Trains back to Port Adelaide - Port Dock

[ozbob]

Adelaide Now --> New rail spur line bring trains back to Port Adelaide

ROLLING by train to the heart of Port Adelaide on a new 1km rail spur line is one step closer with builders releasing the first animation of the experience.

Since the Adelaide service was cut in 1981 and the Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway line closed in 1988, passengers have passed well to the south of the town centre.

Now, where the existing Outer Harbor line veers west at Grand Junction Rd before it crosses Port Rd, a spur line is set to be built directly into the Port, terminating at Baker St.

To coincide with consideration and pending approval by the Parliament's Public Works Committee on Thursday, Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan released new images of the $16.4 million project, funded in this year's state budget.

"The new line will link the Port's commercial centre and the Dock One residential precinct to the Adelaide CBD," he said.

"It will provide frequent rail services for those who already call the area home and the many more set to live, work and visit Port Adelaide, which is undergoing a major redevelopment."

The spur line is part of a package of more than $200 million in infrastructure projects committed to in the 2017-18 State Budget, which are expected to be rubber-stamped by the Public Works Committee on Thursday.

The others are the $174.3 million Oaklands Crossing and the $31.4 million relocation of the metropolitan rail Operations Control Centre to Dry Creek from the CBD near SAHMRI.

The Port Dock Railway Line Project will feature dual mainlines and a station at Baker St with a "kiss and drop" car/train connection as well as bus/train interconnection.

Elder MP Annabel Digance welcomed the progress of the Oaklands crossing project, where an underpass will replace a level crossing.

"The Oaklands Crossing is one of the busiest intersections in the southern suburbs and everyone who travels through the area, whether it's to access local shops and businesses or the aquatic centre, school or medical facilities, knows how much of a difference the underpass will make, she said.

Mr Mullighan said the Port rail project would begin early next year, 37 years after the last city-bound train, and support 48 jobs during construction.

"The new station will be located on the doorstep of Dock One on the waterfront, which will include more than 750 new townhouses and apartments, a refurbished Marine and Harbours building and waterfront boardwalk," he said.

The project has been welcomed by Port Adelaide Enfield Council and the National Railway Museum, which is next to the new line.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/922145449405853697

[SurfRail]

Hard to say whether this is actually a good idea.  You'll have 3 branches of the line running in parallel between Woodville and the city, and I can't see any of them being better than every 30 minutes.  Getting a train to Outer Harbour every 15 minutes would have been a better goal in my mind.

[ozbob]

Rail Express --> SA rail works submitted to parliament committee

Over $200 million worth of rail infrastructure projects from the South Australian government's 2017-18 budget have been submitted for consideration by the Parliamentary Public Works Committee.

The projects include the $31.4 million relocation of Adelaide metropolitan rail Operations Control Centre from its existing premises near SAMHRI to Dry Creek, the $16.4 million Port Adelaide rail spur, and the $174.3 million Oaklands Crossing.

"South Australia is experiencing a once-in-a-generation infrastructure boom as we deliver the rail, roads, schools and hospitals our state needs," transport and infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan said.

The minister also stressed that the investments would open-up job opportunities for South Australians and support local businesses.

"By setting strict requirements for local content, and putting more apprentices and trainees into work, we're making sure South Australians reap the benefits of our investments," he said.

The Port Adelaide rail spur project will reinstate train service to the centre of Port Adelaide for the first time in almost 30 years, linking the Port's commercial centre and the Dock One residential precinct to the Adelaide CBD.

"It's exciting to see our plans coming along for returning train services to Port Adelaide for the first time in almost 30 years," Labor Member for Port Adelaide Susan Close said.

"This is a significant project in the ongoing renewal of Port Adelaide and with more and more people choosing to live and work here it's important they have access to fast and reliable public transport."

The Port Dock Railway Line Project will see the construction of new dual mainline connections from the Outer Harbor Line to the Port Spur, as well as track upgrades and the building of supporting infrastructure on the spur line.

A new Port Adelaide Railway Station is also to be built as part of the project, while a new railway signalling system to control the junction and spur line is to be installed.

The relocation of the Adelaide metropolitan rail operations control centre to the Dry Creek depot means that the existing North Terrace centre will be demolished and the site made available for the development of a new medical research facility.

Under the Oaklands Crossing Grade Separation Project, the rail line will be constructed under Morphett Road, along with modifications to road junctions along Morphett Road and Diagonal Road located either side of the rail crossing.

"The Oaklands Crossing is one of the busiest intersections in the southern suburbs and everyone who travels through the area, whether it's to access local shops and businesses or the aquatic centre, school or medical facilities knows how much of a difference the underpass will make," Labor Member for Elder Annabel Digance said.

A new 160-metres-long Oaklands Park Railway Station is also to be built that to cater for longer trains and to support the passenger growth on the Seaford line, while on Morphett Road a grade separation of the Marino Rocks Greenway pedestrian and cycling shared use path will be carried out.

"I have long campaigned for this upgrade and it is great to reach another milestone in the project which will have a big impact on the lives of local residents," Digance said.

[ozbob]

https://x.com/DFIT_SA/status/1732935034297065725?s=20

[Gazza]

Can't believe this braindead spur is going ahead.

Now watch as they run an hourly service to the spur and mess with the stopping patterns on the outer harbor line.

[SurfRail]

I can see it working - sort of.  You'd have what are currently Grange services go to Port Dock (the time from Adelaide to either Grange or Port Dock would probably be comparable, and more stations would have a train every 15 minutes including St Clair where there is a bit of development to support it).  Outer Harbour service unchanged, and Grange becomes a shuttle only to Woodville. The Grange line would probably still be limited to 30 minute services.

Longer term given enough trains (which they are chronically short of) - you could have:

- Port Dock all stops to Adelaide every 15 minutes
- Outer Harbour limited stops to Adelaide every 30 minutes (all to Alberton, then Woodville for Grange, Bowden for the tram, and Adelaide).
- Grange either as a shuttle to Woodville, or limited stops to Adelaide every 30 minutes slotting between the Outer Harbour trains.

There are various flat crosses involved at Woodville and the Port junction, but 8 tph both ways isn't much of an ask as long as there are enough trains.  You'd probably only need 3 car sets for this (I'm not sure what the maximum train length is on this corridor but I suspect it might be 4 cars at most stations).

[SurfRail]

I can see it working - sort of.  You'd have what are currently Grange services go to Port Dock (the time from Adelaide to either Grange or Port Dock would probably be comparable, and more stations would have a train every 15 minutes including St Clair where there is a bit of development to support it).  Outer Harbour service unchanged, and Grange becomes a shuttle only to Woodville. The Grange line would probably still be limited to 30 minute services.

Longer term given enough trains (which they are chronically short of) - you could have:

- Port Dock all stops to Adelaide every 15 minutes
- Outer Harbour limited stops to Adelaide every 30 minutes (all to Alberton, then Woodville for Grange, Bowden for the tram, and Adelaide).
- Grange either as a shuttle to Woodville, or limited stops to Adelaide every 30 minutes slotting between the Outer Harbour trains.

There are various flat crosses involved at Woodville and the Port junction, but 8 tph off peak both ways isn't much of an ask as long as there are enough trains.  You'd probably only need 3 car sets for this (I'm not sure what the maximum train length is on this corridor but I suspect it might be 4 cars at most stations).  The current weekday AM peak only sees 12 trains heading inbound between around 7am-9am, so they would need to buy a few more trains and put a bit of stabling in the old rail reserve outbound from the Outer Harbor platform.

[Gazza]

I think it still has the issue that yeah you could run all those stopping patterns....Or just run 4tph to outer harbor and be done with it.

And it is dividing frequency between the two port Adelaide stations.

The whole line is only 40 mins end to end, and just 21 mins to Port Adelaide, so I feel express patterns don't really add much.

[SurfRail]

It's not what I would have done, that's for sure.

[ozbob]

Construction has finally begun to return public rail services to the heart of Port Adelaide for the first time in more...

Posted by 9 News Adelaide on Thursday, 7 December 2023

[ozbob]

https://x.com/9NewsAdel/status/1802259920357646467

[ozbob]

https://x.com/railmaps/status/1818910406259491172

[SurfRail]

The timetable is awful and all 3 branches integrate very poorly.

[ozbob]

https://x.com/AdelaideMetroSA/status/1824590230072001012?t=7O8kfKqB9fZFlEpMr-V0rw&s=19

[ozbob]

https://x.com/AdelaideMetroSA/status/1827222972110643663

[ozbob]

Australia's newest railway opened today.  And yet, it's also one of the nation's very oldest. From today, the Port Dock branch line into the heart of Port Adelaide gets 2 trains per hour.  It originally opened in 1856 but closed in 1981, and now it's back!

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— Railmaps (@railmaps.bsky.social) Aug 25, 2024 at 10:51

Check out the Port Dock train timetable here railmaps.com.au/routedetails...

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— Railmaps (@railmaps.bsky.social) Aug 25, 2024 at 10:53