Well, it's great that they had good policy development, and it's nice to see that they found some extra funding sources to build it, but I doubt that the party won the election because of a few train line proposals. The Liberal party in WA was in tatters for many years and were due to lose the election anyway.claybro wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:57 amThe WA state Labor party went to two elections with their Metronet rail proposal as their centrepiece. First time they lost norrowly. Second time they won in a landslide. Even from opposition, they had clear plans, and objectives, so everyone knew where the new rail lines would service, the new suburban higher density hubs, and how it would be funded. The outcome is, as soon as it was in power, Labor began detailed planning for routes, stations and constructed a rail car production centre, so all the new trains could be built here in Perth. Now compare that to the approach in SA. The Adelink proposal was so vague it could have been drawn on the back of a beer coaster. No timelines, no funding plan, no priorities of route construction, no urban renewal plans to justify it. There was the OH line fiasco. Light rail, hybrid light/heavy rail, heavy rail only, port dock spur on heavy rail.. it was all brain fart stuff. It confused Infrastructure Australia no end, and was so flimsy in its benefits that it was never going to attract real funding. The Libs then come in to power.. do nothing while all other capitals are furiously rolling out light and heavy rail. Happy days SA let's all go back to sleep so our suburbs are not changed by awful urban renewal and horrible trains, trams and freeways. Forever 1975.
Yes, the Liberal party in SA had an extremely poor policy base before the 2018 election, especially around transport, but let's hope that with Infrastructure SA there will be a greater emphasis on developing projects and preparing them for funding submissions rather than ad-hoc projects.
In the meantime, here are some rail projects that should be considered:
-CBD Underground Link
-Extension to Aldinga
-Extension to Roseworthy (with associated town masterplan) and Gawler East
-Electrification of Outer Harbor and Grange lines
-Northern Connector rail bypass and Salisbury North line conversion for suburban trains, using the third track between Adelaide and Salisbury for express services
-Tram CBD Loop
These are some easy proposals (except the CBD link) that could be part of early Infrastructure Australia submissions.