News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Trains

[UrbanSG]

Gawler Line. The completely neglected line! The bridge over the Torrens actually scares the crap out of me, they slow down there heaps but the bridge looks and feels very unstable, one day we might end up in the Torrens I reckon.

Overcrowding can be fairly bad at times too on the Gawler Line. I'll never forget a morning about a year ago in peak hour when the train was packed, both sitting and standing, I was standing and we stopped near the above mentioned bridge before the railyards, some sort of problem that we weren't told about.

We waited there for about 10-15mins, I was really close to being sick or fainting myself, it was unbearably hot and stuffy. When the trains stop and it is crowded there is basically no air movement at all. There were so many pissed off people too which made it worse as people were yelling and it all only added to the heat in the railcar.

The attitude of a lot of the Trans Adelaide staff doesn't help too. Most of them act like we are lucky to be on the trains, they really do. I feel like saying, I am sorry but I pay to be on this shit heap mate, drop the attitude. Some are alright, once or twice you get a driver making a joke over the PA about just managing to get the old girl to the staton etc which can help and makes you laugh after a crap experience, but most of the staff are terrible and need a serious attitude adjustment.

If you want anymore stories I could go on for hours.

[AtD]

If you think the Gawler line is neglected, you should see the rest of the network!

I catch four trains per day, and I've never had a day where all four are on time. Quite often we're late leaving Adelaide station simply because the driver was late getting into the train. It's extra annoying because there's always several TransAdelaide staff wandering around the station with seemingly nothing to do other than have a chat.

While we're on the topic, Adelaide station really needs more gates, or faster gates like in other cities. The queues they cause in the morning often go back into the train!

People often underestimate how many people use the trains, even in their current dilapidated state. The potential for passenger growth is huge!

[Bulldozer]

Wow, Conlon's pathetic excuse really does remove all doubt that he is just as, if not more, incompetent and out of his depth as Karlene Maywald is with water.

Weren't the Noarlunga and Belair lines only closed for a weekend while the new rail bridge over the Bakewell underpass was put in place? You'd be looking at a few thousand passengers tops on a weekend. The rate of growth in speed restricted areas is highly alarming as well.

Overcrowding is not good. I remember a few times the 3-car 8:05 from Noarlunga station either broke down or didn't show up, requiring everyone to get on the 2-car 8:15, which made more stops. Normally the 8:05 had people standing from Brighton, so you can imagine just how cramped it got.

[UrbanSG]

I realise the whole network is degraded but the Gawler Line isn't yet flagged for a sleeper upgrade and most of the line is in a terrible condition. At least the others are getting an upgrade and Outer Harbor has already had one. Gawler and Grange will be the only ones without a sleeper upgrade in the near future right? Therefore given the scale of the Gawler Line I would say it will soon be the most neglected line in Adelaide if not already.

[Will409]

Part of the reason why the Gawler Central line hasn't been resleepered is because between Gawler Central and Dry Creek, you still have to deal with a once daily stone train and occasional grain traffic running along TransAdelaide track. When upgrading and standardisation is going to be done there, it needs to be coordinated with GWA (the freight haulers north of Gawler) to standardise the branchlines as well.

[baytram366]

Had a thought on the way to work on the 7:13am - will we ever be seeing a tram on say the Grange or Noarlunga lines anytime soon (say next 50 years???). An urgent upgrade is needed so badly right now and its just typical of South Australia to run something into the ground before any major money is spent on it. Little flashy displays and new station info systems (that hardly work) are not good enough and major upgrades should be done first before the little details are added.
Has anyone actually noticed the amount of yellow speed restrictions signs in adelaide yard? This is crazy and it takes around 5-10mins just to make it to Goal Loop. Something really needs to be done and the first step would be to kick silly old Pat Conlon out and employ someone who actually knows what needs to be done!

[jk1237]

I dont think its Pat Conlon which is the problem. Usually ministers are puppets for the govt beaurocrats and advisers under them, who say what to do and tell how the ministers should act. Transport SA I think is the problem, who seem to ignore rail in this state, and dont push the govt for any funding for trains.
I believe there could be a push for more public transport funding, from now on, due to the fact that the Glenelg tramline extension is so sucessful. Pat needs to know however, that the Noarlunga and Gawler lines have to remain as a heavy rail, and not light rail.

[Ho Really]

I dont think its Pat Conlon which is the problem. Usually ministers are puppets for the govt beaurocrats and advisers under them, who say what to do and tell how the ministers should act. Transport SA I think is the problem, who seem to ignore rail in this state, and dont push the govt for any funding for trains.

I believe there could be a push for more public transport funding, from now on, due to the fact that the Glenelg tramline extension is so sucessful. Pat needs to know however, that the Noarlunga and Gawler lines have to remain as a heavy rail, and not light rail.

Unfortunately the buck still stops with Pat whichever way you look at it. He also should be smart enough to inform himself and say the right things.

Cheers

[crawf]

Well hes only human, everyone makes mistakes...

[rogue]

From AdelaideNow:

'Electrify, extend' railway

ANTIMO IANELLA

October 25, 2007 02:15am

ONKAPARINGA Council has called for the extension and electrification of Adelaide's ageing train system.

Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg said the State Government needed to commit to extending the Noarlunga line before making a decision to expand Adelaide's urban growth boundary.

Ms Rosenberg and Onkaparinga CEO Jeff Tate presented Urban Development and Planning Minister Paul Holloway with the council's transit-orientated development plan this month.

"Adelaide is at a 'sliding doors' moment when an ageing diesel-powered system that stops short of the metropolitan fringe presents serious limitations to development," Ms Rosenberg said.

"We are advocating for transit-oriented development where residential development is concentrated around public transport points."

Ms Rosenberg said transport would be an important issue with an influx of new people moving into the area.

She said more than 20,000 people would be moving south into land already zoned for housing, with a further 14,000 expected if the urban boundary is expanded.

"This will necessitate the location of housing closer to the railway network, but diesel fumes and residential development don't mix," she said. "An electrified system makes sense."

In July, the Government released plans to extend Adelaide's urban boundary to include an extra 2000ha of land.

The proposal is undergoing public consultation.

Transport Minister Patrick Conlon said the Government was investigating the feasibility of extending rail services from Noarlunga to Seaford.

[Cruise]

this has to happen at the north end of town to
Exept the lines are already there the just need to be opened to public transport trains.

one thing is though railways do encourage sprawl just like a new freeway just have a look in perth

[rhino]

this has to happen at the north end of town to
Exept the lines are already there the just need to be opened to public transport trains.

one thing is though railways do encourage sprawl just like a new freeway just have a look in perth

At least it's along an existing PT corridor with a service in place though!

[Tom]

this has to happen at the north end of town to
Exept the lines are already there the just need to be opened to public transport trains.

If you are talking about the line past Gawler Central, then I would forget about having Transadelaide services on it. With much thanks to the last Liberal State Government they sold the line. G&W Australia now owns the line and would charge TA a large usage fee for every train which would make any service not feasible.

[crawf]

FFS this is just bullshit, when is this government going to finally overhaul our 3rd world train system. This should be put towards both federal parties, because didn't the feds help the other major cities with upgrading their train networks

Or the State Government propose something major for our train network very soon, if they want to increase PT use by 10% and win the next election

Commuter rail chaos
Article from: The Advertiser

November 01, 2007 12:10pm

THOUSANDS suburban train commuters were delayed early this morning as a computer breakdown threw the entire network into chaos.

Buses were brought in to help shift stranded commuters stranded by the out-of-action Tonsley and Grange rail services.

The computer fault has also led to trains being delayed along lines from Gawler, Belair, Noarlunga and Outer Harbor.
TransAdelaide's Bill Watson said all services should be back on schedule by noon.

Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith said the delays were the latest in a series of problems facing the rail network, and the Government needed to take urgent action to fix it.

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TransAdelaide managing director Bill Watson said commuters could expect "significant delays."

"TransAdelaide staff are moving passengers in mini buses and Taragos to the nearest bus station," he said.

There was a fault in the network's computer system and it was not known when the problem would be fixed.

"Our technicians are working on it and will continue to work on it until the problem is resolved." he said.

"We are attempting to provide bus substitute services but the am peak is the busiest time so obtaining buses may be difficult, he said

"We are mobilising some staff to the Tonsley and Grange line to provide assistance."

[Punishment466]

The Advertiser seemed to sensationalise the situation a bit (what a surprise ). I watched the video on the AdelaideNow site where they interviewed a few people, and only 1 or 2 seemed to be really late, and upset about it.