Albert Park railway station, Adelaide
Albert Park railway station is located in Adelaide’s north-western suburbs on the single-track branch line between Woodville and Grange. The station is 9.1 km (5¾ miles) from Adelaide and serves the adjacent suburbs of Albert Park and Woodville West.
All train services are operated by Adelaide Metro diesel railcars. Trains to Adelaide operate every 30 mins during Monday – Friday off-peak times. There is a more frequent service during peak hours and one train per hour in the evenings and at weekends. There are no freight services along the Grange line.
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 early railway was not a financial success and was bought out by the government-owned 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 the Second World War 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 1.1km (¾ mile) 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 2, the Hendon trains only operated at industrial shift-change times.
In spite of low passenger numbers the Hendon branch 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 STA suburban passenger system (although other lower-quadrant signals on AN 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 AAMI Stadium, the main AFL football venue in South Australia.
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