Straze wrote:Aidan your idea to convert the Outer Harbor Line from a trainline to a tramline i think is a bad idea, why? Lets just take a trip to Melbourne and see an example - Heavy rail costs about the same as light rail once you buy enough vehicles to carry the required passengers. In 1988 the light rail enthusiasts got their way when the St Kilda and Pt Melbourne train lines were changed to a tramline. 20 years later people are being sardined onto overcrowed trams or being left behind.
Therefore they should run more trams. Inadequate capacity is the fault of Yarra Trams, not the mode itself.
Changing a trainline to a tramline cripples capacity as light rail carrys only one third of the capacity that of heavy rail.
If the heavy rail is nowhere near capacity, that's not a problem.
More stops would mean increased travel times which will decrease patronage. So in my opinion i strongly recommend that the Outer Harbor Line stays as a trainline. If it aint broke dont fix it.
I'm not suggesting putting more stops on the entire line! Beyond Taperoo the number of through passengers will be lower, and the shorter walk to the station will more than make up for the slightly longer journey time for most passengers, and they'll all benefit from the shorter waiting time as well.
A big problem with the heavy rail setup is that the railway doesn't adequately serve the two biggest employment centres on the line: Port Adelaide and Outer Harbour. By closing the line to upgrade the viaduct they've not only unnecessarily inconvenienced peninsula residents, but they've made it unlikely the line will be diverted straight through Port Adelaide. But there's still the matter of Outer Harbour. There used to be a balloon loop there, but it was eventually dismantled because it was not needed to serve a single station. But if it were reinstated with four stations on it, it would be within walking distance of much of the industrial area, and the line would benefit from two way commuting.
