Tarcoola railway station

Tarcoola railway station is a railway station in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Trans-Australian Railway in the state's west.[1] It serves the town of Tarcoola and is the northern junction of the Sydney-Perth and Adelaide-Darwin railways, which share approximately 530 kilometres (329 mi) of track between Tarcoola and Crystal Brook.

Tarcoola
Station in the 1920s
General information
LocationRailway Terrace, Tarcoola
Australia
Coordinates30°42′50″S 134°34′01″E[1]
Line(s)Trans-Australian Railway
Platforms1
Construction
Structure typeGround
Other information
StatusPermanently Closed

History

The Trans-Australian Railway was built through Tarcoola in 1915, and in 1980 it became a junction station when the Adelaide–Darwin railway diverged from Tarcoola to Alice Springs. This was extended to Darwin in 2004. It was initially built as a standard gauge replacement for the Central Australia Railway.

There is a triangular junction at Tarcoola which joins Crystal Brook, Darwin and Perth. Another triangular junction at Crystal Brook joins Tarcoola, Adelaide and Sydney.

The station has two triangles, a smaller one for turning locomotives, and the larger one to the west of the town gives direct access from the Darwin line to the Trans-Australian Railway to Kalgoorlie.[2] The latter has been put out of service.

In 2018, the track between Tarcoola and Adelaide was upgraded from 47 kilograms per metre (95 lb/yd) to 60 kilograms per metre (120 lb/yd) rails. This was done while the track was open for service, with 600 metres (2,000 ft) of rail being replaced at a time between train services. The upgrade increased the maximum permitted axle load by four tonnes.[3]

Services

The Ghan and the Indian Pacific passenger services pass through Tarcoola both running once per week in each direction all year round.[4][5] The mail for Tarcoola arrives by train.

References
  1. "Search results for 'Tarcoola Railway Station, RSTA' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and localities', 'Government Towns', 'SA Government Regions', 'Gazetteer'and 'Railways'". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian Government. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  2. "Tarcoola" (PDF). SA Track and Signal. Graham Vincent. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  3. Lysaght, Gary-Jon (4 April 2018). "Rail upgrade work commences on key Adelaide-Tarcoola route through outback South Australia". ABC North and West. Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  4. "Indian Pacific timetable". Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions. 1 April 2021.
  5. Ghan Timetable April 2019 to March 2020 Great Southern Rail


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