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Glenelg Tramline

Locale	Glenelg, South Australia
Transit type	light rail
Began operation	1929
System length	10.8 kilometres (6.7 mi)
No. of lines	1
No. of stations	21
Daily ridership	5,200[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) (standard gauge)
Operator	TransAdelaide

New Bombardier Flexity tram in Adelaide city centre en route to Glenelg

H-class trams at the Moseley Square terminus in Glenelg, circa 2005. The terminus was upgraded in 2006.

The Glenelg Tram is 10.8-km (6.7-mile) route from the centre of Adelaide, South Australia to the beach-side suburb of Glenelg. It is Adelaide's only remaining tramway, running at approximately 20-minute intervals, and is part of the integrated Adelaide Metro public transport network.

The last significant expansion of the tram system in Adelaide was in the 1920s, and all routes except this line were closed in the 1950s. Apart from short street-running sections in Adelaide city centre and Glenelg, the Glenelg route is in a private reservation, providing a fast and reliable service with minimal interference from road traffic.

Until January 2006, 1929-vintage H-class cars provided all services on the Glenelg line. These trams were built for the electrification of the Glenelg line and have many of the characteristics of American "interurban" cars of the same period.

The H-class are the longest rigid-body trams remaining in service, and the second-longest ever built. They travel in pairs during peak times, and with the retirement of the W2 trams from Melbourne's network are the oldest passenger trams in service in Australia.

In January 2006 the first members of a new fleet of modern trams entered service. Eleven 30m-long articulated low-floor Flexity Classic Light Rail vehicles, built by Bombardier in Germany, will replace the H-class trams in regular day-to-day service. In December 2006 nine Flexity Classic trams are in service.

Five refurbished H-class trams have been retained. They operate a restricted 'heritage service' timetable on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. They have been fitted with safety measures similar to those of the new trams, including vigilance control and electro-magnetic track brakes.

A 1.2-km extension from Victoria Square, along King William St to scheduled to start in June 2007. Further extensions are the subject the Adelaide railway station is planned, with construction of a government feasibility study.

	Stop:	Suburb(s):	Distance: From Victoria Square[2]
	City West (Proposed)	Adelaide	1.5 km
	Railway Station (Proposed)	Adelaide	1.1 km
	Rundle Mall (Proposed)	Adelaide	0.6 km
	Pirie Street (Proposed)[3]	Adelaide	0.2 km
1	Victoria Square	Adelaide	-
2	City South	Adelaide	0.4 km
3	South Terrace	Adelaide	0.8 km
4	Greenhill Road	Wayville	1.4 km
6	Wayville	Wayville	2.3 km
7	Goodwood Road	Goodwood	2.8 km
8	Forestville	Forestville	3.7 km
9	Black Forest	Black Forest, Everard Park	4.2 km
10	South Road	Black Forest, Everard Park, Glandore	4.7 km
11	Glandore	Glandore	5.2 km
12	Beckman Street	Glandore, Plympton, South Plympton	5.6 km
13	South Plympton	Plympton, South Plympton	6.2 km
14	Marion Road	Plympton, South Plympton	6.5 km
15	Plympton Park	Plympton, North Plympton	7.4 km
	Morphettville Racecourse (Special events)	Camden Park, Morphettville	8.0 km
16	Morphett Road	Camden Park, Morphettville, Glengowire	8.4 km
17	Glengowire	Glengowire, Glenelg East	9.0 km
18	Glenelg East	Glenelg East	9.7 km
19	Brighton Road	Glenelg East, Glenelg	10.0 km
20	Jetty Road	Glenelg	10.4 km
21	Moseley Square	Glenelg	10.8 km

The route was built in 1873 by a private company, the Adelaide, Glenelg & Suburban Railway Company Ltd. The original line had a very different character to today’s route.

• It was built to the 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) broad gauge (today’s tram is 4 ft 8½ in, 1435 mm).
• It was operated by steam locomotives, not electric trams.
• Most of the localities between Glenelg and Adelaide were sparsely settled and undeveloped. The line ran through open paddocks and market gardens.
• The line was largely single track.
• It crossed the Main South Line at Goodwood by a flat crossing, not an overpass.
• There were fewer stopping points and these were more like conventional railway stations.
• The trains did not operate on anything like the frequency of today’s trams, and a timetable was certainly advisable when planning a journey.

In December 1899 the private company was acquired by the state government-controlled South Australian Railways, who continued to operate the line as a steam railway for the next 30 years or so.

In 1914, the railway’s terminus was cut back from the edge of Victoria Square (in the centre of Adelaide) to South Terrace on the city’s southern fringe. Passengers had to transfer to electric trams to complete their journey into the city.

In 1929 ownership and operation transferred from the SAR to Adelaide’s Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT). Steam trains ceased on 2 April 1929 and the line was closed to be rebuilt to standard gauge, electrified at 600 V dc and converted to tramway operation. The Goodwood flyover was constructed at this time, separating the new tram tracks from the conventional railway.

An H-class Glenelg tram.

Thirty H-class trams were built for the line by a local manufacturer, A. Pengelley, along the lines of North American interurban cars of that era.

The line re-opened on 14 December 1929, with the city terminus reverting to Victoria Square.

There were one or two quirks in the earlier years, the most famous being the “horse trams” operated in the 1930s. These were trams specially constructed to carry race horses from stables located along the line to the racecourse at Morphettville. This service was a carry-over from the days of the steam railway, which had also performed this function. Another unusual feature was operation of triple sets of H-class trams in peak hours, and express trams that ran non-stop over a significant portion of the route (one express service remains in 2006).

The line was the only route to survive the closure of Adelaide’s street tramway network during the 1950s, saved largely by its high proportion of reserved track, which ensures a fast journey for passengers and minimal interference from road traffic.

The H-class cars have been progressively updated during the 1970s, again in the late 1980s and most recently (on five trams) in 2000. These included toughened safety glass in windows, replacing wooden panels with fibreglass, upgrading bogies, fluorescent lights inside the cars, and sealed-beam headlights and brake/hazard lamp clusters outside.

In 1986 the line was converted from trolley pole to pantograph operation. This change coincided with relocation of the tram depot from Angas Street in central Adelaide to a new facility at Glengowrie, close to Glenelg.

Despite the various refurbishments and upgrades the overall character of the H-class trams has stayed very much as they were built. The interiors are still varnished wood and glass etched with MTT logos, and with no heating or air conditioning. All services are crew operated, with a driver and conductor on single cars, or a driver and two conductors on two-car sets.