The Grange line is a suburban railway branch line in the Adelaide conurbation, South Australia. It starts at Woodville railway station, 7.6 kilometres (4.7 miles) from Adelaide railway station on the Outer Harbor line, and ends at Grange railway station, 7.8 kilometres (4.8 miles) from Woodville. Services on the line continue beyond Woodville to and from Adelaide.
Overview
The line is operated by Adelaide Metro and designated route number GRNG. It is a single-track, broad-gauge (1600 mm / 5 ft 3 in) commuter rail line with four stations: Albert Park, Seaton Park, East Grange, and Grange. Services are operated by 3000/3100 class diesel-electric railcars. Weekday peak services run every 20–30 minutes, weekday off-peak services every 30 minutes, and hourly on weekends.
History
The line was opened in September 1882 by the Grange Railway and Investment Company, a private land development company, to encourage sales at its beachside real estate development project. The line began at a bay platform at Woodville, and differing couplers prevented Grange line trains from continuing to Adelaide.
The company was not financially successful, and the South Australian Railways (SAR) took over operation in 1891. The state government directed the SAR to purchase the company's assets in 1894. That same year, the line was extended 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) south from Grange to Henley Beach, becoming the Henley Beach railway line. Following modifications to the track layout at Woodville station in 1909, trains from the branch lines could travel beyond Woodville to Adelaide. The Henley Beach extension was closed in 1957, shortening the line back to its original Grange terminus.
Additional spurs included a branch to a General Motors-Holden's factory (opened 1928, closed 1992) and a 1.1-kilometre spur to Hendon (opened 1940 for munitions works, closed 1980). The terminus at Grange was relocated in 1986 to the eastern side of Military Road to eliminate a level crossing.
Route
Grange trains follow the alignment of the Outer Harbor and Port Dock lines from Adelaide as far as Woodville station, where the line diverges south-west and crosses Port Road. The line then travels through Albert Park and bisects the Royal Adelaide Golf Club links between Seaton Park and East Grange stations. Apart from 550 metres of double track at the Woodville end, the line is single track throughout with no passing loops.
