Travel Australia

Railway Stations: Murray Bridge, South Australia

Murray Bridge is one of the few Australian towns named after a bridge (and not a very original name for a bridge at that). This service town is the gateway to the Fleurieu Peninsula or the south east region of South Australia, depending on which way you are travelling. It is appropriate that the town is named after a bridge (or pair of them) as the two bridges across the Murray River, one carrying the Princes Highway and the other the main railway line between Melbourne and Adelaide, are very distinctive and often photographed features.



Murray Bridge was established when a road bridge over the Murray River (which is how the town got its name) was completed in 1879. It was followed in 1886 by the Adelaide-Melbourne railway line which guaranteed that the town's importance as a vital link across the river was assured. The town was laid out in 1883 and was called Mobilong.

The construction of the first Railway Bridge across the Murray River was a crucial influence in the growth of the town of Murray Bridge, one of South Australia's important rural centres. The railway working party reached Murray Bridge in 1884 with the first train arriving on 26th December, 1885. The railway line across the river was placed in the middle of the road bridge. The foundation stone was laid in November 1873, this was 2 years before tenders were called for the Echuca bridge. The bridge at Echuca in Victoria was completed in December 1878 and opened in the following March.


Steam-hauled Adelaide Express leaving Murray Bridge station

Murray Bridge became the main locomotive depot and administration centre between Adelaide and the Victorian border, with a large train turntable, made by Edmore Iron Co, in Delaware USA, installed. Railway lines were also laid to the Murray Bridge wharf in 1886, starting a booming transfer of freight (hitting 25,000 tons by 1910) between river boats and the railways. At times, 16 trains were leaving Murray Bridge in a day. In the 1920s/30s, rail/river trips were coordinated with the PS Marion, PS Gem and PS Ruby.



Murray Bridge would get a new rail/road bridge – designed, made and assembled in South Australia – in 1925, the state’s largest. From 1926, Murray Bridge division of the South Australian Railways was formed with a train control and administration centre, the biggest outside Adelaide until it was closed in 1993.

Construction of the present railway bridge commenced in 1924 and was finished twelve months later. It is the largest rail bridge still in use in South Australia and is able to take all the newest heavy locomotives. The third or eastern span is the longest - 240ft as against 185ft of the 2 western spans, resulting in a different design to maintain the required strength. The longer span passes over the navigation channel - on the other side of the river to the wharf - to give clearance between passing traffic and steamers and barges unloading at the Murray Bridge Wharf.

Murray Bridge Railway Tunnel

The single track railway tunnel which brings the railway line from the railway bridge to the town's railway station is one of the few transport tunnels built in South Australia. Emerging towards the river near the Bridgeport Hotel, the tunnel was completed in 1925 and built by the cut and cover (open cut) method in which a trench is dug, the walls and roof are built after which the area above the tunnel is covered over. The old cutting nearby is where trains previously ran between 1886 and 1925 to cross the old bridge.


Murray Bridge railway tunnel under construction. Photo: State Library of South Austraia