News & Discussion: Adelaide Metro Trains

[monotonehell]

All of the Northern line's services, to and from North Adelaide's tiny island platform? Yikes.

[Matt]

Plunged into commuter chaos?

Oh fU@k right off. If major works are happening to and adjacent to the one rail terminus in the city, obviously some disruption is going to occur.

A headline like that just invites the usual suspects to whinge and bitch.

I'd sooner a month of finding an alternative way into work than have the area wrapped in cotton wool for another 10 bloody years.

Typical Advertiser (Traumatiser?) negativity turning a decent project that will benefit many into a horror story.

[metro]

what kind of city shuts down ALL rail lines into it's main railway station?

Perth are rebuilding their main railway station, but somehow their trains are still running.

[Hooligan]

[rev]

what kind of city shuts down ALL rail lines into it's main railway station?

Perth are rebuilding their main railway station, but somehow their trains are still running.

Here..

Closure of the station as part of the $350 million Convention Centre upgrade will allow cranes to work without compromising safety of trains and passengers passing underneath heavy loads.

Do you need further explanation? Use your imagination.
Think of what the cranes are there to do. Think of what lies underneath the construction site.

Are similar construction activities happening in Perth where cranes are lifting large, heavy loads/objects over active train lines?

[Aidan]

what kind of city shuts down ALL rail lines into it's main railway station?

Perth are rebuilding their main railway station, but somehow their trains are still running.

Here..

Closure of the station as part of the $350 million Convention Centre upgrade will allow cranes to work without compromising safety of trains and passengers passing underneath heavy loads.

Do you need further explanation? Use your imagination.
Think of what the cranes are there to do. Think of what lies underneath the construction site.

Are similar construction activities happening in Perth where cranes are lifting large, heavy loads/objects over active train lines?

Closing the railway for a weekend is reasonable. Closing it for an entire month is not! If the Convention Centre can't be upgraded without closing the railway, it shouldn't be upgraded at all. But they managed to keep the trains running during the previous Convention Centre upgrade.

[SRW]

Less sensational story from the ABC:

City Railway Station to shut for a month
ABC News Online, 18 August 2012

The Adelaide Railway Station will shut early next year as maintenance work is carried out, the Transport Department says.

The timing of the closure is yet to be determined, but the department says the period from early January to early February is being considered.

The work will include a track upgrade and rail electrification.

The Rail, Train and Bus Union says it has been told about the plan.

In a statement, the Transport Department said the January-February period was chosen because it is the quietest time of the year for the rail network.

"Track upgrade and electrification works associated with the Noarlunga (Seaford) Line and Adelaide Rail Yard are scheduled for completion in 2013," it said.

"While operational and contractual matters are still to be finalised, this is the preferred time for a closure of the rail yard to allow for work to be done safely and efficiently.

"The department expects to finalise a program of works in coming weeks, including a communication campaign to ensure passengers have all the information they need to plan their journeys and access the alternative services that will be provided."

The closure will be the latest interruption to the rail network after track upgrades led to significantly longer trips along the Gawler and Noarlunga lines.

Journeys along the Gawler line were extended by close to half an hour last summer when passengers were forced to switch from buses to trains at Mawson Lakes.

I would hope that if they are undertaking works to prepare for the electrification of the Noarlunga line, that they do the works for all the lines. It's bad enough to close the station once, but if they were to do it again...

[Tonsley213]

Less sensational story from the ABC:

City Railway Station to shut for a month
ABC News Online, 18 August 2012

The Adelaide Railway Station will shut early next year as maintenance work is carried out, the Transport Department says.

The timing of the closure is yet to be determined, but the department says the period from early January to early February is being considered.

The work will include a track upgrade and rail electrification.

The Rail, Train and Bus Union says it has been told about the plan.

In a statement, the Transport Department said the January-February period was chosen because it is the quietest time of the year for the rail network.

"Track upgrade and electrification works associated with the Noarlunga (Seaford) Line and Adelaide Rail Yard are scheduled for completion in 2013," it said.

"While operational and contractual matters are still to be finalised, this is the preferred time for a closure of the rail yard to allow for work to be done safely and efficiently.

"The department expects to finalise a program of works in coming weeks, including a communication campaign to ensure passengers have all the information they need to plan their journeys and access the alternative services that will be provided."

The closure will be the latest interruption to the rail network after track upgrades led to significantly longer trips along the Gawler and Noarlunga lines.

Journeys along the Gawler line were extended by close to half an hour last summer when passengers were forced to switch from buses to trains at Mawson Lakes.

I would hope that if they are undertaking works to prepare for the electrification of the Noarlunga line, that they do the works for all the lines. It's bad enough to close the station once, but if they were to do it again...

Mate if they prep it now, by time they get around to spark up the rest, every thing that they put up in the railway station will be absolutely covered in soot. I would imagine they will be adjusting track widths as to allow for poles ect. It wouldn't need to be closed otherwise.

And to those wingers, I am sure the decision to close the station would not have come lightly. Furthermore the time period that it is closed for is mostly during the Christmas break. There maybe an inconvenience for a week or two when work resumes. Look I would have more of a right to complain about them closing the station because I live at Marion and go to university at Mawson Lakes, and the whole period of my summer classes are scheduled right at the same times of this closure. So shut up and don't complain, especially if you do not even catch the train.

This forum =

[Verbatim9]

Hopefully they will complete all the electrical wiring on all the platforms to prevent future disruptions at the station. Despite the closure stated in the paper and other media outlets the government should also communicate alternative transport well in advance as what Perth did this weekend on the Transperth website with a Progress in Works video also outlining alternative transport. http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/perthcitylink/ ... fault.aspx

[rubberman]

And to those wingers, I am sure the decision to close the station would not have come lightly. Furthermore the time period that it is closed for is mostly during the Christmas break. There maybe an inconvenience for a week or two when work resumes. Look I would have more of a right to complain about them closing the station because I live at Marion and go to university at Mawson Lakes, and the whole period of my summer classes are scheduled right at the same times of this closure. So shut up and don't complain, especially if you do not even catch the train.

This forum =

The problem is simply that other places manage to be able to do massive building works and yet keep their transport systems running.

This just adds to a list of projects where Adelaide just shuts down its systems because it has lost the technical capacity to manage the work-arounds. I cite as other examples, the shutdowns of the mainlines during relaying. This is simply not done elsewhere - those running the systems know how to keep them going while work is in progress.

This is not happening because it is necessary, it is happening because Adelaide now does not have the technical expertise to do better. What I object to is, that rather than admit they are shutting the station down because they don't know how to work around the problems, we are fed a line of nonsense that it is the only way the outcome can be achieved. Like most people, I don't like being fed a line of nonsense. It also makes me wonder what other lines I am being fed by the authorities.

The reason for pointing this out, is NOT to whinge, but to say that until the authorities admit that they really lack some basic basic knowledge (I mean $6m for second hand Citadis, when the Going Price for a much superior Skoda 15T is less than $4m is a further example of how uninformed we are), we will never address that lack of knowledge. If we keep on pretending that we know what we are doing, and dismissing any criticism as 'whinging', then we are just going to keep getting treated like mugs, with worse and worse service interruptions and higher prices.

[rev]

The problem is simply that other places manage to be able to do massive building works and yet keep their transport systems running.

This just adds to a list of projects where Adelaide just shuts down its systems because it has lost the technical capacity to manage the work-arounds. I cite as other examples, the shutdowns of the mainlines during relaying. This is simply not done elsewhere - those running the systems know how to keep them going while work is in progress.

This is not happening because it is necessary, it is happening because Adelaide now does not have the technical expertise to do better. What I object to is, that rather than admit they are shutting the station down because they don't know how to work around the problems, we are fed a line of nonsense that it is the only way the outcome can be achieved. Like most people, I don't like being fed a line of nonsense. It also makes me wonder what other lines I am being fed by the authorities.

The reason for pointing this out, is NOT to whinge, but to say that until the authorities admit that they really lack some basic basic knowledge (I mean $6m for second hand Citadis, when the Going Price for a much superior Skoda 15T is less than $4m is a further example of how uninformed we are), we will never address that lack of knowledge. If we keep on pretending that we know what we are doing, and dismissing any criticism as 'whinging', then we are just going to keep getting treated like mugs, with worse and worse service interruptions and higher prices.

What other places? Show some specific examples were similar work was carried out above bare naked train lines that were still in operation.

If for no other reason then so we can all avoid traveling to such a place that cares little for public safety.

The Citadis were brand new units that sat in storage and were never put into operation. How they came off the assembly line is how they arrived in Melbourne.

[Norman]

My guess as to the works that will be carried out during the Noarlunga Line shutdown:
-Resleepering of the remainder of the line (obvious)
-Building the Goodwood underpass (obvious)
-Rebuilding or renovation of the Marion station, possibly also something happening with the Warradale, Edwardstown and Woodlands Park stations
-Electrification of most (if not all) of the line
-Construction of the Marino Rocks Greenway between Emerson Road and Bryon Road

[Tonsley213]

So why do you feed us multiple lines of nonsence?

Adelaide could well have kept the station open, but the lack of platform and no through running would have put a massive stop to it. Also the price for keeping the platforms open while work happens is so much more than just closing. Also time, it would take nearly three times as long and disadvantage many more people because it would be happening during time that people work in the city.

To you comment about other systems keeping open.
Some systems maybe able to do MINOR track work while the system is open, but that is only in very small sections, of the first upgrade of gawler was to be done this way it would still not be half finished. The London Underground is shutdown constantly by engineering works, and that system is infinatly more important not to shut down than ours.

I reckon this guy dosen't live in Adelaide, but actually lives in Melbourne and can't handle Adelaide investing money to bring their railways up to scratch, and actually have a smartcard system that is already working. Either that or in an underground troll village.

So just shut your victorian mouth and stop winging like a bloody Pom.

Temporary pain for long term gain.

[Eurostar]

Why did we have to put a hotel and convention centre on top of the station? Who ever thought of that? Seriously.

[Aidan]

So why do you feed us multiple lines of nonsence?
...
Temporary pain for long term gain.

So why do you feed us multiple lines of propaganda?

What long term gain do you imagine extending the Convention Centre will bring rail passengers?

Just because there's long term gain doesn't mean the temporary pain is justified. Sometimes the long term benefits are too small to justify the major inconvenience, and sometimes there are ways of getting the same results with far less inconvenience.

The Belair Line upgrade shows that Adelaide has the capability to keep one track running while working on the other, yet the DTEI/DPTI went for the lazy option of upgrading both at once. And the Noarlunga line closure was done in a way that seemed to maximize disruption.

For the Convention Centre extension, the work should be scheduled to confine the hazardous movements to nights when the trains aren't running. The occasional weekend closure may be justified, but an eztended closure during the time when lots of people work in the City certainly isn't. And I think you'll find most City workers DON'T take January off.

The London Underground occasionally shuts lines for major engineering work. The confined spaces leave it with no other option, and unlike in Adelaide the service is far too frequent for single track running to be considered.