Tarcoola | |
|---|---|
 Station in the 1920s | |
| General information | |
| Location | Railway Terrace,Tarcoola Australia |
| Coordinates | 30°42′50″S134°34′01″E / 30.713771°S 134.566869°E /-30.713771; 134.566869[1] |
| Line(s) | Trans-Australian Railway |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Construction | |
| Structure type | Ground |
| Other information | |
| Status | Permanently Closed |
Tarcoola railway station is a railway station in the Australian state ofSouth Australia located on theTrans-Australian Railway in the state's west.[1] It serves the town ofTarcoola and is the northern junction of theSydney-Perth andAdelaide-Darwin railways, which share approximately 530 kilometres (329 mi) of track between Tarcoola andCrystal Brook.[citation needed]
TheTrans-Australian Railway was built through Tarcoola in 1915, and in 1980 it became ajunction station when theAdelaide–Darwin railway diverged from Tarcoola toAlice Springs. This was extended toDarwin in 2004. It was initially built as a standard gauge replacement for theCentral Australia Railway.[citation needed]
There is atriangular junction at Tarcoola which joins Crystal Brook, Darwin and Perth. Another triangular junction at Crystal Brook joins Tarcoola, Adelaide and Sydney.[citation needed]
The station has twotriangles, a smaller one for turning locomotives, and the larger one to the west of the town gives direct access from theDarwin line to theTrans-Australian Railway toKalgoorlie.[2] The latter has been put out of service.
In 2018, the track between Tarcoola and Adelaide was upgraded from 47 kilograms per metre (95 lb/yd) to 60 kilograms per metre (120 lb/yd) rails. This was done while the track was open for service, with 600 metres (2,000 ft) of rail being replaced at a time between train services. The upgrade increased the maximum permitted axle load by four tonnes.[3]
The Ghan and theIndian Pacific passenger services pass through Tarcoola both running once per week in each direction all year round.[4][5] The mail for Tarcoola arrives by train.[citation needed]