COM: Glenelg Tramline Upgrade

[Al]

I had a car imported over from Japan and that was my biggest concern. Glad that didn't happen to me.

[UrbanSG]

Well now that Rann has thankfully been re-elected we should soon see the construction of the tramline extension to the railway station. It was meant to start early this year from memory but was stalled due to the election. Any details on when work may commence? Imagine all the whinging in The Advertiser when the works start to cause a little congestion, I can't wait At least it should go ahead now. I don't care what The Advertiser tries to say once it starts!

[Will]

Well now that Rann has thankfully been re-elected we should soon see the construction of the tramline extension to the railway station. It was meant to start early this year from memory but was stalled due to the election. Any details on when work may commence? Imagine all the whinging in The Advertiser when the works start to cause a little congestion, I can't wait At least it should go ahead now. I don't care what The Advertiser tries to say once it starts!

Construction was never going to start early this year, because major construction works such as this would not be a good idea during major events such as the Fringe, Adelaide festival of Arts, Clipsal 500...

Construction will commence in June/ July of this year to coincide with the lower traffic volumes created by winter. The new tram line will be picking up its first passengers in September of 2007.

[AtD]

(Sourced from RailPage Australia and cross-posted in SSC)

Tram 105 has arrived at Outer Harbor:


For those who aren't following, this is the state of the Flexity fleet:
101 & 102- In service.
103 - Sent to Melbourne for repairs (At Bombardier’s expense) due to a shipping accident
104 - Sitting in the shed at Glengowrie Depot, apparently ready to be put in service.
105 - In storage (presumably) at Outer Harbor.
106-111 - Presumably awaiting appropriate ships somewhere between here and Germany.

Edit: 103 is in Melbourne, not Germany

[Howie]

great scoop! Good to see it's in one piece this time.

[Will]

I was reading in the City Messenger that the start of construction of the tram extension will more than likely be changed to 2007 because as usual the council has to do a useless public consultation.

There are 2 possible outcomes I believe:

*the state government will use the findings of the public consultation to cancel the tram extension.

or

*The premier will show some vision and declare the tram extension a major project removing the council's powers to ruin the project.

However with the recent revelations that the state government has a massive budget black hole, I feel that the tram etnesion will be cancelled.

If this is the case, it is a huge lost opportunity, and it is another reason for the young people of this city to believe that Adelaide is a do-nothing city that prefers talkfest over action.

[AtD]

Last week's City Messenger had on the front page that the shift in the timetable was so it didn't interrupt the Xmas Padgent or the Tour Down Under. It also said the ACC had scrapped plans of spending $40,000 (Yes, $40,000) on public consultation because the state has already done so.

"Regardless of public responce, the state government remains commited"

[Will]

Last week's City Messenger had on the front page that the shift in the timetable was so it didn't interrupt the Xmas Padgent or the Tour Down Under. It also said the ACC had scrapped plans of spending $40,000 (Yes, $40,000) on public consultation because the state has already done so.

"Regardless of public responce, the state government remains commited"

It is frustrating that construction is always postponed because it will interupt something. Regardless of the time of the year they do it, it will interrupt something, so I believe that they should just get on with the job immediately because at the moment there is less to be disrupted.

[AG]

Petition to scrap tram extension
June 08, 2006
A PETTION signed by more than 2700 South Australians calling for the scrapping of an extension to Adelaide's historic tramline has been presented to State Parliament.
The petition, with 2753 signatories, opposes the tramline extension partly because of fears it will create extreme congestion in the city.

The SA Government announced last year it would extend the tramline along King William Street to the Adelaide railway station.

Currently, the tramline, which runs from the seaside suburb of Glenelg, stops at Victoria Square in the centre of the city.

The state Liberals have opposed the extension, construction of which is expected to commence later this year and to be completed by September 2007.

SA Liberal transport spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said in light of recent cost blowouts on major transport projects, the $21 million extension should be scrapped.

"It all comes down to priorities and, in this case, the Labor government's priorities are totally out of touch with those of the community," he said.

At one stage, Adelaide had an extensive network of tram services, but all except the Glenelg line were ripped up in the 1950s.

[AtD]

One page of that patition has a pro-tram, anti-car comment scribbled on the bottom by yours truely.

[Will]

I have always thought that by improving public transport there should be a reduction in automobile traffic. The anti-tram people fail to realize that many of the people who will use the tram extension will no-longer use their own cars, thus reducing vehicular traffic. But in general the suggestions that the tram extension will cause traffic chaos are simply ridiculous.

[Howie]

Let's start and online petition of our own against nimbys!

[Will]

Let's start and online petition of our own against nimbys!

That's a great idea!

If it's possible how about placing a petition on the main page of the website, so people who visit the website can sign it.

[AtD]

Online petitions have even less clout than real petitions. Either way, the ALP seems to be going ahead with the tram line regardless.

BTW, for those who haven't already read this elsewhere, there's now 7 Flexitys on track, and the first H-Class has been trucked away (or about to be?).

[AG]

Yes, there are 7 new trams now on the network, and the first H Class tram has been retired from service. S108 was put on track two nights ago, and within an hour of it's delivery, H373 was removed by the same loader.