Outer Harbor line

The line between Port Adelaide Junction and Glanville was dual gauge until early December 2009 when the standard gauge rails were removed. Outer Harbor had a balloon loop railway so that trains could be turned around without shunting or requiring a turntable or triangle. The loop was cut when rail freight moved off the broad gauge Outer Harbor railway to the nearby standard gauge line on the eastern side of the peninsula.

Various plans to modify the line have been proposed. In 2008, the State Government announced a plan to rebuild the Outer Harbour line in preparation for the line to be electrified with the Federal Government also to provide funding.[1] In the 2011 budget, it was announced that electrification of the Outer Harbor line had been deferred until 2016.[2] In June 2012, the project was cancelled.[3]

In May 2016, the State Government announced 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) of the line would be lowered in a grade separation project to pass below the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler lines with a new Bowden station being built as part of the project.[4][5] In December 2016 the contract was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, AECOM and KBR.[6]

As of 2016, the State Government was again considering electrifying the line or converting it to light rail. A 2016 report into potential light rail projects in Adelaide considered two options for the future of the line. The first option would electrify the heavy rail line and provide a short spur-line to central Port Adelaide. The second option would convert the line to light rail and add a new on-street branch to Semaphore. A light rail conversion would also require the conversion or closure of the Grange line - several options for the future of that line were also presented.[7] In 2017, there had also been a proposal by the state government for a spur line into Port Adelaide, which did not go ahead.[8][9]

In January 2017, the line was closed for three weeks alongside the Grange line for the building of an overpass over South Road and the North–South Motorway.[10][11]

There are a total of five railway tracks on three bridges in parallel across the River Torrens. North of this bridge, the two tracks of the Gawler line continues north, as does the standard gauge railway track, while the two tracks of the Outer Harbor line swing away northwest. Until late 2017, the Outer Harbor tracks were the pair between the Gawler tracks on the east and the standard gauge track which was built in 1982 on the west. This meant that Outer Harbor and Grange trains had to cross the track that carries rail freight between Melbourne and the main freight terminals in Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. In 2017, the Torrens Junction project worked to remove this operational conflict. The outcome was to make the Gawler trains use the central pair of tracks, while the Outer Harbor line now uses the eastern pair across the bridge, then descends into a trench and passes underneath the Gawler and standard gauge lines and Park Terrace which had previously been a busy level crossing. The Bowden railway station was also demolished and rebuilt at a new lower level.[12]

The Outer Harbor line was closed (and consequently also Grange services) along with a portion of the Gawler line in April, June, July, and August 2017 to work on the Torrens Rail Junction Project.[13][14][15][16] The entire line was closed on 24 September 2017, and reopened on 15 January 2018, having been delayed from a 3 December opening.[17]

There are several additional services that operate on the Outer Harbor line during the morning peak period.[20]

In contrast to the morning peak, in the evening, all services from Adelaide stop at all stations, with the exception of services which terminate at Obsorne.[20]

During special events, such as AFL matches, Adelaide Metro will typically run extra Osborne services. Unlike the regular weekday peak services, these Osborne services stop at all stations.[21]

As Outer Harbor railway station is in close proximity to the Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal, the Outer Harbor line is regularly utilised by cruise ship passengers during the summer cruise season. When larger cruise ships are in port, Adelaide Metro will often run an express train service between Outer Harbor and Adelaide in the morning.