Article: Belair travel times double with rail closed

[colinw]

How the heck did they manage to create a bus service slower than the horribly indirect Belair line?

Adelaide Now -> click here

COMMUTER numbers have reduced and transport times have doubled since the closure of the Belair rail line this year.

Transport Department figures show about 900 passengers used the Belair substitute bus service during peak times each day last month, compared with 1468 people on the Belair train line in January last year.

The department said journey times were about 60 minutes on the substitute bus service compared with the 30-35 minute journey on the train.

The figures show an average number of commuters between January 2 and January 29 during the peak hour times of 7-9am and 4-6pm.

A department spokeswoman said it was monitoring traffic conditions on a daily basis and working with the Adelaide City Council to help improve traffic flow in and out of the city.

Earlier this month, the department told the Mitcham & Hills Messenger it had received 41 complaints about the Belair substitute service.

The Belair train line closed on January 2 for works to separate the commuter and freight lines.

The line is expected to re-open in less than five months.

[somebody]

How the heck did they manage to create a bus service slower than the horribly indirect Belair line?

Do they mean slower to Belair itself, or to the other stations on the line?  I guess it would be slower to Belair if it served all the stations in the station order though.

[SurfRail]

Not sure what they are doing now, but previously they had services running from just before the line enters the Hills (Torrens Park?) to Belair, and then the reverse direction to the train route.