News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Trains

[Omicron]

Those restrictions would be painfully frustrating.

[muzzamo]

they are spending the money to finally fix all this though arent they???

[momanmorris]

I would be very interested to know why if a Adelaide Metro bus is late, they are fined, but when the 7:07am from Gawler is late without fail every single weekday of the year, there are no repercussions?

Also I would like to point out to those who aren’t very familiar with the Gawler line that although it seems that there are some unrestricted parts of the track, it can be shown by the fact that one of the sections of track,

Gawler - Gawler Racecourse <---- 500
Unrestricted <---- Meters

Is only 500 meters long?
Technically they are allowed to travel at 90 km/h, but I didnt think our aging rolling stock are capable of that level of acceleration!


Although, I must say that while the 7:07 is always late, it is never later than approximately 8 minutes (which is actually very good for an express train that has to slow down to 15km/h at some points!), and thus TA is doing a decent job hauling ass and getting us in on time!
Food for thought?

[AtD]

I would be very interested to know why if a Adelaide Metro bus is late, they are fined, but when the 7:07am from Gawler is late without fail every single weekday of the year, there are no repercussions?

Because if there were, it'd be greater than TA's current operating costs! I used to take 4 trains per day, and they were all always late, but the lateness was so consistent that you could budget for it. Sometimes I wondered if it was just TA's clocks being five minutes slow, but the screens and voice boxes disprove that!

[Düsseldorfer]

Sometimes I wondered if it was just TA's clocks being five minutes slow, but the screens and voice boxes disprove that!

[/quote]

yeh, the screens at mawson lakes (when they are functioning) do a terrible job at counting down the minutes till the next train, 3, 2, 1, 0....then stays at 0 for about 3 minutes. And the voice box things, it would be nice if they worked too!!

ever since i got back from Europe i have tried all the train lines in Adelaide and i notice that the Gawler line is probably the worst line on the network, all the others; Belair, Noarlunga, Outer Harbour and Grange are all satisfactory.

[AtD]

Have they set up the two plasma/LCD screens inside the waiting room at Mawson Lakes yet? I remember they sat for a month or three with "There is presently no timetable information available. TransAdelaide apologises for any inconvenience." Then ever since that they've just been blank.

[Will409]

Have they set up the two plasma/LCD screens inside the waiting room at Mawson Lakes yet? I remember they sat for a month or three with "There is presently no timetable information available. TransAdelaide apologises for any inconvenience." Then ever since that they've just been blank.

I've never seen them work since the station was opened on February 26, 2006 when it was opened and I was there on opening day.

As a side note, TransAdelaide (despite being a Government department) do get fined any time a train is more then 5 minutes late.

[Bulldozer]

Disgraceful. I had no idea the Gawler line was so bad - it should have priority over the Noarlunga and Belair lines for re-sleepering.

Can these speed restrictions be plotted on a map, and can the time penalty be calculated as well (taking into account the slow acceleration and braking times of our trains)? That would be a good thing to send into The Advertiser - they often use the front page for things way less important than this.

[omada]

This is shocking, dare I say it, but would the libs take PT more seriously??? The only way to register our displeasure with the government's handling of our PT is to vote Rann et al OUT... I know he likes everyone to think that we are a green state but it is all appearances, (ie the debacle over where to place the Airports solar panels)

[monotonehell]

This is shocking, dare I say it, but would the libs take PT more seriously??? The only way to register our displeasure with the government's handling of our PT is to vote Rann et al OUT... I know he likes everyone to think that we are a green state but it is all appearances, (ie the debacle over where to place the Airports solar panels)

Voting someone out of office isn't the only way to register displeasure, nor is it a good way to do so. There's nowhere on a ballot paper to write "I'm voting you out cos the trains don't run on time." And if you do vote in the opposition, how do they know why they were voted in? And would they care? Or would they do a Howard and claim a mandate for whatever pet project they have cooking? Letter writing campaigns, action groups and etc. get your message across.

[jimmy_2486]

if only the NIMBY's focused more effort on these sorts of issues instead of the parklands

[monotonehell]

if only the NIMBY's focused more effort on these sorts of issues instead of the parklands

Do I smell another SENSATIONALADELAIDE submission brewing?

[Will409]

Here are a few photos I have posted who knows how many times on Railpage. You know how many TSRs are inplace, now you can see why they are there. I'll count myself lucky if I don't need a perscription for arthritis tablets for my lower back by the age of 25, that track is that rough.












The last photo was taken in January 2007 and has since been replaced but it is still a worry it was allowed to even be there in the first place.

[jk1237]

409, your photos make me very angry. This shows how much the Dept of Transport cares about the lives of people who take the Gawler train. Seriously, there is not much holding that track together in some spots. Even slowing to 25 k/h, an accident is waiting to happen. The only way any we are gonna see any improvements soon, will unfortunately be due to a major derailment

[Düsseldorfer]

The only way any we are gonna see any improvements soon, will unfortunately be due to a major derailment

I think the powers that be should plan to have all suburban rail lines restored and resleepered by no later than 2010 at the latest before any major accidents happen. The next major project after the completion of Oaklands Interchange should be to have all sleepers and rails replaced on the Gawler and Noarlunga lines, all crossings on these lines should be grade-separated with over/underpasses as well as all stations re-built into something that looks like a railway station and not a public toilet (refering to stations like Islington, Kilburn and Dry Creek) and have major interchanges manned by at least 3-5 station staff with security personnel.

Also the current rolling stock needs to be improved(since the current government have made it clear that they won't order any new trains), i think they need to look more like this on the inside: