Article: Rail electrification remains on hold

[colinw]

ABC News -> click here

Monday, February 4

Adelaide Railway Station has reopened after a month-long closure but the complete electrification of the city's rail network remains on indefinite hold.

The closure of the city station interrupted the journeys of tens of thousands of passengers in the north of the city, with substitute buses completing city bound trips and delaying journeys by more than a quarter of an hour.

New ballast, sleepers and track have been installed at the station with gantries put up ahead of electrification.

Substitute buses will continue to operate along routes south of the city for several months as the Noarlunga line is electrified.

Works are also being carried out on the new Goodwood Junction underpass that will divert passenger trains beneath freight services.

Pillars have been put up along the Gawler line but electrification of the two main northern lines was suspended in last year's budget.

Transport Department chief executive Rod Hook says electric trains should be introduced on the Noarlunga line by the end of the year.

"We only have the funding to complete electrification of the Noarlunga line. We've got our new electric trains coming in progressively through the year," he said.

"We'll have them delivered to Seaford. We'll test them on the Seaford bridge."

But Mr Hook says the timeframe of the electrification of the Gawler and Outer Harbor lines remains unclear.

"When we built the gantries at the Adelaide Railway Station we've built the gantries across all the tracks. We'll probably only install the wires for a couple of tracks firstly," he said.

"As we've been doing the work on upgrading the track out to Gawler we've also whenever we've had the opportunity been installing some poles and upgrading our signalling systems.

"The timing for completion of those works will depend on decisions and budgets made available to us by the Government.

"I hope it's in the near future but I can't tell you. I don't make decisions on budgets so we'll be having to work that through with the Government of the day."

Transport Services Minister Chloe Fox says while her office received complaints after the station shut, passengers have been patient.

"I know that the closure has created real inconvenience for travellers," she said.

Ms Fox says the works have cost about $50 million and some refurbishments in the station will continue through March.

"There will be a small amount of work carrying on in the station itself. I think it will be highly minimal," she said.

"I think the biggest thing people will notice is that the male toilet's not open until this Wednesday."

[SurfRail]

The works aren't exactly minor.  When I passed through on the Overland, every single track was missing at Keswick except the standard gauge ones.

[colinw]

I am still confident that Adelaide will get done on a line-by-line basis over about 8 to 10 years, much like Brisbane was from when the first wires went up in the late '70s to Doomben & Nambour getting sparks in 1988.

Having done Seaford, I think there will be a political imperative to finish Gawler within the next electoral cycle, given that there are already masts up along much of the line.

[somebody]

I agree on that.

[Gazza]

It's funny that the Goverment thought the political fallout of an unfinished electric rail system would be less than the fallout from a deficit budget.

[colinw]

Given how very few people use rail in Adelaide, and that the lines shafted are primarily through safe Labor seats while the line proceeding is through marginal seats, I think they made the politically expedient decision.

Why is it again that transport planning & delivery in Australia is completely screwed?

[ozbob]

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Andrew Heslop ‏@AndrewHeslop 3h

Here you go @danielbowen ... @AdelaideMetroSA diesel railcar hauling a new electric set into #Adelaide yard #trains

[ozbob]