The long-lost tunnel

by Mick Mansfield

More than a hundred years ago, this site in your Adelaide Park Lands was on the route of a one-kilometre railway line through your Park Lands, a line that used a very short tunnel under King William Road.

There is a flat gradient running east-west between the rear wall of the grounds of Government House, and the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden. That was part of the route of an 1887 one-kilometre railway line. Pic: Mick Mansfield

The line was built in 1887 from what was then the newly-established Adelaide Railway station, eastwards to the rear of the Jubilee Exhibition Building which stood on the corner of Frome Road and North Terrace on what is now part of the University of Adelaide.

A train on the Jubilee Exhibition railway line. Image: State Library of South Australia

The Jubilee Exhibition in 1887 commemorated the Golden Jubilee (50th anniversary) of Queen Victoria’s reign. It was a major event showcasing advancements in art, industry, and agriculture, drawing vast crowds from across the state and beyond.

The Jubilee Exhibition Building, erected on Park 12 of your Park Lands to host the 1887 Jubilee Exhibition. Image: State Library of South Australia B-10212/4

To ensure efficient transportation to the exhibition grounds, the South Australian Railways constructed a temporary branch line that became known as the Jubilee Exhibition Railway.

Route of the Jubilee railway line in 1919. Image: State Library of South Australia.

The one-kilometre railway line used an existing tunnel under King William Road which had been built in 1854 for horses and cattle to cross under the road without disrupting traffic. 

An extract from an image in the July 1876 edition of the “Illustrated Sydney News”, showing the tunnel under King William Road, eleven years before the railway line was constructed. Image: State Library of South Australia.

The line was used to transport materials, not people, to the Jubilee Exhibition and so it did not have a station platform at either end.

Although the railway line had not been designed to carry passengers it nevertheless was used from 1899 to 1902 during the Boer War, to transport troops from the Torrens Parade Ground under King William Road to the Adelaide Railway Station.

The Jubilee Exhibition railway line. Image: State Library of South Australia

Later, during the 1919 Spanish flu pandemic, the railway line was used to carry people who had arrived from Melbourne, to a quarantine camp on the Jubilee Oval in Park 12 on the corner of Frome Road and Victoria Drive.

It also served the Adelaide Showgrounds which were located off Frome Road on what is now the site of Botanic High School.

The railway line was extended to Old Parliament House by 1919 but pulled up in 1927 after the the Royal Adelaide Show moved to its current location in the Wayville Showgrounds. At that time, the railway line was considered superfluous and thus removed.

The tunnel under King William Road was backfilled and sealed, gone from the public consciousness, only to be "rediscovered" in the early 1970s when construction on the Adelaide Festival Centre was taking place.

It was only a very short tunnel, with the rest of the railway travelling above ground behind Government House and onto the showgrounds.

Image: Alan Tiller: Haunted Adelaide

The section of the tunnel uncovered was lined with bluestone about 5 metres wide and at least 10 metres long.

In the 1970s, the City of Adelaide 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 re-opening of the tunnel.

Subsequently the costing was found to be grossly underestimated at $90,000 to $140,000 so the project was abandoned and the 1970s excavations were refilled.

Information in this article has been drawn from articles written by:

See more stories about the cultural history and monuments within your Adelaide Park Lands: https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/cultural-history

The author of this article, Mick Mansfield, is our “Park Guardian” for Red Gum Park / Karrawirra (Park 12 of your Adelaide Park Lands) which includes the route of the former Jubilee Exhibition Railway line.