News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Trains

[Aidan]

Not content with closing the Outer Harbour Line for months on end to upgrade a bridge that would be far better demolished, they've now announced closure of Hallett Cove station between January 18th and some time in May - followed by the temporary closure of Hallett Cove Beach station.

What will it take to convince these clueless fools that leaving the stations as they are is better than upgrading them with an extended closure?

Don't get me wrong - I'd like the stations to be upgraded, but this is far too high a price to pay.

[rhino]

.... they've now announced closure of Hallett Cove station between January 18th and some time in May - followed by the temporary closure of Hallett Cove Beach station.

What will it take to convince these clueless fools that leaving the stations as they are is better than upgrading them with an extended closure?

Don't get me wrong - I'd like the stations to be upgraded, but this is far too high a price to pay.

I disagree. These two stations are not that far from each other that pax cannot use the other one while theirs is being upgraded, and Marino Rocks station and Lonsdale Station can also be used. I believe people (apart from committed whingers) are in favour of a little pain for a good gain. I work with people who come in to the city on the Belair line, and while it was out of commission, they just altered their pattern of getting to work - some used the bus, some drove to Tonsley and caught that train, but none complained as they knew it would be worth it in the long run. The period of discomfort seems to go quicker than you expect it to (and why? Because if you're sensible you just suck it up, Princess! - deal with it) and after a couple of months of the project being completed, you can hardly remember the short term pain.

[monotonehell]

Not content with closing the Outer Harbour Line for months on end to upgrade a bridge that would be far better demolished, they've now announced closure of Hallett Cove station between January 18th and some time in May - followed by the temporary closure of Hallett Cove Beach station.

What will it take to convince these clueless fools that leaving the stations as they are is better than upgrading them with an extended closure?

Don't get me wrong - I'd like the stations to be upgraded, but this is far too high a price to pay.

That's a bit harsh, after all they've stripped the 600m long bridge down to the uprights and are reconstructing it from there. Not to mention the six level crossings that are having their rail, sleepers, ballast and bitumen replaced. Big job.

I don't think an entire department makes these decisions in a clueless manner. It's just a little pain for a lot of gain. You might want to think about getting down off your pedestal there, Aidan.

[Tonsley213]

why arn't they replacing the track bed, sleepers and rail not being replaced on the outer harbour line.

[monotonehell]

why arn't they replacing the track bed, sleepers and rail not being replaced on the outer harbour line.

Not sure, they're only replacing down to the ballast on the level crossings (from what I understand they're almost finished those). The bridge doesn't have and ballast (obviously) but they're replacing the track, sleepers and supports all along the elevated part (600m). As well as rebuilding the station platform and structure.

[rhino]

why arn't they replacing the track bed, sleepers and rail not being replaced on the outer harbour line.

Sorry, I don't understand the question?

[Tonsley213]

Why are they not doing what they did to the belair line?

[deano91]

I catch the train nearly every day from HC Beach and am more than happy to experience this short term inconvenience in order to have a long term gain! And as someone said previously, for any passengers that catch from HC itself, it's only another 2 or 3 minutes drive up the road to the next station.

[Hooligan]

I hate the fact they are closing anything. This is because i am full of teenage angst and think everthing the government is doing is wrong.

Hooligan out

[Aidan]

Not content with closing the Outer Harbour Line for months on end to upgrade a bridge that would be far better demolished, they've now announced closure of Hallett Cove station between January 18th and some time in May - followed by the temporary closure of Hallett Cove Beach station.

What will it take to convince these clueless fools that leaving the stations as they are is better than upgrading them with an extended closure?

Don't get me wrong - I'd like the stations to be upgraded, but this is far too high a price to pay.

That's a bit harsh, after all they've stripped the 600m long bridge down to the uprights and are reconstructing it from there. Not to mention the six level crossings that are having their rail, sleepers, ballast and bitumen replaced. Big job.

Just because a job is big doesn't mean it's worth doing!

I don't think an entire department makes these decisions in a clueless manner.

I didn't say the entire department does, but considering the bad decisions they have made, it's reasonable to conclude that part of the department is.

It's just a little pain for a lot of gain. You might want to think about getting down off your pedestal there, Aidan.

Actually no, it's an awful lot of pain for very little gain.

[fabricator]

why arn't they replacing the track bed, sleepers and rail not being replaced on the outer harbour line.

Most of the Outer Harbour line has already been rebuilt with new ballast, concrete sleepers, rail, the only bits not fixed were some level crossings, and the Port Adelaide overpass.

[Aidan]

.... they've now announced closure of Hallett Cove station between January 18th and some time in May - followed by the temporary closure of Hallett Cove Beach station.

What will it take to convince these clueless fools that leaving the stations as they are is better than upgrading them with an extended closure?

Don't get me wrong - I'd like the stations to be upgraded, but this is far too high a price to pay.

I disagree. These two stations are not that far from each other that pax cannot use the other one while theirs is being upgraded, and Marino Rocks station and Lonsdale Station can also be used.

And as someone said previously, for any passengers that catch from HC itself, it's only another 2 or 3 minutes drive up the road to the next station.

It may be drivable in three minutes, but that requires a car. For those who share a car with someone else, this is often impractical. And it's only a short drive W of the railway where there aren't many parking spaces to spare. On the eastern side the road route is much less direct. As for Marino Rocks, you almost have to detour to another station just to get there. And Lonsdale station is only accessible via Lonsdale Road.

Also, not everyone even has a driving licence. Cycling to the station is impractical because of the little roundabouts Marion Council has scattered along the Cove Road (including at the bottom of hills) so the shuttle buses are the only alternative for some people - and they tend to greatly increase journey times.

I believe people (apart from committed whingers) are in favour of a little pain for a good gain. I work with people who come in to the city on the Belair line, and while it was out of commission, they just altered their pattern of getting to work - some used the bus, some drove to Tonsley and caught that train, but none complained as they knew it would be worth it in the long run.

Yes, where there is genuine long term gain. They were promised a smoother ride and a faster and more reliable service. That's worth having to put up an extended closure. A canopy and a few cosmetic improvements aren't.

The period of discomfort seems to go quicker than you expect it to (and why? Because if you're sensible you just suck it up, Princess! - deal with it) and after a couple of months of the project being completed, you can hardly remember the short term pain.

I catch the train nearly every day from HC Beach and am more than happy to experience this short term inconvenience in order to have a long term gain!

What long term gain? A roof over the station would be nice, but it's not worth losing train services for a week, let alone three months!

When it won't bring any actual service improvements, how long would a station closure have to be before you accept that it's worse than doing nothing?

[Zills]

you're a nimby aiden

[Aidan]

you're a nimby aiden

Really? When did the definition of nimby expand to include people who want to keep their train stations open?

I made it perfectly clear I've nothing against station upgrading - but extended closure is far too high a price to pay.

[rubberman]

Actually, the concept of providing temporary station access while major works are undertaken is not new.

Nor is it impractical.

Nor is it expensive in the overall scheme of things.

What Aidan is asking for is not rocket science.

The problem in South Australia now is that most corporate knowledge in major Government Departments has been lost over the past twenty years. In the nineteen seventies and eighties we would not have run out of water due to lack of headworks infrastructure, we would not have let the suburban rail infrastructure gotten so bad that the only solution was a wholesale upgrade. Is there a State Plan for transport and infrastructure outcomes due to global warming? Apparently we are going to spend $450M on a stadium when most people agree that there is a climate crisis for which big amounts of money are presumably going to be needed for infrastructure to mitigate and deal with climate change. How about the growth in the Adelaide Hills? Any long term plans to reserve transport corridors? Or are we going to end up with another 'South Road' debacle that means North -South transport will again be the choke point that sends industry interstate because Adelaide just is not viable for manufacturers who want to get parts from the other end of the city? And the opposition is no better, so this is not a political statement.

There are now only a fraction of the number of engineers in the public sector who have corporate knowledge - the rest have retired. Those left are run off their feet doing day to day stuff, and there is literally no-one there doing the planning - other than the PR people making glossy press releases.

Basically, there is so little capacity in Government now to undertake planning in the longer term, that Government does not even know how little it knows.

I am sure that Rann and Co think they have done a good job. It is only when one travels overseas and sees better planning even in third world countries, that one realises that SA has squandered its intellectual capital, and is going to be paying through the nose for Spanish, French and British water facilities, overseas manufactured trams, international consultants to finally sort out our problems with South Road etc.