Jubilee Exhibition Railway

The Jubilee railway line is a former railway in Adelaide, South Australia. It was built in 1887 from where the Adelaide Railway Station currently is to where the former Jubilee Exhibition Building was. The line used an existing tunnel under King William Road which was built in 1854 to transport horses and cattle. [ [http://jc.people.vee.net/rail/Jubilee_Railway.html PJ Barry, Jubilee Railway Line Historical Record] , 2004 ] The tunnel is likely the origin of rumours about rail tunnels located under the city of Adelaide. [ [http://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11326852-0-asc-s0+jubilee.htm Rail Page Forum: South Australia: Old railway tunnel under city] Jan 15, 2007 ] Much of the land where the line once ran has been constructed over to build parts of Adelaide University and the Adelaide Festival Centre. There were no stations built. No known evidence of the line remains today.

History

Where the Jubilee Exhibition Railway ran East of King William Street">
220px|right|thumbThe line was built for the Jubilee International Exhibition and used to transport exhibits, and during war time transport troops from the parade ground to ships at Port Adelaide. It later served the Adelaide Showgrounds of which which was located on the east side of what is now the University of Adelaide grounds. In 1927 when the Adelaide Showgrounds moved to Wayville the line seen as redundant and was closed with the tunnel filled in.

In 1973, the tunnel was rediscovered when construction on the Adelaide Festival Centre was taking place. The section of the tunnel uncovered found a tunnel lined with bluestone about 5 meters wide and at least 10 meters long. The Adelaide city council investigated whether it would be worth reopening the tunnel as a pedestrian subway to complement the new festival centre. The state government agreed to contribute $35,000 towards the opening of the tunnel. The costing unfortunately were found to be higher and the real cost would be from $90,000 to $140,000. The project was abandoned and the evacuations filled. [ [http://www.history.sa.gov.au/chu/programs/history_conference/DebMorganPaper.pdf Deb Morgan, King William Road Tunnel] ]

Route

Notes

References

* Deb Morgan, Department for Environment and Heritage, "TUNNEL VISIONS: Persistent Myths about Adelaide’s Underground History", Adelaide
* "The Jubilee Exhibition Railway" Barry, P.J. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, October, 1998 pp373-386

See also

*Railways in Adelaide
*List of Adelaide railway stations
*List of closed Adelaide railway stations