Sensational-Adelaide.com

SRW wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:15 pm

Spotto wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:51 pm

SRW wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:15 pm

That's because this one has federal dollars involved. I'm glad it's going ahead too (even if not not in the most ideal format).

What would be the most ideal format?

Closer to the interchange, or aligned with Flinders Drive.

Which is already within walking distance to the station, and the station footbridge will connect to the bus interchange via the access road and footpath between the Wilson Carpark and the Cancer Centre. For those that are accessibility-impaired, the Flinders precinct would be a good testing ground to expand the FLEX self-driving bus trials.

It's also positive that Flinders Village looks like it'll become a Bowden-esque TOD so the station will actually be close to amenities. Shame it doesn't tunnel straight under the university to terminate beneath the Student Hub, but hey you can dream right?

Spotto wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:44 pm

SRW wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:15 pm

Spotto wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 5:51 pm

What would be the most ideal format?

Closer to the interchange, or aligned with Flinders Drive.

Which is already within walking distance to the station, and the station footbridge will connect to the bus interchange via the access road and footpath between the Wilson Carpark and the Cancer Centre. For those that are accessibility-impaired, the Flinders precinct would be a good testing ground to expand the FLEX self-driving bus trials.

It's also positive that Flinders Village looks like it'll become a Bowden-esque TOD so the station will actually be close to amenities. Shame it doesn't tunnel straight under the university to terminate beneath the Student Hub, but hey you can dream right?

...and then continue to the old Willunga railway alignment in the southern suburbs

1NEEDS2POST wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:11 pm

Spotto wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:44 pm

SRW wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:15 pm

Closer to the interchange, or aligned with Flinders Drive.

Which is already within walking distance to the station, and the station footbridge will connect to the bus interchange via the access road and footpath between the Wilson Carpark and the Cancer Centre. For those that are accessibility-impaired, the Flinders precinct would be a good testing ground to expand the FLEX self-driving bus trials.

It's also positive that Flinders Village looks like it'll become a Bowden-esque TOD so the station will actually be close to amenities. Shame it doesn't tunnel straight under the university to terminate beneath the Student Hub, but hey you can dream right?

...and then continue to the old Willunga railway alignment in the southern suburbs

It's a shame the McLaren Vale corridor is now too narrow (and partially obstructed), having a short heritage railway running Seaford to Willunga would be an interesting tourist asset. That convenient interface between the metro network and a heritage railway is something that we've never really had here for a proper heritage railway.

But that's a discussion for another time

1NEEDS2POST wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2019 10:11 pm

Spotto wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:44 pm

SRW wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2019 6:15 pm

Closer to the interchange, or aligned with Flinders Drive.

Which is already within walking distance to the station, and the station footbridge will connect to the bus interchange via the access road and footpath between the Wilson Carpark and the Cancer Centre. For those that are accessibility-impaired, the Flinders precinct would be a good testing ground to expand the FLEX self-driving bus trials.

It's also positive that Flinders Village looks like it'll become a Bowden-esque TOD so the station will actually be close to amenities. Shame it doesn't tunnel straight under the university to terminate beneath the Student Hub, but hey you can dream right?

...and then continue to the old Willunga railway alignment in the southern suburbs

I've often thought of this. In my sim-cityesque, unlimited money mode I see it tunnelling through flinders, over sturt gorge, under flagastaff hill and back to parallel to the expressway.

Provided they leave a clearway at the end of the line/don't build buildings in front of it, it could always be done in the next 50 years.

From AdelaideNow....

Mount Barker train push to help deal with region’s growth
Constant congestion on the South Eastern Freeway and massive population growth in Mount Barker mean a passenger train to the region must be made a priority, local authorities say.

The State Government must prioritise a potential route for passenger trains between the city and Mount Barker, community leaders say, in a bid to deal with constant traffic congestion amid the region’s rapid growth.

Mount Barker Council staff will meet with the Transport Department to call for a study into a rail corridor, among other public transport upgrades.

The Government has announced it will open up emergency lanes on the South Eastern Freeway to help improve commute times.

But Mount Barker Council chief executive Andrew Stuart said while the measure would provide “some relief” it was just one part of the solution to “a big problem”.

“It’s not going to solve the bigger picture issues,” Mr Stuart said.

The State Government in 2010 made way for huge growth in the region, rezoning land to allow for thousands of new homes.

By 2040, Mount Barker is expected to grow to 40,000 people, making it the second biggest city in the state.

Mr Stuart said the “vast majority” of locals travelled to Adelaide each weekday.

“Our council has had to grapple with 1300ha of land being rezoned without much planning done by the State Government at the time,” Mr Stuart said.

“It’s about time that the State Government … stepped up with looking at a few of the issues that weren’t dealt with at the time. Transport is one and schooling is another.”

“In 10 years, the enjoyablity of Mount Barker has diminished. It wasn’t such a problem to commute to Adelaide as a worker but now people are saying it’s not that enjoyable to drive to work, and ‘I’m getting frazzled by how busy the Freeway is’.”

Mr Stuart said with upgrades, the existing freight line could be used for passenger trains and deliver people between Adelaide and Mount Barker within about 40 minutes. However, existing timetables show the passenger train takes a minimum of 37 minutes to get from Belair to Adelaide, and Mt Barker is about 30km further away.

A new fast rail line, proposed in 2018 by former senior Transport Department bureaucrat Luigi Rossi, could reach town in 22 minutes.

“In the long term, looking at rail as an alternative is sensible. It’s a 20-year project time frame but unless we start studying this now, it will probably never happen,” Mr Stuart said.

Mr Rossi, who now runs a consultancy firm specialising in major infrastructure projects, said the Government should invest in rail to deal with road congestion.

His proposal involves first building a 160km/h line to Mount Barker, and later, a service to Victor Harbor and Murray Bridge.

“We’ve become car-centric in Adelaide," Mr Rossi said. “Every person who moves to Mount Barker is going to put more and more pressure on the freeway. Adelaide is crying out for a rail renaissance.”

“We’d like to significantly improve the opportunity for a shift from car to public transport,” Mr Rossi said.

Mr Rossi estimated it would cost about $1 billion to build the line to Mount Barker.

Meantime, the State Government’s proposed GlobeLink freight plan could see freight trains rerouted out of suburbia and the Hills. A business case is being produced for the project. James Sexton, chair of Regional Development Australia (RDA)’s Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island organisation, said this could open up a route for passenger trains.

“Mount Barker is now a city. It just makes sense to have a high speed transport system, instead of dozens of buses running up and down the Freeway every day,” Mr Sexton said.

Paul Richards, of Littlehampton, said a train system would be a win for his family — particularly as his children grew older.

The real estate agent said a train service’s impact on the Adelaide Hills and Mount Barker housing markets would be huge.

“It would have a similar impact to the opening of the Freeway,” Mr Richards said.

“If areas become more accessible, history has shown they’ve generally increased in price.”

A State Government spokesman said there were no plans to extend the rail network to Mt Barker at this stage, but it was confident a new bus services contract would “provide better public transport services for the Adelaide Hills area.”

'A new bus services contract'

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:10 pm

'A new bus services contract'

$1billion is surprisingly cheap to upgrade the freight alignment to 160km/h. Half from the Feds and half from the state means the state only needs to find $50 mil a year to get it completed in a decade. This could be partially funded by a levy on developers on the Mt Barker catchment, and would allow much more deveopement also at Murray Bridge. Its a no brainer really, and if Mount Barker was in the Eastern States even growing at the same rate, you can guarantee the line would be well underway by now.

How can you make the hills railway line operate at 160km/h? Mount Barker Station is 55km from ARS Belair is 21km, there has to be a better alternative than running it via the current line. Also to run it at 160km/h you would need both tracks, 55km is a long way on single track with very few passing loops.

claybro wrote:

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:10 pm

'A new bus services contract'

$1billion is surprisingly cheap to upgrade the freight alignment to 160km/h. Half from the Feds and half from the state means the state only needs to find $50 mil a year to get it completed in a decade. This could be partially funded by a levy on developers on the Mt Barker catchment, and would allow much more deveopement also at Murray Bridge. Its a no brainer really, and if Mount Barker was in the Eastern States even growing at the same rate, you can guarantee the line would be well underway by now.

I disagree, it would have gone North and forced development there. Rather than up a bloody hill.

Development of Murray Bridge should only be encouraged if jobs growth and infrastructure investment matches this rate of development. Mt Barker has been a colossal mistake.

Rossi's proposal wasn't to use the existing Freight corridor but rather to build a viaduct from Mitcham Station through Brown Hill Creek and connect it with the freeway and run if down the centre. This is a point I was advocating for only a few pages back and was told that this kind of proposal wasn't necessary because buses do the job perfectly fine. Well, where are those people saying that now? This should happen and in doing this, they should also shorten the Belair Line to Blackwood.

By 2040, Mount Barker is expected to grow to 40,000 people, making it the second biggest city in the state.

Mr Stuart said the “vast majority” of locals travelled to Adelaide each weekday.

If they travel to Adelaide every day, then Mount Barker isn't a city, it's a cluster of outer suburbs.

When Elizabeth was built as a "new city" in the 1950s, it had its own schools, hospital, theatre and industry. The railway line wasn't needed for daily commuting to Adelaide. If Mount Barker Chief Executive's focus is to help residents travel outside of the council area every day, then the council needs a new chief executive.

Patrick_27 wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:17 am

Rossi's proposal wasn't to use the existing Freight corridor but rather to build a viaduct from Mitcham Station through Brown Hill Creek and connect it with the freeway and run if down the centre. This is a point I was advocating for only a few pages back and was told that this kind of proposal wasn't necessary because buses do the job perfectly fine. Well, where are those people saying that now? This should happen and in doing this, they should also shorten the Belair Line to Blackwood.

Via Brownhill Creek... a rail viaduct!!!!?? He's dreaming. The locals wouldn't even allow a retention dam to be built to prevent flooding of half of Adelaide.

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 25, 2019 10:12 pm

Development of Murray Bridge should only be encouraged if jobs growth and infrastructure investment matches this rate of development. Mt Barker has been a colossal mistake.

Murray Bridge is no different to Ballarat in conjunction with Melbourne though is it? Ballarat and Geelong were declining regional towns, until the rail connections to Melbourne were sped up. Walla -they became dormitory towns, reducing the pressure on Melbournes sprawl and dramatically improving amenity in those towns...extra schools, medical facilities, shopping, light industry and extra employment. Not saying it is always implemented well, but there has to be a critical population mass to create a service industry to employ the additional people, eventually reducing reliance on commuter jobs.

Ballarat is more self-sufficient than Murray Bridge is. But, it does have roughly three times the population. Melton is probably more of a commuter town to Melbourne than Ballarat.

One only needs to look at the key reasons Monarto failed: it was too far from Adelaide to viably interact with the city, yet too close to become its own self-sufficient location.