News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Trains

[AtD]

I know it's basically an off-the-shelf design, but it'd be nice to have three doors per car so it's easier to get on and off.

[The Scooter Guy]

The new trains should also have free Wi-Fi so that you can access the internet while on board!
New O-Bahn buses should have that too!

[SRW]

Can this thread please not derail into another bitch about livery? It's insignificant.

But to the topic, I wish there was more information about what model has being chosen and where they will be constructed. I kind was hoping for a model that didn't have the 'corrugated panels' (as Ho Really put it), but otherwise the configuration looks passable.

[muzzamo]

The state colours have been done to death over the years, time to invest into a new colour scheme.

Like maybe this

This is stupid. You don't spend years developing a brand (brands are worth a lot of money when fully developed) and then just throw it out. Those adelaide metro colors are an integral part of their brand.

It also means that people who are unfamiliar with public transport will know that when they see those colors they know they can use a metroticket.

[Norman]

Can this thread please not derail into another bitch about livery? It's insignificant.

But to the topic, I wish there was more information about what model has being chosen and where they will be constructed. I kind was hoping for a model that didn't have the 'corrugated panels' (as Ho Really put it), but otherwise the configuration looks passable.

They will be constructed in Dandenong, Victoria

[crawf]

The state colours have been done to death over the years, time to invest into a new colour scheme.

Like maybe this

This is stupid. You don't spend years developing a brand (brands are worth a lot of money when fully developed) and then just throw it out. Those adelaide metro colors are an integral part of their brand.

The whole Adelaide Metro brand is dated - logo, slogan, livery and website. A complete overhaul of the whole brand will combine nicely with the planned upgrades of the network.

It also means that people who are unfamiliar with public transport will know that when they see those colors they know they can use a metroticket.

[AtD]

Can this thread please not derail into another bitch about livery? It's insignificant.

+1

[Aidan]

Wonder why the Brisbane and Perth EMU's from Bombardier have a top speed of 130km/hr and ours look like having a top speed of 110km/hr.
Most likely they will be the same but it will be the network upgrade which has been done on the cheap which can only support 110km/hr.
Some answers would be good Pat.

Its not Pat's nor the Tracks fault.
Two basic reasons:
1) State speed limit is 110, and some idiot made that apply to everything including trains. Laws need changing.

Are you sure about that? ISTR AN used to run RoadRailers at 130km/h.

2) Safety concerns with level crossings, grade separation would solve that, doable for Noarlunga Gawler lines given enough money.

Again, that's largely a red herring as there are long stretches of line without any level crossings. The trains are never going to have the entire line suitable for 110km/h+ running anyway, but that's no excuse to slow them down where track conditions are suitable.

Fix those two things and higher speeds are possible.

But not with these trains, at least without technical modification.

But I don't think it's a very big deal. Firstly technical modifications are possible, as is the acquisition of higher performance trains if and when future conditions warrant it. Secondly, Perth's trains have a bigger problem: they can't run at full power if the stations are closely spaced because it would overheat the motors. Having a lower top speed is (at least for now) a sensible alternative.

What concerns me more is the lack of end doors.

[Nort]

Yeah, watching that video it seems there will be no movement possible between carriages?

It was either in Brisbane or Melbourne where I was impressed while on the train that the train basically acted like one long car, with the joins being similar to those we have on stretchy buses. With no (or difficult) movement between carriages then I tend to spend time gazing in through windows while a train pulls up trying to guess which car has the most chance of a spare seat.

[The Scooter Guy]

They will be constructed in Dandenong, Victoria

And like the new trams, they will be transported by low-loader.

[Alyx]

They will be constructed in Dandenong, Victoria

And like the new trams, they will be transported by low-loader.

It's much more likely they will be transferred from the plant to Adelaide entirely by rail, not by road. Trams are much smaller and obviously don't have that option.

[rhino]

Yeah, watching that video it seems there will be no movement possible between carriages?

It was either in Brisbane or Melbourne where I was impressed while on the train that the train basically acted like one long car, with the joins being similar to those we have on stretchy buses. With no (or difficult) movement between carriages then I tend to spend time gazing in through windows while a train pulls up trying to guess which car has the most chance of a spare seat.

I remember Singapore's MRT being like that. There were no internal bulkhead walls, so you could see right down the length of the train, and they were long trains! It was really cool, like being inside a long tube or a flexible pipe as it twisted around curves. The stations had thick glass panels between the platform and the track, and when a train arrived its doors would be lined up with the sliding doors in these glass panels. This was back in the 1980s, still to get anywhere near that here.

[Aidan]

They will be constructed in Dandenong, Victoria

And like the new trams, they will be transported by low-loader.

It's much more likely they will be transferred from the plant to Adelaide entirely by rail, not by road. Trams are much smaller and obviously don't have that option.

Being smaller gives more options, not fewer. Train companies are extremely reluctant to accept oversize cargo, and they probably don't have the specialist wagons needed to carry the trains. Nor can they tow the trains because the Dandenong line's track is broad gauge only, but the Victorian broad gauge system has been isolated from the SA broad gauge system since the Melbourne to Adelaide track was standardized in the '90s.

The trains will come here by road.

[Alyx]

And like the new trams, they will be transported by low-loader.

It's much more likely they will be transferred from the plant to Adelaide entirely by rail, not by road. Trams are much smaller and obviously don't have that option.

Being smaller gives more options, not fewer. Train companies are extremely reluctant to accept oversize cargo, and they probably don't have the specialist wagons needed to carry the trains. Nor can they tow the trains because the Dandenong line's track is broad gauge only, but the Victorian broad gauge system has been isolated from the SA broad gauge system since the Melbourne to Adelaide track was standardized in the '90s.

The trains will come here by road.

I'm well aware of the gauge problem but what I meant was, apart from making no sense whatsoever, you can't haul a tram via rail. You only need to look at how Perth's new trains were transferred from Maryborough to Perth and Sydney's Endeavour and Explorer railcars to and from Dandenong to see how it's possible.

I really should have worded my last post differently. I'm not claiming I know how they will transferred - frankly I don't care - but there's no point in debating that now.

Can this thread please not derail into another bitch about livery? It's insignificant.

Without going in to it any further but for those who were wondering, the livery shown in earlier renders was simply TransPerth's re-coloured.

[fabricator]

And like the new trams, they will be transported by low-loader.

It's much more likely they will be transferred from the plant to Adelaide entirely by rail, not by road. Trams are much smaller and obviously don't have that option.

Being smaller gives more options, not fewer. Train companies are extremely reluctant to accept oversize cargo, and they probably don't have the specialist wagons needed to carry the trains. Nor can they tow the trains because the Dandenong line's track is broad gauge only, but the Victorian broad gauge system has been isolated from the SA broad gauge system since the Melbourne to Adelaide track was standardized in the '90s.

Nonsense, there are these things called workshop bogies, which are simply modified wheel sets to fit whatever mounting is under the train. This is exactly how previous trains built in Melbourne were transported. Yes even though we both were on Broad Gauge too.

I'd expect they would have the trains moved to a SG/BG yard/depot (perhaps under their own power) and then moved over the SG. Not sure what will happen at this end as the government stupidly ripped up the BG/SG dual gauge track they *could* have used to get them into the new dry creek depot.