COM: Glenelg Tramline Upgrade

[.::G!oRgOs::.]

At the end of the day, you cant really please everyone.

[AG]

Minister attacks tramline criticsKim Wheatley

July 29, 2006 11:30pm
Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)Font size: + -
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AS opposition to the $31 million city tram project grows, Transport Minister Patrick Conlon defended the project yesterday against "small-thinking" critics who believe the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Announcing another extension to the proposed 1.2km King William St line, which would take it a further 600m along North Tce to the University of South Australia's City West campus, he laughed off those who did not support the initiative.
Amid concerns about cost blow-outs - totalling tens of millions of dollars - in the transport budget, Mr Conlon refuted claims that improvements to the tramline extension would be at the expense of the state's ailing public bus and train network.

"It is really small thinking to think this forecloses improvements elsewhere. It doesn't," he said.

"For a very small investment we are going to get a massive regeneration in the west of the city, and that is all positive and good news.

"What people need to do is lift their eyes, have a look at other cities that have done these sorts of things and see the benefits."

Previous plans to extend the line to North Adelaide have been scrapped.

The North Tce tram extension will replace the free Bee-Line bus service that runs every five minutes, from 7.40am to 6pm, on weekdays.

At the announcement, at the Victoria Square tram terminus, Mr Conlon also took aim at the RAA, the Opposition and the Sunday Mail for raising concerns about the project, saying he was "sorry if good news is a little hard to deal with".

However, a snap poll of public transport commuters by the Sunday Mail found almost all wanted the tramline extension funding pumped into improving bus and train services.

This follows a flood of complaints from commuters in recent months that services are frequently late and overcrowded.

Regional areas also are crying out for better services, including at Port Lincoln where school students are sitting on the floor of buses because of cuts to services last week.

But Mr Conlon played down claims the transport system was almost at bursting point.

"I don't think it's a problem to increase (passenger) boardings by 5 per cent, I don't think that's a problem," he said.

"That shows people are using the services.

"We've got a fundamental rethink forced upon us by the cost of fuel. We're going to look at what we can do to improve it."

The revised tramline project also includes selling the Transport Department's Walkerville headquarters and moving the 800 workers to the West End.

And the South Australian Film Corporation headquarters at Hendon also could be relocated to the precinct as part of the Government's urban renewal plan.

Mr Conlon denied Opposition claims the announcement was dressing up a cost blow-out of the project.

He stopped short, however, of a guarantee the project would not blow-out, saying it was "very unlikely".

"I'm very, very confident that it will land in budget," he said. "There is no blow-out on the tram project, there never has been."

However, Opposition infrastructure spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said the latest move was a signal the Government was focusing on the wrong priorities.

"We need a whole new approach on infrastructure," he said.

"If the tram is the Government's highest priority, it's dumb - and to extend is dumber. We've got school buses being cancelled in Port Lincoln and Hawker, roads need fixing in the country, the mining industry calling for more infrastructure spending, tunnel projects that can't be afforded and here we are building more tramlines - it's the wrong priority at the wrong time."

Port Lincoln mother of two Teresa Szumski agreed, saying her children had lost their school bus because of cuts made by the Transport Department last week.

"They're not looking after regional areas at all," she said. "Is it (the tram) really the thing that the money should be spent on now?"

RAA public affairs general manager Sharon Hanlon would not be drawn on Mr Conlon's criticisms of the motoring body but said the Government needed to address fundamental road maintenance problems.

"The road maintenance backlog in SA needs urgent attention," she said.

"It started at $160 million in 2003 - and that was the State Government's own figures - and nothing significant has been done to address that since. It's fairly ambitious to announce another tramline extension, particularly when it's replacing a free bus service."

Adelaide Lord Mayor Michael Harbison played down concerns about traffic congestion in the CBD, saying the tramline extension was a win for the city.

"There are vast tracts of land in the north-west corner of the city that have seen no development really ever and this is an enormous opportunity to see the city grow," he said.

"It's pretty clear that the demand and opportunity for the extension of the track is to make it a spur to urban renewal in the West End and that's the right thing to do."

Labor MP for Mawson, Leon Bignell, who recently endured a backlash about a lack of transport infrastructure at a Sunday Mail community forum at Noarlunga Centre, defended the proposal.

"I think the people in the southern suburbs, in general, are pretty keen to see an extension of the train line to Seaford which I think is about $140 million," he said.

"But I don't think there needs to be an either/or.

"I think we can have a tramline extension and at least some point have an extension of the rail line as well if it's feasible."

[Mants]

^^howie already posted that AG

[Will]

I just find it ironic that a few months ago the Advertiser/ Sunday Mail conducted their Adelaide 2020 promotional feature calling for Adelaide to escape the roundabout of stagnation and embrace progress and change.

Now the state government has proposed a project which is innovative, visionary and will inject new life to the tired west end of the city, and the Advertiser/ Sunday Mail has whipped up some outrageous anti-tram hysteria.

[Algernon]

However, Opposition infrastructure spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith said the latest move was a signal the Government was focusing on the wrong priorities.

"We need a whole new approach on infrastructure," he said.

"If the tram is the Government's highest priority, it's dumb - and to extend is dumber. We've got school buses being cancelled in Port Lincoln and Hawker, roads need fixing in the country, the mining industry calling for more infrastructure spending, tunnel projects that can't be afforded and here we are building more tramlines - it's the wrong priority at the wrong time."

Perhaps if anyone disagrees with this comment, they can communicate this with Mr Hamilton-Smith directly via email:

waite@parliament.sa.gov.au

[crawf]

i cant stand that clown

[Edgar]

Since it is going to replace the already free BeeLine bus service, does it mean that the next time we go on the tram it is going to be free as well? Or do we have to purchase the metrotickets just to go round the city?

[Howie]

It says in the article anything beyond south terrace through to north terrace will be free.

[rhino]

i cant stand that clown

Martin Hamilton-Smith speaks out in opposition to anything and everything the Labour Party does or proposes, even if he agrees with it personally. He has made it his job to discredit everything. You're right, he is a clown, and should be treated with contempt for the way he acts.

[Brian Pearson]

I have emailed the following message to Mr. Hamilton-Smith with copies to the Ministers of Transport and Tourism. It is couched in polite terms, but I hope that he will get the message that support for far-sighted proposals by his political opponents is much better (and will earn him more respect) than opposition for opposition's sake:

Dear Mr. Hamilton-Smith,

The main purpose of the generous travel entitlements enjoyed by members of Parliament is to learn from the interstate and overseas contacts which you make so as to benefit the electors of South Australia.

I would strongly urge you to visit some of the very many progressive cities that have been installing new tramway systems to replace buses, and to get out and travel on them.

Short sighted governments destroyed the excellent MTT system which could have been upgraded and extended to put Adelaide in the same fortunate position as is enjoyed by the citizens of Melbourne. They also foisted the Modbury O-Bahn (which may be efficient on the reserved track but is a major cause of delays and congestion as soon as the buses enter the CBD) on us in place of the light rail with an underground section in King William Street which had already been in the first stages of installation. No other city, even in Germany except for a few short sections in CBDs, made this mistake. Government decisions have several times denied us electric suburban railways since the 1920s, greatly increasing the eventual cost and ensuring that Adelaide's suburban system is by a considerable margin the worst in Australia.

Your pronouncements on any topic – in this case the proposed extension of Adelaide's tramways – are worth only as much as the research and considered thought in which you have engaged, despite the publicity which they attract and their potential for public mischief.

Though I regard you as an estimable person worthy of your position in society, I make no apology for being blunt. Politicians are our servants, not the other way around as so often seems to be assumed, and it behoves all of you to be very careful with the power which you temporarily enjoy.

With my regards,

[Pants]

Very well put mate.

Don't hold your breath for a response.

[Tom]

Very well put mate.

Don't hold your breath for a response.

No, you always get a responce its just 6 after you sent it.

[sam]

It says in the article anything beyond south terrace through to north terrace will be free.

Yipeeeeeeee!!!! - Very glad I sent that letter in.

(Obviously then Minisiter Conlon doesn't think I am small minded

[AtD]

The tram is already free from Victoria Square to South Tce.

[sam]

The tram is already free from Victoria Square to South Tce.

How long has that been the case for?

Was it after this post: http://www.sensational-adelaide.com/for ... ight=#1764