Sensational-Adelaide.com

AtD wrote:

jimmy_2486 wrote:What about underground light rail underneith henley beach road. We could do a cut and cover technique with not that much of a disturbance to the road??

Uh, cut and cover requires total removal of the road, excavation, building the new tunnel then building a new road over the top. Total disturbance of the road, really.

Not exactly true, it is possible to perform cut and cover without totalling removing the roadway, although much more difficult to construct with precision. The cut and cover method you describe is the bottom-up method. In another method called the top-down method, it is possible to construct the walls of the tunnels and the roof of the tunnel first without removing the surface, and the excavating the ground within the confines of the tunnel walls and roof. This method has been used in Hong Kong before with train stations and is also used in a lot of cities to build walkway underpasses under roads.

Got back from Sydney last week and having the subway from the Airport to the city was fantastic and fast - if only a tad expensive ($13.20) but still cheaper than taxi.

ReallyBad wrote:Got back from Sydney last week and having the subway from the Airport to the city was fantastic and fast - if only a tad expensive ($13.20) but still cheaper than taxi.

Didn't know they had that! (Although it has been a number of years since I was last in Sydney.) How long did it take to get into the central station?

Bulldozer wrote:

ReallyBad wrote:Got back from Sydney last week and having the subway from the Airport to the city was fantastic and fast - if only a tad expensive ($13.20) but still cheaper than taxi.

Didn't know they had that! (Although it has been a number of years since I was last in Sydney.) How long did it take to get into the central station?

The train from the Domestic airport to Central takes 10 minutes, but to the major city stations at Town Hall and Wynyard it takes upwards of 15 minutes. The airport is 3 stops from Central by train. The train service through the airport was opened for the Olympics in 2000, and forms part of the Airport and East Hills Line.

The only way this would be viable is for it to be a tram line either down Sir Donaldman Drive
or Henley Beach Road. Either way it would require to have intermediate stops so locals
living on the route could use the service. The trams however would need to be specially
designed to have areas where luggage could be placed. It would still be fast and
efficient given the short distance to the city. Also with intermediate stops it would
be patronized well and would be able to be integrated into the current tram/train system
by travelling up king william road and north terrace to the train station and hotels etc.

ozisnowman wrote:The trams however would need to be specially designed to have areas where luggage could be placed.

None of the airport trains or trams I've been on ever had special room for luggage, they were just the standard set.

Maybe have a seperate service for local commuters and a dedicated airport link, as rail that will goto the airport will most likely sit there for ages and piss people off.

jimmy_2486 wrote:Maybe have a seperate service for local commuters and a dedicated airport link, as rail that will goto the airport will most likely sit there for ages and piss people off.

It doesn't have to. In fact, there is no need to wait for passengers if a good frequency is already established. Just let all the people waiting on the tram, and then just go.

Well i know someone who has to catch the J bus that goes through the airport and they hate the fact that it stops there for ages.

I cant remember why they said it did, whether they just wait for ages for passengers, or the fact that it takes ages for the passengers to get on with their luggage.

The london tube doesn't use a special train designed for luggage. Neither does the Sydney train.
The current Flexity has a large amount of standing area in them where people can stand with their bags if they want to.
I would love to see the trams travel down Henley Beach Road to the Airport. Would be a fantastic entrance to the city for interstate/overseas visitors.

i'd sure love to see a light-rail or tram line to the airport that could possibly go further to Henley Beach and Grange. As for rolling stock, TransAd should get something a bit better than the current Bombarider Flexity Classic's which are quite crap and don't have enough seats and are too narrow.

Ho Really wrote:From the Glenelg Tram Line Upgrade thread:

James Renfrey wrote:I do, 'Ho Really'. I have for some years now publicly proposed a comprehensive light rail system as a solution to Adelaide's transport problems. I am guessing that you would use part of the former tram corridor between North Terrace and Henley Beach Road alongside Port and Deviation Roads, connecting with the new tramway at its temporary terminus opposite the western campus of UniSA or proceeding on gauge converted tracks into the Adelaide Station.

That's a possibility if you are considering an extension of the Glenelg to UniSA West line. I was actually thinking of a light rail system (when we adopt standard gauge) using an existing line from the Adelaide Railway Station to Mile End. From there it would pass adjacent to Santos Stadium onto the centre of the South Road Connector and along the drain to Adelaide Airport. The light rail corridor I have proposed may be more involved than a tram line down either Henley Beach Road or Sir Donald Bradman Drive. The advantage with light rail is it won't have stops between the Airport and Adelaide Station. The other issue is that we need to improve access to the Adelaide Station for travellers coming from all directions around Adelaide. It has to become a central hub. This may be solved by buidling a transport hub over the railyards west of the Morphett Street Bridge. Imagine that?

Cheers

In the article above it says" along the drain to Adelaide Airport ". If anything this would be the best option. If my memory serves me correctly this drain goes from Mile End to West Richond, but i cannot remember the streets that it follows can anybody help me?

http://maps.google.com.au go to satellite view and scroll down to the end of the connector road at South Road. Then you can follow it through.

So, anyone catching on to my idea of an Airport link over the mentioned drain?

The service I am proposing would be fast, linking the Adelaide station to the Airport with a possible stop at either Keswick Interstate Terminal or Mile End stations. Of course, either one revamped. Others have proposed tram lines down Henley Beach and Sir Donald Bradman Drive. On these routes trams would have to make many more stops and possibly be costrained by road traffic (congestion and accidents). Buses already service those that live off these two main arterials in that area of town. So no need to double up. There would have to be a decision made whether the line was a single or double track. Double would be best of course. Frequency could be 20-30 minutes normally and 10-15 minutes in peak times. And yes, the carriages would have luggage compartments at each end.

I'm not sure how much land at the rear of (some) properties would need to be acquired. A proper survey would have to be done. As for backyard privacy, trees would be planted on each side of the corridor, fencing an option and trains would run only as per curfew.

No level crossings on major roads (Marion and South Roads), flyways would be built instead.

Thoughts?

Cheers

P.S. I would still like to see some trams down either Sir Donald Bradman Drive or Henley Beach Road, but I would prefer if they went all the way to the beach.

I was sceptical when you first posted it, but, having looked at a map and thought about it for a couple of days, I like it. I would make it a dedicated service, with only one stop, on a flyover above KRPT/Keswick Station on the way into the city. The stop at Keswick should be a Mawson Lakes type modern, integrated covered interchange with escalators or lifts down to each of the stations. From there I would be linking it into the west end tram loop along Grote Street.