PRO: Port Adelaide Tramline | $260m

[AG]

Looking at the current timetable, during peak hour on weekdays (in the peak direction) and on weekends there are no City West to South Terrace shuttles. There's quite a few ways the new line could be operated in conjunction with the existing line, such as:
- Running services the entire length of the line from Glenelg to the Entertainment Centre, with additional RAH to South Terrace shuttles operating off peak on weekdays.
- Running services from the Entertainment Centre to South Terrace only, and Glenelg services to the RAH only, with trams only running the entire line in peak hour with additional services commencing/terminating at South Terrace (to Glenelg) and the RAH (to EC) depending on time of day.

[mattblack]

Once all the lines are complete there will a hell of alot of trams coming from the north, will be a 5 min fequency through the CBD.

[ricecrackers]

has construction actually commenced on this?

[Will409]

At the moment, only 'small scale' work such as tree lopping, but the greatest journey started with a single step.

http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/coa ... nstruction

Construction is set to commence in mid-late April 2009 and will involve road widening, earthworks and service relocations on Port Road and North Terrace.

A number of the activities outlined above will be undertaken off-road. However, where work is required on or near the road, lane and speed restrictions will be in place to ensure the safety of commuters and construction personnel. Advance signage will clearly advise of these changes.

It is expected that works will be undertaken during daylight hours wherever possible with any exceptions to this communicated directly to property owners.

The amount of work is expected to increase from May 2009 and will involve road reconstruction, track placement, signal and light works and bridge works.

Further detail regarding construction will be provided in the near future.

[Ben]

I recieved a brochure last night which said major works such as road realignment and track laying would commence in May.

[sageru]

From the City Messenger:

Bonython Park trees facing chop
“Nothing is greener than public transport and for every tree that’s removed we will be planting one hundred more,” he said.

So where exactly are 50,000 trees are going to be planted? - assuming that the trees removed from the parklands will be replaced elsewhere.
Ok so maybe he meant 100 trees for each of the significant trees to be removed, that's still 2,900 trees that need to be planted somewhere. I'm all for progress but all this 'Green' hyperbole is just patronising.

I hate that my love of progress is being tempered by common sense but why is the state government spending so much on a tram line when there is a parallel railway route less than the 100 metres away for the majority of its length? With the state about to lose its AAA credit rating (Watch how quickly government spending on infrastructure plummets when that happens) surely a project like this should take the backseat while infrastructure that is actually needed should be implemented?
I think the only reason the Rann government is so hell bent on this tramway is because the popular support for the West Lakes spur line undermines Mr Hamilton-Smith's city stadium proposal....in turn garnering support for the RAH/Marj development.

[_MO_]

In my humble opinion what Adelaide really needs is public transport that goes from south to north and back without changes in the CBD. Currently north and south are very much isolated, the two parts of Adelaide are essentially two separate cities. If at least we have a tramline going from Glenelg all the way to Port Adelaide, this is a step in the right direction IMO.

And I would dearly love to see a train from Gawler all the way to Noarlunga!

[Somebody]

Don't clog the forum with dribble please. If you want to go from one side of the urban sprawl to the other, a quick connection in the CBD is not unreasonable.

[monotonehell]

I hate that my love of progress is being tempered by common sense but why is the state government spending so much on a tram line when there is a parallel railway route less than the 100 metres away for the majority of its length? ...

They're attempting to connect the currently isolated tram line to the rest of the network. The tram line from North Tce to the entertainment centre is intended to connect to the rail line less than 100m away, and then travel along it (not duplicate it) to the proposed West Lakes and beyond spur.

While I don't really know whether this is a good idea or not, as I wallow in almost as much ignorance as the next fellow, I can see the logic in extending the Tram network within around a half hour's travel of the CBD. Perhaps in the future we will see more tram lines radiating from the CBD in other directions as warranted.

(Not to mention the proposed TOD on the Clipsal site.)

[muzzamo]

Don't clog the forum with dribble please. If you want to go from one side of the urban sprawl to the other, a quick connection in the CBD is not unreasonable.

Have you travelled by train in any other capital city in australia? Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney all have underground lines in the city offering a straight through or city circle service.

[monotonehell]

Have you travelled by train in any other capital city in australia? Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney all have underground lines in the city offering a straight through or city circle service.

Oops look out - you mentioned the red flag to a bull words: "underground" and "city circle".

Remember that this thread is about the Port Adelaide Tram line. Let's not turn it into yet another thread about city train services. There's plenty of other threads for that.

[fabricator]

From the City Messenger:

Bonython Park trees facing chop
“Nothing is greener than public transport and for every tree that’s removed we will be planting one hundred more,” he said.

So where exactly are 50,000 trees are going to be planted? - assuming that the trees removed from the parklands will be replaced elsewhere.
Ok so maybe he meant 100 trees for each of the significant trees to be removed, that's still 2,900 trees that need to be planted somewhere. I'm all for progress but all this 'Green' hyperbole is just patronising.

Its worse for the Dry Creek rail depot too, something like 3 trees for everyone removed. Nice in theory, but there was a solid hedge of small trees for several hundred meters of fencing. Must have been 5000 trees there, most of which has been poisoned. I seriously doubt they could even fit 5,000 trees on the remaining space on site, much less 15,000.

No one says where the trees get planted or why. Just give several thousand trees to the local councils to replace dead ones or something, even if that is cheating.

[mattblack]

Don't clog the forum with dribble please. If you want to go from one side of the urban sprawl to the other, a quick connection in the CBD is not unreasonable.

Hey Somebody,

I dont think its up to you to decide on whats usless dribble or not, especially cutting down a new member (welcome MO).

I think thats its a entirely relitive point. its not just a quick stop in town. If you want to get from the south to the north it adds about 45mins to 1 hour. If a connection could be made from Brighton or Marion past Glenelg and on to The Port it would really help with the connectivity of P/T transport.

[Norman]

But along what corridor would it go? Would it be worth it to aquire properties or dig a very long tunnel for a small percentage of people using that corridor?

[fabricator]

Don't clog the forum with dribble please. If you want to go from one side of the urban sprawl to the other, a quick connection in the CBD is not unreasonable.

Hey Somebody,

I dont think its up to you to decide on whats usless dribble or not, especially cutting down a new member (welcome MO).

I think thats its a entirely relitive point. its not just a quick stop in town. If you want to get from the south to the north it adds about 45mins to 1 hour.

Not true, remember the Gawler line has 15 minute running on weekdays, even on the weekend its not so bad. Example for the weekend: Noarlunga train arrives in Adelaide at 11:04am Gawler train leaves Adelaide at 11:23am, and on some services you don't even need to change trains as they swap railcars to keep the timetable.