Outer Harbor line

Railway line in Adelaide, South Australia

Outer Harbor line

3100 Class DMU travelling along the Port River bridge

Overview
Locale| Adelaide, South Australia
Termini|

* Adelaide
*     * Glanville (morning peak only)
* Osborne (peak only)
* Outer Harbor

Stations| 22
Service
Type| Commuter rail
Operator(s)| Adelaide Metro
Rolling stock| 3000/3100 class
History
Opened|

* 1856 (to Port Dock)
* 1908 (to Outer Harbor)

Technical
Line length| 21.9 km (13.6 mi)
Number of tracks|

* 2 (to Midlunga)
* 1 (to Outer Harbor)

Track gauge| 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)

Route map

Legend

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Balloon loop

closed 1980s

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21.9

| Outer Harbor
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Golf course entrance

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Klingberg Drive

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20.5

| North Haven
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Osborne Road

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19.6

| Osborne
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18.8

| Midlunga
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Gedville Road

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18.2

| Taperoo
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Strathfield Terrace

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17.2

| Draper
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Kolapore Avenue

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16.4

| Largs North
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Fletcher Road

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Jetty Road

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15.5

| Largs
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|  | Largs Jetty  |

closed 1908

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Wills Street

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Hargrave Street

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14.6

| Peterhead
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Harris Street

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Semaphore Road

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Semaphore line

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13.8

| Glanville
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Birkenhead Loop to Pelican Point

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Hart Street

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13.1

| Ethelton
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Wirra Drive

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Port River

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Old Port Road

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Church Street

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11.7

|  | Port Adelaide

over  Commercial Road
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Lipson Street

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National Railway Museum

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12.0

| Port Dock |

under construction

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Grand Junction Road

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Rosewater Loop to Dry Creek

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10.2

| Alberton
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Fussell Place

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9.2

| Cheltenham
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8.7

| Cheltenham Racecourse |

closed 2009

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Cheltenham Parade

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8.6

| St Clair
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Finsbury line

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Grange line

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7.5

| Woodville
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Woodville Road

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7.5

| Woodville Park
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Kilkenny Road/David Terrace

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6.0

| Kilkenny
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Private road

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5.1

|  | West Croydon

over Rosetta street
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4.2

| Croydon
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Queen Street/Elizabeth Street

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North-South Motorway

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Coglin Street

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Chief Street

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East Street

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2.7

| Bowden (original site) |

1856–2017

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Gibson Street

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2.4

| Bowden
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Park Terrace

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| to Port Augusta

Gawler line

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1.7

| Torrens Bridge |

closed 1888

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River Torrens

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| to Melbourne

Belair, Seaford and Flinders lines

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Adelaide Depot

closed 2011

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0.0

| Adelaide
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* * *

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broad gauge

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standard gauge

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dual gauge

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This diagram:

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The Outer Harbor line is a suburban branch line in Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Adelaide station through the north western suburbs to Port Adelaide and Outer Harbor. It is 21.9 kilometres (13.6 mi) in length, and shares part of its run with the Grange line. It is operated by Adelaide Metro.

## History[edit]

Opening in 1856, the inaugural 11.9 kilometres (7.4 miles) railway between Adelaide and Port Dock railway station was the second railway in the colony of South Australia, and the first government-owned railway in the British Empire[citation needed]. Port Adelaide junction was created when the railway was extended to cross the Port River to Le Fevre Peninsula. As industry developed on the west side of the Port River, a deeper harbour was required. Initially, this was at Semaphore, with the railway extended in 1882 as the now-closed Semaphore railway line to service the overseas shipping jetty there. The line was subsequently extended 11.2 kilometres (7.0 miles) to Outer Harbor.

### 21st century renewal[edit]

The line between Port Adelaide Junction and Glanville was dual gauge until early December 2009 when the standard gauge rails were removed. Outer Harbor had a balloon loop railway so that trains could be turned around without shunting or requiring a turntable or triangle. The loop was cut when rail freight moved off the broad gauge Outer Harbor railway to the nearby standard gauge line on the eastern side of the peninsula.

Various plans to modify the line have been proposed. In 2008, the State Government announced a plan to rebuild the Outer Harbour line in preparation for the line to be electrified with the Federal Government also to provide funding.[1] In the 2011 budget, it was announced that electrification of the Outer Harbor line had been deferred until 2016.[2] In June 2012, the project was cancelled.[3]

In May 2016, the State Government announced 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) of the line would be lowered in a grade separation project to pass below the Adelaide to Port Augusta and Gawler lines with a new Bowden station being built as part of the project.[4][5] In December 2016 the contract was awarded to a consortium of Laing O'Rourke, AECOM and KBR.[6]

As of 2016, the State Government was again considering electrifying the line or converting it to light rail. A 2016 report into potential light rail projects in Adelaide considered two options for the future of the line. The first option would electrify the heavy rail line and provide a short spur-line to central Port Adelaide. The second option would convert the line to light rail and add a new on-street branch to Semaphore. A light rail conversion would also require the conversion or closure of the Grange line - several options for the future of that line were also presented.[7] In 2017, there had also been a proposal by the state government for a spur line into Port Adelaide, which did not go ahead.[8][9]

In January 2017, the line was closed for three weeks alongside the Grange line for the building of an overpass over South Road and the North–South Motorway.[10][11]

### Torrens Junction separation[edit]

There are a total of five railway tracks on three bridges in parallel across the River Torrens. North of this bridge, the two tracks of the Gawler line continues north, as does the standard gauge railway track, while the two tracks of the Outer Harbor line swing away northwest. Until late 2017, the Outer Harbor tracks were the pair between the Gawler tracks on the east and the standard gauge track which was built in 1982 on the west. This meant that Outer Harbor and Grange trains had to cross the track that carries rail freight between Melbourne and the main freight terminals in Adelaide, Perth and Darwin. In 2017, the Torrens Junction project worked to remove this operational conflict. The outcome was to make the Gawler trains use the central pair of tracks, while the Outer Harbor line now uses the eastern pair across the bridge, then descends into a trench and passes underneath the Gawler and standard gauge lines and Park Terrace which had previously been a busy level crossing. The Bowden railway station was also demolished and rebuilt at a new lower level.[12]

The Outer Harbor line was closed (and consequently also Grange services) along with a portion of the Gawler line in April, June, July, and August 2017 to work on the Torrens Rail Junction Project.[13][14][15][16] The entire line was closed on 24 September 2017, and reopened on 15 January 2018, having been delayed from a 3 December opening.[17]

## Route[edit]

The line is double track from Adelaide to Midlunga, then single for the final three kilometres to Outer Harbour. The northern section of the line runs along the middle of the narrow Lefevre Peninsula with stations at regular intervals.[18] The line serves 22 stations across 22 kilometres (14 mi) of track. The majority of stations are ground level designs.

### Line guide[edit]

Outer Harbor Line

Name  | Distance from
Adelaide  | Year opened  | Serving suburbs  | Connections
Adelaide | 0.0 km  | 1856  | Adelaide  | Belair Flinders Gawler
Grange Seaford

Bus  Tram

Bowden | 2.4 km  | 1856  | Bowden  |
Croydon | 4.2 km  | 1888  | Croydon  |
West Croydon | 5.1 km  | 1915  | West Croydon  |
Kilkenny | 6.0 km  | 1881  | Kilkenny, Woodville Park  |
Woodville Park | 6.8 km  | 1936  | Woodville, Woodville Park  |
Woodville | 7.5 km  | 1856  | St Clair, Woodville  | Grange

Bus

St Clair | 8.6 km  | 2014  | St Clair, Woodville  |
Cheltenham | 9.2 km  | 1959  | Cheltenham  |
Alberton | 10.2 km  | 1856  | Alberton  |
Port Adelaide | 11.7 km  | 1916  | Port Adelaide  |  Bus
Ethelton | 13.1 km  | 1916  | Ethelton, New Port  |
Glanville | 13.8 km  | 1878  | Glanville, New Port  |  Bus
Peterhead | 14.6 km  | 1911  | Birkenhead, Exeter, Peterhead  |
Largs | 15.5 km  | 1907  | Largs Bay  |
Largs North | 16.4 km  | 1916  | Largs North  |
Draper | 17.2 km  | Un­known  | Largs North  |
Taperoo | 18.2 km  | 1908  | Taperoo  |
Midlunga | 18.8 km  | 1921  | Osborne  |
Osborne | 19.6 km  | 1908  | North Haven, Osborne  |
North Haven | 20.5 km  | 1981  | North Haven  |
Outer Harbor | 21.9 km  | 1926  | North Haven, Outer Harbor  |

## Services[edit]

The Outer Harbor line shares part of its route with the Grange line. All passenger train services are operated by 3000/3100 class railcars. Trains run every 30 minutes between 5am and midnight on weekdays and weekends.[19][20]

Unlike other railway lines in Adelaide, most services on the Outer Harbor line stop at all stations, with a few exceptions:

### Weekday Morning Peak[edit]

There are several additional services that operate on the Outer Harbor line during the morning peak period.[20]

Service  | Direction  | Description  | Notes

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OUTHA | Outer Harbor to Adelaide | All stops to Port Adelaide, then express to Adelaide | All trains departing Outer Harbor follow this pattern between

6:00 - 8:00 AM

OSBORN | Adelaide to Osborne | Express to Woodville, then all stops to Osborne  | There are 3 Osborne services departing Adelaide during the morning peak period, between approximately 6:30 - 7:45 AM
OSBORN | Osborne to Adelaide | All stops to Woodville, then express to Adelaide  | There are 3 Osborne services departing Osborne during the morning peak period, between approximately 7:00 - 8:15 AM
GLAN | Adelaide to Glanville | Express to Glanville |
GLAN | Glanville to Adelaide | All stops to Adelaide | Glanville services run all stops to Adelaide in lieu of the Outer Harbor

services which run express from Port Adelaide during the morning peak

### Weekday Evening Peak[edit]

In contrast to the morning peak, in the evening, all services from Adelaide stop at all stations, with the exception of services which terminate at Osborne.[20]

Service  | Direction  | Description  | Notes

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OSBORN | Adelaide to Osborne | Express to Woodville, then all stops to Osborne  | There are 4 Osborne services departing Adelaide during the evening

peak period, between approximately 4:30 - 6:15 PM

OSBORN | Osborne to Adelaide | All stops to Woodville, then express to Adelaide  | There are 4 Osborne services departing Osborne during the evening

peak period, between approximately 5:00 - 6:45 PM

### Other Additional Services[edit]

During special events, such as AFL matches, Adelaide Metro will typically run extra Osborne services. Unlike the regular weekday peak services, these Osborne services stop at all stations.[21]

As Outer Harbor railway station is in close proximity to the Port Adelaide Passenger Terminal, the Outer Harbor line is regularly utilised by cruise ship passengers during the summer cruise season. When larger cruise ships are in port, Adelaide Metro will often run an express train service between Outer Harbor and Adelaide in the morning.

## References[edit]

1. ^ South Australian Department of Treasury & Finance (June 2008). "2008/09 State Budget". Archived from the original on 27 February 2015.
2. ^ Martin, Sarah (10 June 2011). "SA State Budget 11 - $200m in rail revitalisation work delayed". Adelaide Advertiser. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
3. ^ Carter, Mark (8 June 2012). "South Australia cuts back Adelaide electrification". International Railway Journal. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013.
4. ^ "Torrens Rail Junction Project". Department of Transport, Planning & Infrastructure.
5. ^ Waldhuter, Lauren (6 May 2016). "Adelaide rail upgrade project to separate passenger and freight lines on Outer Harbor line". ABC News.
6. ^ Laing O'Rourke (19 December 2016). "Torrens Rail Junction Upgrade" (Press release). Archived from the original on 12 March 2017.
7. ^ "AdeLINK Multi-Criteria Analysis Summary Report" (PDF). Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure. 2016. pp. 11–13.
8. ^ Kemp, Miles (24 June 2017). "State Budget 2017: Trains return to the heart of Port Adelaide after a 36-year absence". The Advertiser.
9. ^ Sutton, Malcolm (21 June 2019). "Adelaide's public transport going back to the future under Stephan Knoll". ABC News. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
10. ^ Premier of South Australia (2 January 2017). "Major works kick off to remove one of Adelaide's worst level crossings". Archived from the original on 13 January 2017.
11. ^ Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure. "Outer Harbor & Grange line closure January 2 - January 23, 2017". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017.
12. ^ Kemp, Miles (13 September 2017). "Major disruption to Outer Harbor and Gawler train lines as work starts on Park Tce underpass". The Advertiser. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
13. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler rail line closures". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017.
14. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler train lines temporary closures June long weekend". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
15. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler line July closure". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017.
16. ^ "Outer Harbor, Grange and Gawler rail line closures August 2017". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
17. ^ "UPDATE 14 NOVEMBER: Outer Harbor and Grange rail line closures until January 2018". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
18. ^ "Outer Harbor & Grange timetable" (PDF). Adelaide Metro. 23 February 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2014.
19. ^ "More train services, more often from 22 April". Adelaide Metro. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018.
20. ^ a b c "OUTHA - Outer Harbor to City". Adelaide Metro. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
21. ^ Metro, Adelaide (16 June 2023). "Transport to Adelaide Oval". Adelaide Metro. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

Four options for the future of the Outer Harbor and Grange lines, presented as part of a 2016 planning document developing the South Australian Government's AdeLINK proposal.

* Thompson, M. (1988). Rails Through Swamp and Sand – A History of the Port Adelaide Railway. Port Dock Station Railway Museum. ISBN 0-9595073-6-1.

## External links[edit]

* Outer Harbor to City - Adelaide Metro

* v
* t
* e

Adelaide Metro railway stations

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

| Belair line|

* Adelaide
* Mile End
* Adelaide Showground
* Goodwood
* Millswood
* Unley Park
* Mitcham
* Torrens Park
* Lynton
* Eden Hills
* Coromandel
* Blackwood
* Glenalta
* Pinera
* Belair

|

Flinders line|

* Adelaide
* Mile End
* Adelaide Showground
* Goodwood
* Clarence Park
* Emerson
* Edwardstown
* Woodlands Park
* Mitchell Park
* Tonsley
* Flinders

Gawler line|

* Adelaide
* North Adelaide
* Ovingham
* Dudley Park
* Islington
* Kilburn
* Dry Creek
* Mawson Lakes
* Greenfields
* Parafield Gardens
* Parafield
* Chidda
* Salisbury
* Nurlutta
* Elizabeth South
* Elizabeth
* Womma
* Broadmeadows
* Smithfield
* Munno Para
* Kudla
* Tambelin
* Evanston
* (Gawler Racecourse)
* Gawler
* Gawler Oval
* Gawler Central

Grange line|

* Adelaide
* Bowden
* Croydon
* West Croydon
* Kilkenny
* Woodville Park
* Woodville
* Albert Park
* Seaton Park
* East Grange
* Grange

Outer Harbor line|

* Adelaide
* Bowden
* Croydon
* West Croydon
* Kilkenny
* Woodville Park
* Woodville
* St Clair
* Cheltenham
* Alberton
* Port Dock
* Port Adelaide
* Ethelton
* Glanville
* Peterhead
* Largs
* Largs North
* Draper
* Taperoo
* Midlunga
* Osborne
* North Haven
* Outer Harbor

Seaford line|

* Adelaide
* Mile End
* Adelaide Showground
* Goodwood
* Clarence Park
* Emerson
* Edwardstown
* Woodlands Park
* Ascot Park
* Marion
* Oaklands
* Warradale
* Hove
* Brighton
* Seacliff
* Marino
* Marino Rocks
* Hallett Cove
* Hallett Cove Beach
* Lonsdale
* Christie Downs
* Noarlunga Centre
* Seaford Meadows
* Seaford

* Belair
* Gawler
* Outer Harbor & Grange
* Seaford & Flinders

* Stations and services in italics are planned or under construction
* Stations in (parentheses) are uncommon stops for the listed service

* v
* t
* e

Public transport in Adelaide

* Adelaide Metro
* Ticketing
* metroCARD

Bus|

| Operators|

* Busways
* SouthLink
* Transit Systems
* Torrens Connect
* Torrens Transit

|

Infrastructure|

* O-Bahn Busway

Train|

| Services|

* Belair
* Gawler
* Outer Harbor & Grange
* Seaford & Flinders

|

Rolling stock|

* 3000
* 3100
* 4000

Infrastructure|

* List of railway lines in Adelaide
* List of railway stations in Adelaide

Tram|

| Services|

* Glenelg
* Proposed extensions

|

Rolling stock|

* Flexity Classic
* Citadis 302

Other|

* Department for Infrastructure and Transport
* Trolleybuses in Adelaide

Italics denotes services yet to commence
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