No service (weekend) No service (night)
Operation
Opened	1 July 1966
Rolling stock	3000/3100 class 4000 class
Events
Re-sleepered (concrete)	2013/14
Electrified	2014
Technical
Line length	13.0 km (8.1 mi)
Number of tracks	Quadruple track to Keswick Triple track to Goodwood Double track to Mitchell Park Single track to Tonsley
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Route map To Glenelg 0km 0:00 Adelaide Montefiore Road City West To Gawler, Grange and Port Adelaide To Port Augusta (ARTC) West Terrace1 Adelaide Depot Port Road To Adelaide Entertainment Centre Glover Avenue To Glenelg via Plympton 2.0km 0:04 Mile End Sir Donald Bradman Drive Mile End Goods(closed 1994) Adelaide Parklands Terminal Keswick(closed 2013) Anzac Highway/Greenhill Road / 4.0km 0:06 Adelaide Showground Leader Street 5.0km 0:08 Goodwood Glenelg Tram Victoria Street To Belair To Bordertown and Melbourne East Avenue 6.3km 0:10 Clarence Park 7.1km 0:12 Emerson Cross Road (Level crossing) South Road (Overpass) 7.9km 0:14 Edwardstown De Laine Avenue Angus Avenue Raglan Avenue 9.1km 0:16 Woodlands Park Sixth Avenue To Seaford Daws Road Celtic Avenue 11.5km 0:18 Mitchell Park 12.1km 0:20 Clovelly Park Alawoona Avenue 13.0km 0:22 Tonsley  Gauge and interchange key  Broad gauge Standard gauge Adelaide Metro commuter trains Adelaide Metro trams Adelaide Metro buses GSR interstate trains

The Tonsley railway line is a suburban commuter line in Adelaide, South Australia that stems off the Seaford line to end in Mitchell Park opposite Science Park and close to the Flinders University and the Flinders Medical Centre. There have been many proposals to extend the line so that it ends closer to the Flinders Campus, but nothing has eventuated. The line was constructed in 1965/66 to serve the former Chrysler/Mitsubishi plant at Clovelly Park, which closed in March 2008.^[1]

The Tonsley railway line was closed between Woodlands Park and Tonsley from February 2012 to May 2014. During this time the line was duplicated between Tonsley Junction and Mitchell Park station, the track re-sleepered with dual gauge sleepers to allow for the line to be converted to standard gauge at a future date, and the entire line electrified.^[2]

The line is single track for most of its length, from Celtic Avenue near Mitchell Park station to the terminus at Tonsley, with two intermediate stations. Services operate every 30 minutes on weekdays with no trains operating at night or on the weekend.

Services

Services operate between 06.30 and 19.30 on weekdays only.^[3] Services were only extended to operate during weekday off-peak periods in 2004. Stations between Adelaide and Woodlands Park are also serviced by the Seaford line, and stations between Adelaide and Goodwood are also serviced by the Belair line.

Prior to 2014, most trains were operated by 3000 class railcars augmented at times by 2000 class railcars.Since the electrification of the line, the latter are no longer authorised to operate on the line.^[4] Once the full fleet is delivered, services will be operated by A-City electric multiple units.

Flinders Link Extension

In July 2008, a feasibility study was commissioned by the government to extend the line to the Flinders Medical Centre.^[5]

The extension, referred to as Flinders Link, would extend the line by 650 metres to the Flinders Medical Centre and the Flinders University area. It would consist of:^[6]

• 520 metres of elevated single track over Sturt Road, Laffer’s Triangle and Main South Road
• A new station adjacent to the Flinders Medical Centre
• An integrated shared pedestrian/cycle path adjacent the rail line

On the 13 May 2016, as part of the 2016 Liberal election campaign, a funding pledge of $43 million was announced for the Flinders Link extension.^[7]

2012–2014 line closure and electrification

From 27 February 2012, the line was closed for a year.^[8][9]

The closure was extended until September, 2013, for electrification of the line along with the Noarlunga Centre line.^[10] In late 2013, a plan was announced to duplicate the route. This was to be funded through joint State and Federal initiatives, but the incoming Federal government announced it would be changing their focus to roads, and pulled the funding. Accordingly, the future of the line was unclear, with $18 million spent on the project.^[11] It eventually reopened on 5 May 2014, more than two years after closure.^[2]

References

Clovelly Park station

Tonsley station