PRO: Port Adelaide Tramline | $260m

[muzzamo]

My guess (and hope) is that the port/grange line will be converted, with an extension (possibly now or possibly earmarked for later) to West Lakes. The football park/ west lakes idea has been hinted at many, many times.

Lets just hope they grade separate it or they are going to run into the same problems as they have on the Glenelg Tram regarding frequency of service. It would be ideal if it had similar grade separations/bus connections as what they are proposing for South Road.

I know there are train buffs who thing that heavy rail should be the solution here, but lets face it it is easily the least patronized line.

Besides the obvious benefits of better Public Transport, especially of a west lakes link this would also
- Free up more trains for the other lines (solves a short term problem).
- Tick off the task of electrifying 1/4 of our rail network.
- Reduce overcrowding on the glenelg line by getting longer Trams and using them, and also increase daytime frequency on the Glenelg line
- Politically silence MHS on the "Trams to nowhere" then "overcrowded trams" then "fix it Pat" rubbish as well as the moaning about overcrowded trains.

Also does the tram down the middle of port road thing actually work logistically? Especially at the intersection with south road? Also surely there is noway they would run a separate tram then a modern electrified heavy rail line to the port.

One more thing is that this puts it into perspective the governments decision to fold a lot of transadelaides previous responsibities into DTEI recently. Transadelaide border on incompetent a lot of the time and I dont think as a government you would want to be leaving them with a project of this magnitude.

[Will409]

quite right Norman, but for a state that spends near nothing on PT, what do you think will happen

1. Utilise an existing rail line that already has bridges, sleepers, rails and level crossings, and convert it to light rail, or

The proposed tramline wouldn't carry on to Outer Harbor passed Port Adelaide and (in this article atleast), doesn't run to Grange. At present, this is what the heavy rail line does.

2. Spend 10 times the amount, by building a whole brand new track, a mere 20-50 mtrs away, parallel from the current one, down the middle of the road because it is closer to something such as ???????????

-Mt Thebarton (if the line was to run along North Terrace before heading on to Port Road).
-Entertainment Centre (Port Road)
-West End brewery (Port Road
-Military Museum (Commercial Road)
-National Railway Museum (Commercial Road)

[muzzamo]

-Mt Thebarton (if the line was to run along North Terrace before heading on to Port Road).
-Entertainment Centre (Port Road)
-West End brewery (Port Road
-Military Museum (Commercial Road)
-National Railway Museum (Commercial Road)

None of these things would be worth spending the extra amount.

[muzzamo]

Its also worth mentioning the possibility of Transit Oriented Development at Cheltenham racecourse...

[Xaragmata]

Its also worth mentioning the possibility of Transit Oriented Development at Cheltenham racecourse...

That is on the front page of the Messenger, with St Clair Oval near Woodville station to possibly be swapped for a new oval on Actil Ave,
with TOD adjacent to station & a revitalised Woodville rd. (another confidential concept plan, though)

[Wilfy 2007]

Has anybody considered One of the port lines being used for a Tram service, and the other as Heavy rail.

Is this a possibility or not

Regards,

Wilfy 2007.
http://www.freewebs.com/saroeight/
http://www.freewebs.com/neri/

[jk1237]

Just regarding will409's post about Commercial Rd, this is included in the original proposal of light rail that I know of. That is from the City West tram stop, a bridge connects this to the current set of tracks at Adl yard towards Outer Harbor. This whole stretch (from adelaide yard to Port) is converted to light rail like the St Kilda railway in Melbourne. However at Port Adelaide, the viaduct is removed because the plan is to route the trams (light rail) down Commercial Rd, down St Vincent St, over the river, to then meet up to the current Outer Harbor line and then resume light rail along the existing line to Outer Harbor, but with a spur line down Semaphore Rd to Semaphore. It would mean Ethelton Stn is completely bypassed. The reason to remove the Port Viaduct and station is so that the trams get right through the heart of Port Adel (ie waterfront lighthouse area, tourist area, shopping area) which is a great idea as the current station is out of the way of most of the Ports attractions

Now Im either for this proposal, or simply electrify and upgrade the current heavy rail.
If the light rail is done, an extra stop at Cheltenham for the new housing development is a good idea, as well as a loop from Grange to West Lakes Mall.

[Ash-SV6]

I'm predicting the existing Outer Harbour and Grange lines will be converted to light rail operation with a new spur down Semaphore Road. I'm not against this provided they find a way to run services with an interval shorter than 5 minutes to avoid whats currently happening with the Glenelg line.

Excluding South Rd, there are 7 level crossings between Adelaide and Woodville stations - the busiest section of the line - and 5 of them are within a 1.7km stretch starting from Park Terrace in Bowden. Converting the Outer Harbour line would require a flyover of the Noarlunga and Belair heavy rail lines, and there has been talk within transport circles of grade seperating the Outer Harbour line from the ARTC interstate standard gauge railway line and Park Terrace in Bowden.

Now if the latter is done, I believe the best solution would be to close the 4 other level crossings and force drivers to use the grade seperated South Rd, Chief St or Park Tce. This would leave just 2 level crossings - Kilkenny Rd and Woodville Rd to deal with. If the level crossings here could be converted to a traffic light system (which cycle quicker), then Port Adelaide and Grange tram services could be scheduled to arrive or depart at Wodville together so both can sneak accross the crossings together on the same cycle (giving road users longer green periods). Then one of those tram services could run express, the other as a sweeper thereby allowing the two to arrive/depart the city seperated by several minutes.

Hope that makes sense!

[muzzamo]

Its also worth mentioning the possibility of Transit Oriented Development at Cheltenham racecourse...

That is on the front page of the Messenger, with St Clair Oval near Woodville station to possibly be swapped for a new oval on Actil Ave,
with TOD adjacent to station & a revitalised Woodville rd. (another confidential concept plan, though)

Any chance of a scan?

[Ho Really]

A tram line down the middle of Port Road will be a waste of money. Better off having peak hour bus only lanes (even trolley buses if you want them electrified). I would rather keep Outer Harbor line as is, but electrified of course. Conversion to light rail? Maybe, but they'd have to convert the whole metro system at some stage.

Cheers

[Norman]

Or maybe the proposal is to electrify the Outer Harbor line and introduce new rolling stock for that line as a start... who knows...

[Ho Really]

Or maybe the proposal is to electrify the Outer Harbor line and introduce new rolling stock for that line as a start... who knows...

That's a much better proposal.

Cheers

[muzzamo]

Or maybe the proposal is to electrify the Outer Harbor line and introduce new rolling stock for that line as a start... who knows...

its possible but surely thats the least likely, especially given conlons "watch this space" regarding trams talk the other week

[Xaragmata]

Its also worth mentioning the possibility of Transit Oriented Development at Cheltenham racecourse...

That is on the front page of the Messenger, with St Clair Oval near Woodville station to possibly be swapped for a new oval on Actil Ave,
with TOD adjacent to station & a revitalised Woodville rd. (another confidential concept plan, though)

Any chance of a scan?

Even better, they have it on web site ... http://www.messengernews.com.au/article ... _news.html

[extract] Oval carve up - Woodville

[Charles Sturt CEO Mark Withers told the Weekly Times Messenger the swap would help to revitalise Woodville Rd and allow a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) near the Woodville train station.

TODs high-density housing along rail corridors are being pushed by the Property Council of Australia to help cope with urban population growth.]

[Wilfy 2007]

Is there anybody in the know that can find out exactly what is going to happen?

Maybe the Port line is going to be Trams and the rest of the System will be Heavy Rail.

That way there would be enough Railcars to cope with what is left, possibly.

Regards,

Wilfy 2007.