Alberton railway station, Adelaide

Alberton railway station is located on the Outer Harbor line.[1] Situated in the north-western Adelaide suburb of Alberton, it is 10.2 kilometres from Adelaide station. The station is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.

Alberton
Alberton station in 2005.
General information
LocationStation Place, Alberton
Coordinates34°51′29″S 138°31′06″E / 34.858088°S 138.518398°E / -34.858088; 138.518398
Owned byDepartment for Infrastructure & Transport
Operated byAdelaide Metro
Line(s)Outer Harbor
Distance10.2 km from Adelaide
Platforms2
Tracks2
Bus routes232 to Port Adelaide (Torrens Road)
ConnectionsBuses in Adelaide Bus
Construction
Structure typeSide platform
ParkingNo
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station code16492 (to City)
18463 (to Outer Harbor)
WebsiteAdelaide Metro
History
Opened1856
Services
Preceding station Adelaide Metro Following station
Cheltenham
towards Adelaide
Outer Harbor line Port Adelaide
towards Outer Harbor

History edit

The railway station and the substantial brick and stone building on the northbound platform were constructed in 1856 when the line between Adelaide and Port Adelaide was built. The other intermediate stations on this line were at Bowden and Woodville. In the early days, Adelaide to Port Adelaide was a single-track railway. As traffic on the line increased, a second platform opened at Alberton in 1878 and the single track was duplicated throughout in 1881. Goods sidings were installed in 1892, controlled by a signal cabin adjacent to the Fussell Place level crossing.

As traffic declined in the second half of the 20th century, the goods siding and signal cabin were taken out of use in 1953. Alberton station has been unattended since 1 September 1987, but the building on the first platform is now used as a hairdresser. In late 2016, the station was ranked as one of the worst stations in the western suburbs based on 5 criteria.[2] On 17 May 2022, a 62 year old woman was fatally struck by a train at a crossing north of the station, causing the line to be closed for several hours and promoting calls for more gates at crossings along the Outer Harbor line.[3]

No freight trains operate through Alberton, however a significant amount of freight traffic used the nearby Rosewater loop until 2008 when the Mary MacKillop Bridge over the Port River was opened.[4] The Rosewater loop joined the Adelaide to Outer Harbor line at Port Adelaide Junction (just north of Alberton) heading for the Lefevre Peninsula and Pelican Point.

Services by platform edit

Platform Lines Destinations Notes
1 Outer Harbor all stops services to Outer Harbor some peak hour services terminate at Osborne
2 Outer Harbor all stops services to Adelaide

References edit

  1. ^ Outer Harbor & Grange timetable Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Adelaide Metro 23 February 2014
  2. ^ "And the worst rail stop in the west goes to …". The Advertiser. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Pedestrian killed by train while trying to cross tracks at Alberton Railway Station". ABC News Australia. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  4. ^ Premier Mike Rann opens the Diver Derrick and Mary Mackillop road and rail bridges at Pt Adel ABC News 1 August 2008
  • 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

External links edit