2014: The Opening of a Year-Round Railway Station at a Major Australian Showground

February 17, 2014

In the Australian state of South Australia (SA), a railway station in Wayville was formally opened to the public. (Wayville is a suburb of the City of Unley, a government area within the metropolitan region of SA’s capital of Adelaide.) This station was built as a transit link for the Adelaide Showground, a major venue that encompasses one of the largest undercover exhibition spaces in the entire Southern Hemisphere. This showground hosts numerous conferences and other events each year.

Adelaide Showground railway station is served by the Belair, Flinders, and Seaford lines of Adelaide Metro, the public transportation system in that part of Australia. In addition, Adelaide Showground railway station has bicycle facilities and is in close proximity to bus routes.

This station replaced a temporary one that was opened for a very limited time each year. That older structure was called Showground Central railway station and it was specifically used on an annual basis only in early September for the Royal Adelaide Show, a large-scale carnival and agricultural event held by the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia.

John Rothwell, chief executive of this society, spoke about the benefits of the year-round station shortly before it first went into service. He stated, “The introduction of the permanent train station will strengthen the Adelaide Showground’s accessibility by offering regular train, tram and bus connections.”

Don Palmer, a member of the City of Unley Council, was somewhat more effusive when commenting on the Adelaide Showground railway station three days before its official debut. “This morning I took the opportunity to preview the new rail station at Wayville,”” recounted Palmer in a post for his blog. “Heavy rain did not dampen my inspection and I have to say I am impressed. We could well do with replicating this elsewhere, not the size necessarily but the style and the amenity.” Palmer added, “I can now catch the train to the various events at the showground. Woo Hoo!”

Photo Credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

For more information on Adelaide Showground railway station, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Showground_railway_station

Additional information on Adelaide Metro is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Metro