Alice Springs railway station

Alice Springs railway station
The Ghan passenger train at Alice Springs station, July 2015
General information
LocationGeorge Crescent, Alice Springs
Australia
Coordinates23°41′50.7″S 133°52′24.2″E / 23.697417°S 133.873389°E / -23.697417; 133.873389
OwnerJourney Beyond
OperatorJourney Beyond
LineAdelaide–Darwin railway line
Distance1546 kilometres from Adelaide
Platforms1
Construction
Structure type
Ground
Other information
StatusStaffed
History
OpenedNarrow gauge line (Central Australia Railway): 2 August 1929.
Standard gauge line: 9 October 1980.
Closed(Central Australia Railway narrow gauge line): 1980
Former namesStuart (2 August 1929 to 31 August 1933)
Services
Preceding station Journey Beyond Following station
Katherine
One-way operation
 The Ghan Coober Pedy
towards Adelaide
Katherine
towards Darwin
 Marla
One-way operation
Location
Stuart railway station in 1929 or 1930, before it was renamed Alice Springs
Arrival of the first train at Alice Springs, 6 August 1929

Alice Springs railway station is on the Adelaide–Darwin line in the town of that name.[1]

History

The original railway station, in Railway Terrace, was opened on 2 August 1929, when the 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge Great Northern railway was extended there from Oodnadatta and named the Central Australia Railway. For the first 11 months, the station had the same name as the fledgling adjacent township, "Stuart", named after the explorer John McDouall Stuart. However, Australia-wide the locality had become widely known as Alice Springs, the name of the telegraph station 3.5 kilometres (2 miles) to the township's north. Citing that reason, the Commonwealth Railways announced a change to that name on 8 July 1930.[2]

Replacing a wooden structure, the present station servicing the new 1435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard-gauge line opened on 9 October 1980 when a new line opened from Tarcoola.[3] The station was included in the sale of Australian National's passenger operations to Great Southern Rail on 1 November 1997.[4] It served as the terminus until the line was extended to Darwin in February 2004.

The building, designed by Adelaide architect Guy Maron, was awarded the Northern Territory Enduring Architecture Award in 2015, 35 years after its opening.[5]

Station features

In the foyer of the current station is a memorial by sculptor Gabriel Sterk commemorating the Afghan cameleers who transported supplies to Central Australia before the building of the railway line.[6]

Services

Alice Springs station is served by the experiential tourist train, The Ghan, usually operating weekly in each direction.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Alice Springs map Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine SA Track & Signal
  2. ↑ Gahan, George A. (8 July 1930). "Central Australia Railway terminus now to be known as Alice Springs. File CR. 5981" (Document). Melbourne: Commonwealth Railways. Via National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.
  3. ↑ Fourth Council 1980-1984 Archived 21 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Alice Springs Town Council
  4. ↑ "Goodbye AN passenger, hello Great Southern Railway" Railway Digest December 1997 page 7
  5. ↑ "2015 Northern Territory Architecture Awards". ArchitectureAU.com. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  6. ↑ The Ghan Memorial Monument Australia
  7. ↑ The Ghan Timetable April to December 2021 Archived 26 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine Journey Beyond

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